My Illini have been showing a feisty attitude on the Camp Rantoul practice fields. There have been several skirmishes in practice, and the enthusiasm has been remarkably higher than last season. This Season is going to be a huge success and the Illini will come out strong and they need to make a statement their first game. Missouri has picked apart the Illini but it is a new year and a new team!

 Coach Zook has indicated that this has been his most enthusiastic team he has ever coached. He has coached some of the best talent over the years. From Juice to the Benn and Cumberland Combination our receivers are going to make nationwide attention, you can be sure of that!Keep on eye out for Josh Brent as well, one of the best Tackle's in the nation!

Jeff Cumberland missed two games last season and he needs to be healthy this year. He has had a very sore foot the last few weeks. It is getting better and he will make a start on Sept 5th! You can assure and he and Benn are going to at least Score a Touchdown Each in this game!

 Zook is extremely  pleased with kickers Matt Eller and Derek Dimke after they slumped during the spring season. Eller will be tough to beat at placekicker, while Dimke is solid at kickoffs. It is going to be a battle all year and these guys are going to put up a hell of a fight for playing time! Both kickers have struggled and you will be sure to see a huge improvement or heads will be rolling in Champaign! The Illini have a bunch of Freshman and they are making a huge impact on the line of scrimmage. They are making their way up the depth chart and are really catching the eye of all the Illini coaches. Some of the Freshman to keep an eye out for are Michael Buchanan,  Akeem Spence and Lendell Buckner, Ron Zook has showed a huge interest in these guys and they will be sure to start making a name for themselves. Buchanan will give the Mizzou offense a very rough day and he is a freak of an athlete! I got the game at Illinois -5.5 when it came out a while back. I know at some books they are up to a 7 point favorite. I feel the Illini will cover that spread and it will be a very high scoring game! Go Illini!!!

ILL-INI