Illini Football Update

     The players are on their own, no organized practices are taking place (unless you’re Michigan), but don’t let that fool you, there is plenty to talk about in regards to Illinois football. Sitting just over a month away from Camp Rantoul, there may not be much on the field that is making news, but football ceases to stop here in Big Ten Country. A lot has been going on during the past week, Ron Zook has continued to try and boost a 2011 recruiting class that doesn’t have the sparkle of years past. Eddie McGee talked about his new role on this team and how he likes what he sees out of the young Scheelhaase. In addition to that, Ron Guenther spoke about Big Ten realignment and a newly proposed way of splitting up schools into equal divisions.

Recruiting

     As if we needed another young quarterback coming to “the 217″, two-star QB Reilly O’Toole gave his verbal to Illinois. O’Toole has not gotten the hype that QB’s Nathan Scheelhaase and Chandler Whitmer recieved during their high school  days, but many see O’Toole as a nice fit at Illinois. O’Toole thinks so as well. “The offense they run really fits what my high school team runs, so I think I’ll be able to pick up the offense really quickly and just be a really good fit for them.”

     Personally, I think O’Toole is a good fit. Many are comparing him to Ryan Mallet, who Coach Petrino had great success with at Arkansas, with his size and pocket passing ability. The QB from Wheaton Warrensville South also recently led his team to an undefeated record at the U of I 7-on-7 camp, a very respectable feat being that your boy from Feel Da Paign did the same two years ago. If you want to see a little bit of how the future Illini QB looks, check out the video above. You might want to fast forward a bit to the 7-on-7 part of the video. The beginning is a little boring, heck, I could sit there and give you three-step drops all day long.

     How is the 2011 recruiting class as a whole? Well, let’s just say there isn’t an Arrelious Benn or Vonte Davis on the recruiting board just yet, but a couple of three stars and a good deal of time is what the Illini have right now. Could the Illini land a big name in the coming months? Hopefully, but if the Northwestern’s and Wisconsin’s of the world have shown us anything, it’s that you don’t need five star recruits to get good, young talent that can help you win football games. Here is where the Illini stand in comparison to the rest of the Big Ten with their 2011 class, not sure why Notre Dame is included but oh well.

Eddie McGee

     I ran by an interesting article today, written by Bob Asmussen of the News Gazette, that talked about Eddie McGee and his new role on the Illini football team. According to the article, McGee is taking more of a leadership role this season and wants to be more vocal than he has been in the past. McGee also responded to the question of whether he is back in the quarterback mix now that Charest is gone. “I’m strictly at receiver. It’s going really well. I’m excited about it. I’m having a lot of fun out there.”

     That’s exciting to here, especially after witnessing last year’s Michigan State game, but I am glad Eddie wants to be a leader and expects to be a big contributor. “I would like to be a 1,000-yard receiver, with 80-plus catches. That’s my personal goal. Overall, I just want us to win. I think my role on the team will help us do that.” Will McGee be a 1,000 yard receiver this season? I’m not going to bet on it, but I think he can make a big contribution on the field and as a leader. McGee is projected to be one of the Illini’s top three receivers this season and could be used in a variety of ways (Wildcat).

   However, I think McGee will contribute in another way that will have just as big of an impact: being there for the young QB’s. Of the three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, none have taken one snap in a colligate football game. McGee has been there, playing well in spots the past few seasons, but was not consistent enough as a passer. What McGee can do is help Scheelhaase prepare for what he is going to experience against Missouri. He can tell him what it is like playing on the road in the Big Ten. Without Eddie, there would be no one else to fill this vital role, but don’t tell McGee that Scheelhaase needs any help because from what he has seen so far, the redshirt freshman is pretty good.

     “I like Nate a lot. If I didn’t feel Nate could get the job done, I probably wouldn’t have switched (to receiver). He throws the ball on time. He knows when to zip it in there and when not to. He reads the defense well. He has great athletic ability to get out of situations and not take a sack. He’s Nate.”

Guenther

     University of Illinois AD Ron Guenther was recently on the radio talking about Big Ten realignment and other topics, in which he introduced a unique twist to the Big Ten makeover that will take place next year. Many have tried to figure out how the Big Ten will be broken up, the most common method by geography (north-south, east-west), but Guenther said that is not the case. According to him, the Big Ten will be broken up based on the 10-year RPI of the schools, creating equal divisions. Based on the RPI system, here is how the teams would rank…

1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Penn St
4. Iowa
5. Nebraska
6. Wisconsin
7. Purdue
8. Michigan St
9. Northwestern
10.   Minnesota
11.   Illinois
12.   Indiana

Leaving the two divisions looking something like this…

     A very interesting set-up, we’ll see how it all plays out.

 -Derek Piper