The Illini sailed through a rather toasty (weather-wise) Camp Rantoul with no major injuries.  As they returned to Champaign to start preparing for Missouri the injury-bug began to bite.

First to go down was  fullback/ TE Zach Becker... who hopefully can get back his foot back to health by the time the Big Ten season rolls around in October.  Newcomers Jay Prosch and Chris Willett will have to step in until Becker is back.  Another freshman being counted on heavily will be 6-6, 240 pound tight end Evan Wilson.

Then the Illini defense suffered a couple of key losses. First...starting safety Supo Sanni suffered a season-ending ruptured Achilles heel injury.  Then developing star Terry Hawthorne had a pin put in his foot to help with a stress fracture and as a result will miss a few weeks of the season.

Those injuries forced Ron Zook and defensive coordinator Vic Koenning to shuffle the secondary.  Justin Green...who at one time was recruited to play cornerback for Ohio State...offered to move from running back  to cornerback.  That allowed Tavon Wilson to move from corner to safety.  Ron Zook says the Illini have several players they can plug into the secondary (Miami Thomas, Travon Bellamy and Joelil Thrash are among the options) but losing 2 starters doesnt help the illini cause against the Tigers on Saturday.

That being said...the Tigers are having some injury (and other issues) of their own.  Starting tailback Derrick Washington is facing charges of sexual assault and is suspended..   Linebacker Will Ebner...one of the top tacklers from a year ago...was stopped recently for DWI.  Cornerback Munir Prince was taken to a Columbia hospital recently after a practice collision that caused some temporary paralysis.  Starting receiver Jerrell Jackson..who caught a TD pass against the Illini last year...will be wearing a cast on his hand after breaking his wrist early in training camp.   Also...the Tigers look like they will be without their starting long snapper Beau Brinkley...who has handled every special teams snap the last 3 years but is nursing a shoulder injury.

Both Gary Pinkel and Ron Zook will tell you that injuries are a part of the game and you just have to deal with it.  And they are correct.

But both teams would prefer to be at 100% for the grudge match in the Edward Jones Dome. That isnt going to happen this time.

How will all the injuries affect the game on Saturday? Hard to tell.  Missouri is still a big favorite and will still be  favored when the game kicks off at 11:40 am.

But history has taught me that these first games of the year are really hard to predict.  You just dont know how a team will respond until the bright lights are turned on and the pressure builds.  Going into last year's game I thought an experienced  Illini offense could have a big day... and with the Tiger quarterback (Blaine Gabbert) making his first start...I really believed the Illini were going to have a good day. Then the Illini scored only 3 points in the first 3 quarters and Gabbert accounted for 4 touchdowns...and the Tigers rolled to victory.

So you never really know for sure.

We will find out on Saturday.  Kurt Kittner and Steve Kelly join me on Saturday morning for the network broadcast.   I will also be chatting live with you on Thursday at 11 am. 

Talk to you then!