Alloy Ed, let's get one thing straight ... just because I said to Illini fandom that there is no point in being negative, that they might as well be optimistic, that doesn't establish anything about where I stand. As for Zook, he's talking about the overall talent, not just at quarterback. I don't agree but that's his opinion,and he knows more about it than I do.
McGee played himself out of the position against Michigan State, has been a receiver for some time now, and didn't appear ready to play quarterback in the three snaps he took Saturday. He needs more work there, and I think it's a mistake not to give it to him. Illinois is in deep trouble is anything happens to Scheelhaase.

Eddie, Evan Wilson looks very good again today at tight end. Don't know if he can block, but he's a natural receiver. He is shooting up. Becker is nursing a foot problem and wasn't there this morning, and Fuller, the No. 1 fullback, is having some kind of a problem. He wasn't there Saturday for the scrimmage. No explanation.
Millines (pronounced Meh-LINES) looked terrific. For that Saturday night at least, he was as good as any receiver on the field. As for one of those guys switching to DB, it is much too late for that ... fifth-year seniors like James and Fayson who have never been on defense.

Bill, the recruiting job has been turned over to Cody Westerlund, the new sports guy at Paxton. He is just starting so I'm not sure about his chats.

Ebsidic -- The reception that Molina got was predicted well in advance. Now, if he could just run.
Travis Tate is returning at this moment from New Orleans, where he had a one-year gig in the Sports Info department with the Hornets. He has taken a job in Boise as SID for the Stampede, a D-League (Developmental) team for the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggers. He feels the new full-time job (HE HAS HEALTH INSURANCE) is too much for him to continue the recruiting blog. He did about 8 or 10 before this week. He travels to Boise in two days.

Steve, Hogan said he intends to attend ONE practice. He is otherwise pretty busy. He did not dodge the Guenther question. He hasn't even met Guenther yet, and is just trying to get to know people here. Guenther is highly regarded by Easter and Ikenberry, and the only question in my mind is how many years he re-ups for. He may want to take it one at a time until he sees who the next chancellor is next July.

Sid, in terms of sizes, Illinois is normal by Big Ten standards with 300-pound linemen (some of whom has intentionally reduced) in the starting roles, but is shaky in terms of depth in both lines. Linebacking should be solid if Martez meets Zook's expectations (Koenning wasn't thrilled with him Saturday), and the safety situation is a work in progress. But if your question wasn't serious, it's well taken.

Tom, no, I wouldn't print it unless the sources were willing to go on the record publicly. Anybody can say something like that, and they often do. It wasn't even true in the Deon Thomas case despite the fact that Pearl had a tape.
People say stupid stuff. Everybody thinks everybody else is cheating. In some cases, they may be correct, but you need hard evidence to print it.
I don't think there is any real evidence here that would pass the smell test ... or the test in court. If the Sun-Times has that evidence, they better be ready to present it. And if the Sun-Times has it, why did they erase the story?

Naples, my gut feeling on Chasson Randle that he will make a visit in October and make a choice between Illinois, Purdue and Stanford. What more can I say? By the way, there have been players in the past who have told Illinois coaches they were coming (Russell Cross, Cuonzo Martin)and then didn't. That's why we can't get overconfident about Shaw even though he has led certain people to believe he'll choose Illinois. Some prospects tell the coaches they're coming on every campus they visit.

Lee, I don't see a lot of impact on the non-revenue sports with the exception that Nebraska will be particularly hard to be in sports like volleyball and baseball. As you said, the expansion business was 100 percent about football.

Doug, I am taking one day at a time and, for Illini football, I am taking one game at a time. This could go either way, and the schedule does not make it any easier.
This is the ultimate underdog situation.

Gary, I wasn't scheduled to write about it, having already done the Hogan piece and a second piece for Sunday. If I had written, I would have quoted Koenning, who expressed disappointment of the big pass plays that his secondary permitted. Today Koenning said, having seen the film, that the problems are correctable. They better be. Missouri has a future pro at QB and will pass the Illini silly if they don't become disciplined and operate as a unit.
As for statistics, we had some but they don't make much sense with all the different situations ... third down series, 4-yard line series, coming out series, etc.