Brian,

I don't think injured is the right word. Sore, the kind you get after playing three-fourths of a season at running back, is the right word. He had a sprained ankle a few weeks back and I think that recovery process is constant. He will look like a different guy when he gets some time off after Saturday.

Troy,

I think Coach Brewster is enjoying his time at Minnesota, but there is starting to be some heat on him there.

I think the hostility is from a couple of sources. First, there's a feeling from the Illinois players and coaches that the Minnesota players go a bit too far in terms of being physical. Of course, it's a violent game, but nobody wants to see hits taken after the whistle. That is part of the concern.

And I think there's some resentment toward Minnesota about the way Clint Brewster's recruitment was handled. He was going to sign with Illinois, then when his dad got the job at Minnesota, he signed with the Gophers. I think the Illinois coaches would have been fine with that had the Brewsters said that right away. But they hesitated, which cost Illinois a chance to immediately start recruiting another quarterback. There's a gap in the Illinois quarterback lineup between the fourth-year guys and the second-year guy. That could have been prevented had the Brewster situation gone differently. Clint ended up leaving Minnesota anyway. I'm not sure if that would have happened had he come to Illinois. We'll never know.

Tim,

Iowa and Ohio State control their own destiny. With the Hawkeyes going to Columbus and Ricky Stanzi out for the regular season, I think it's very likely Ohio State goes to the Rose Bowl. How weird will it be if the Buckeyes reach the Rose Bowl with their only league loss coming against Purdue? Very.

Gregg,

Very well. Martez is at every practice and seems to helping the young guys. The other day, I saw him after practice with his arm around one of the young offensive lineman. That's a great sign for Illinois. From what I understand, he will make a full recovery and be on the field at Camp Rantoul. I think his activity in the spring will be limited.

Peter,

I heard a lot about from emails and from staff members. Marcus Jackson texted me during the game about how bad it was.

This was not the Big Ten's A team. Or B team. Or C team.

I've got a suggestion for the network: Get Dave Revsine out of the studio on Saturday and have him do a game. He does that during basketball season. He's really good. Let Mike Hall handle the studio.

I've given the network the benefit of the doubt until now. But it has to improve the level of its work or people are going to start tuning out.

Shamous,

First thing you must say about Loren is that he is a columnist. So, his job is to share his opinion. You can agree or disagree with him. That's the beauty of a free press.
Second thing you must say about Loren is that he is outworking almost every other 78-year-old in the country.
Third thing you must say about Loren is he sticks to his ideas, right or wrong.
We have debated the merits of a football playoff for years. He thinks he's right that there won't be one. I think he's wrong.
Loren doesn't blame Ron Guenther for the current state of the football program. That's his right.
I'm a bit more in the middle on this one. I think Ron Guenther loves Illinois football and wants nothing more than for it to succeed. There's no question about that. But he hasn't always helped his team with scheduling, the Missouri series being a particular problem in recent years.
Ron Guenther has hired two football coaches. It didn't work for the first one and the jury is still out on Ron Zook. I don't think Ron Guenther wants to have to hire a third football coach and I'm not sure he should be given the opportunity. He won't be at Illinois for another decade. So, if a coaching change is needed in football, it should be up to his replacement.
I think the recent wins for Illinois makes it easy to justify Ron Zook's return. I expect him back next season.

Marcus,

As much as I would like to write stories about Arrelious Benn for another year, I think he is leaving after this season.

Wade,

Good question. Mike Locksley used Benn as a runner more in the middle of the field. I'm not sure why that hasn't happened as much this season. Injury could be part of it. Arrelious has never been totally healthy.
The play that Justin Green scored on against Minnesota is the play that is normally run by Benn. But he had been dinged a player or two earlier and was on the sidelines. I thought it was interesting that Justin Green was the next guy in for that play.

Mike,

He wasn't really asked to explain it. That's our fault for not getting to the question, but there were a bunch of other things to talk about and a small window. Juice Williams' injury, Jacob Charest's play, Clay Nurse, Jason Ford and Terry Hawthorne dominated the talk.
I'll ask about it next time I get a chance, which will be after Wednesday's practice.

Jim,

There isn't anybody to compare him to. He is 15 games under .500 at Illinois. Mike White was above .500 and forced to resign. John Mackovic was 14 games above .500 and went to Texas. Lou Tepper was 6 games under .500 and forced out. Ron Turner was 17 games under .500 and forced out. Illinois has not been kind to its football head coaches, other than Mackovic.

Ryan,

I know that a bunch of the top recruits are coming to campus for their official visits, including Corey Cooper.

Dave C.,

Unfortunately, I didn't get back in time to see the Cincinnati-UConn game. I will get to watch Friday's game against West Virginia. And I saw Cincinnati play Rutgers and South Florida earlier in the season.
I think it's a very, very good team. But I don't think it's a team that should play for the national title. Before the season, I thought Cincinnati would be a more difficult game for Illinois than Missouri. That's probably still true. Illinois can win, but it will have to play error-free and maybe get a bad day from the Bearcats.

James,

Without being in the meetings and watching film with these guys, it's impossible to accurately evaluate what they are doing and how well they are doing it.
Can Illinois consistently win with Ron Zook? After the 2007, I would have definitely said yes. I'm not as sure now.
I think the defensive line played well against Minnesota, so there is improvement there. I have heard good things from outsiders about both of Illinois' new line coaches.
I have always said that I think this group would benefit from some sort of a bench coach. A Don Zimmer to Joe Torre. Bring back an old coach, put him on the staff and have him in charge of timeouts and what penalties to accept/decline. Somebody like Mike White or John Mackovic, who wouldn't be a threat to the current guys.
I think college football is an extremely difficult game to coach. You need the players to do the right thing. There are so many things that can go wrong on a given play.
Think about it from the Minnesota angle. Somehow, Adam Weber threw a perfect pass to Terry Hawthorne. Who's fault is that? The coach called the play, but the quarterback didn't execute properly.

Marcus,

I think he has opened up his recruitment some. I am going to be talking to his coach later in the week about All-State. He is in the running for Player of the Year in the state. He has had a huge impact on a state quarterfinalist.
If I get any new information on C.J., I will pass it along immediately. I certainly think Illinois is still in strong contention for him.

fan,

I hope so. They are very cool.

Craig,

I think you have to consider the entire season. I think what a player does in the conference is more important because, basically, everybody plays some version of the same teams. But if a player had a big day out of conference, that should be part of his resume.
It's going to be difficult to pick players at several spots.

Jack,

Any kind of access would be good. I agree with you that a pool reporter system might make some sense. But I'm not sure any of the media outlets involved would agree to it.
You made a great point about the press being a conduit to the team. I'd suggest you send along your concerns to Ron Zook/Ron Guenther.
Ron Zook's biggest concern, of course, is doing what is right for his team. I don't blame him for that. I think everyone understands the idea that coaches don't want to give the opponent an edge.
Practices being opened weren't an issue at Illinois before the Internet. But the ease of spreading the information is what worries the coaches the most.

River City,

I will be talking to Kyle early next week at his high school. I haven't talked to him directly since the summer. So, until I get information from him, I won't speculate too much.

I will also check into the Florida recruits ASAP.

Joe,

I would like to get my own headset and hear what's going on during the games. I'm assuming there is some yelling. But clock management falls on the head coach. Now, should somebody be warning him when the clock is running down? Absolutely. What we don't know is how the coaches operate in those situations. But you would think the ultimate goal is to get it right, no matter who speaks up.