I just competed my fouth simulation with NCAA Football 2011 on the Xbox 360, this weekend, and it wasn't too terrible.  Did Illinois make a bowl game?  No, but they were much more competitive, especially on offense.  I made a couple of changes to the Illini before this sim.  First, I swtched the playbook to 'Arkansas', since that is where Paul Petrino came from.  Arkansas was running more of a pro style offense, which is closet to what we should see out of Petrino.  Since he was Arkansas' OC last year, I decided to take their book.  Also, Illinois' default offense was set up as 45% run and 55% pass.  If Illinois does this for the upcoming season, I wouldn't be shocked if the stats we saw in my third simulation were to make an appearance.  I switched it to 60% run and 40% pass.  I'm thinking with a freshman QB, the Illini might try to let the running game take over a bit and not put too much pressure on Sheelhaase while he learns the ropes.

With these changes, the Illini went 5-7 for the second time in four sims. The Illini scored 260 points (21.7ppg), but the defense still had issues, allowing a whopping 328 points (27.3). They also went 3-5 in the conference, which is their best conference showing so far in the four simulations. However, like the other sims, The Illini lost some games that just killed their chances of making a bowl. They lost to Minnesota at home, and Fresno State to end the season. Like I said before, if the Illini go 5-7, I wouldn't be too disappointed.

Remember how pathetic Sheelhaase's stats were last time? This time around, they are considerably better. They aren't great by any means, but there stats were good enough to earn him Freshman All-American honors! How cool would it be if that happened in real life?!?! Let's take a look at some stats.

NOTABLE ILLINI STATISTICS

QB Nathan Sheelhaase (Fr.) - 201/438 passing, 2197 yards, 11 TD, 15 INT

                                                351 yards rushing, 4 TD, Freshman All-American!!!

RB Mikel Leshoure (Jr.) - 210 carries, 698 yards, 3.3 ypc, 7 TD, long 66.

TE London Davis (So.) - 71 rec, 748 yards, 4 TD, long 46

Evan Frierson (So.) - 82 tackles, 17 FL, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT, 8 PD, 2 FF

K Derek Dimke (Jr.) - 21/29 FG, 2 FG made over 50 yards, 27/27 PAT

BIG TEN STATISTICS

ILLINOIS' BIG WINS

vs. Northern Illinois 27-21

@ Northwestern 24-17

ILLINOIS' BIG LOSSES

vs. Minnesota 31-16

@ Fresno State 27-21

BIG TEN IN BOWL GAMES

Big Ten goes 3-4 in Bowl Games

Texas Bowl – Oklahoma 45    Indiana 0 (Oklahoma went 9-4 on the year)

Insight Bowl - #18 Texas A&M 41     Minnesota 17

Outback Bowl - #13 Iowa 45     Mississippi State 13

Gator Bowl – Arkansas 29    Michigan State 20

Capital One Bowl - #7 Ohio State 44    #24 Tennessee 10

Rose Bowl - #3 Wisconsin 28    #8 Stanford 14

Sugar Bowl - #2 Alabama 38    #12 Penn State 3

And how about this for a National Championship Game - #1 Utah 48    #4 Boise State 24

The Utes in their final season of Mountain West Football win the national title!!

Utah is the only team in the nation to go undefeated (13-0). Looking at the rest of the top 25, one other teams stuck out at me. Boston College finished at 15th with a 11-2 record. It's the first time I've seen them in there at the end of the simulation.

Hope you enjoyed another round of the simulation. I plan on doing one more. Also, get your predictions ready! Like last year, I am doing the prediction standings where all of you will compete against me in picking the winners of each Illinois football game. Who, if anybody, will dethrone me this year?? Keep up with my blog for more details on that. Talk to you guys next week.

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