Illinois Fighting Illini @ Missouri Tigers Football Preview

One has to state, up front, that Missouri has the definitive upper hand in the season-opening rivalry game with border-state foe Illinois. The annual September showdown inside the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis is always greeted by a sellout crowd and a lot of pent-up energies, but Missouri has clearly surpassed Illinois as a program since the 2007 season. Illinois reached the Rose Bowl that year, but has crashed and burned in the following two seasons.

Missouri hasn’t soared, mind you, but the Tigers have continued to make bowl games, which is more than anything that can be said for Ron Zook’s plummeting crew in Champaign-Urbana. Zook easily could have been fired after the 2009 campaign, in which his team went 3-9 and needed an improbable goal-line stand to turn things around in a win over Michigan. Yet, the university brass kept the Zooker around, with the expectation being that 2010 must deliver results… or else.

Zook will have a hard time getting past his border-state opponent in St. Louis, and not because Missouri is all that imposing. The Tigers have been de-clawed a bit already in 2010.

Yes, Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert is one of the top NFL prospects in the nation, with outstanding speed to go with his dominant size. However, the Tigers will be without running back Derrick Washington, suspended because of a sexual assault investigation. Backup Kendial Lawrence will try to match Washington, and he’ll be the almost-certain starter for Coach Gary Pinkel.

Mizzou also lost its top two receivers. One of them is Jerrell Jackson, who broke the scaphoid bone in his left wrist on the morning of Wednesday, August 11. With all-world pass catcher Danario Alexander now in the pros and attempting to become an even more expert craftsman at the NFL level, the opportunity for Jackson was quite evident. It was very realistic to expect Jackson to come in and become the focal point of Missouri's wide-open passing attack. Then came his injury, which has at least temporarily scuttled the grand plans of Pinkel and the rest of his offensive braintrust.

While there's still the chance that Jackson can become an offensive centerpiece, such an occurrence will have to wait until the junior recovers from an injury. The receiver will be out of action for a period of at least four weeks, which means Jackson will almost certainly miss this Illinois encounter.

Four starters return on the offensive line for Mizzou, but the skill positions have taken a number of hits.

On defense, the Tigers are experienced and talented, led by sophomore defensive end Aldon Smith.  The only key loss is linebacker Sean Weatherspoon. Star kicker Grant Ressel is also back after hitting 26-of-27 field goals last season.

The problem for Illinois is that it’s working with very little on its own side of the ball. Illinois hopes that since explosive quarterback Juice Williams (who led the 2007 team to the Rose Bowl) has graduated, a new signal caller can provide similar athleticism but even more consistency and wisdom in the heat of gameday competition.

Dual-threat redshirt freshman Nathan Scheelhaase will make his debut at quarterback for the Illini.  Running back Mikel LeShoure, a rising star, returns, and has a capable backup in Jason Ford.  The wide receivers are extremely talented but inexperienced, and the offensive line also has tremendous potential, which is another way of saying that it’s anything but proven. Illinois’s offense is young and untested, and Missouri will hope to get a lot of turnovers from Scheelhaase on Saturday afternoon.

It’s the same story on defense for Illinois, where there are plenty of athletes but not a lot of accomplishment yet.  New defensive coordinator Vic Koenning hopes to mold this group into a top defense in the Big Ten.  The most talented player is linebacker Martez Wilson.

The Illini front seven is very talented.  The secondary has struggled over the past few seasons, but returns enough experience to be a factor.

A key bugaboo facing Illinois is injuries. Junior left tackle Corey Lewis, who played in all 12 games last year and was the projected starter on the left side, tore his ACL in the spring. In the final week of preseason camp, junior Supo Sanni, the projected starter at strong safety, tore his Achilles. Sophomore Terry Hawthorne, a returning starter at cornerback, suffered a stress fracture in his foot. Hawthorne is expected to be sidelined three to six weeks.

Missouri isn’t special, but Illinois is a program on life support. That’s the way to frame this season-opening border battle.

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