It's Game Day: Illinois still has plenty to play for

For all of our pregame coverage, click here

MINNEAPOLIS – One more loss and the bowl bid goes away. Then what for the Illinois football team?

Moping doesn't do you much good. Getting angry at everyone won't help either. So, they look for a model. And follow it. Like Mack Brown.

In his first two years at North Carolina, the current Texas coach Brown had consecutive 1-10 seasons.

By the midpoint of both years, Brown had forgotten about bowl bids and league titles. He narrowed the goals, made them more attainable. He worked toward the future.

"We tried to have wins outside of winning on the field," Brown said. "Each week, we would look at things that we did better. So, the players and the coaches could feel you were making leaps and gains, even though the public didn't see it. 'It's reality that we're running the ball better. It's reality that we're getting closer to winning.' "

Brown wanted the players and coaches to feel a sense of ownership in the program. He asked them to work hard no matter what the score or circumstance. He begged for them to stay positive.

"We used to say, 'It's not a matter of if we're going to win, it's a matter of when,' " Brown said.

One idea Brown would suggest to all struggling teams: try to ignore the words being written and said. By the media and by fans.

"People were negative, but they were pretty good," Brown said. "I tried to have some humor. I learned everybody looked at me. As long as they thought I felt we were getting better and I thought we had a chance – some of them thought I was crazy – but by and large, they said, 'You know, maybe he really believes this and maybe there is something here.' I used to tell them, 'Hang on. You're going to be surprised. You don't want to jump off because that train's going to get really crowded when we start winning.' "

Brown knew what he was doing. He never had another losing season at North Carolina, winning 10 games in three of his last five seasons before moving to Texas.

It worked for Brown at North Carolina. Following his idea, here are five goals for Illinois to try to achieve in the final four games:

1. Own the state

That means beat Northwestern on Nov. 14. It hasn't been easy for Illinois in recent seasons, the Wildcats taking five of the last six games between the schools.

When Northwestern visits Memorial Stadium next weekend, they won't be playing for the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk, which has been retired. Instead, it will be the Land of Lincoln Trophy. The yet-to-be-unveiled piece will include a replica of Abe Lincoln's famous stovepipe hat.

Pat Fitzgerald's team might need the win at Illinois to become bowl eligible. The 5-4 Wildcats are heavy underdogs today against Iowa and won't be favored in their season finale Nov. 21 against Wisconsin.

Illinois is already 1-0 against schools from the Land of Lincoln, beating Illinois State on Sept. 12. But that doesn't count toward the trophy.

2. Convince recruits

Proviso West's Kyle Prater saw a different Illinois team against Michigan, one that might convince him to change his mind about a commitment to Southern Cal.

Illinois currently has nine players on its commitment list. But some, including superstar tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz, are said to be wavering.

The class won't end with nine players. Count on double that many by early February.

Each year, the selling point has been different. Early in Ron Zook's tenure, it was a chance to play immediately. More recently, it's been "Help build a consistent winner." But the coaches can't sell, "Keep us employed." The message has to be about the potential of the place and the returning players who give Illinois a chance to realize that potential.

Maybe, in the final four games, the Illini need to go a bit out of character. Use some trick plays. Blitz more. Be aggressive. Show the potential recruits that they aren't going to end the season without giving every last bit of effort.

3. Win a road game

There are two chances left, today's game at Minnesota and Nov. 27 at Cincinnati.

Illinois will be a heavy underdog in the latter game. The Bearcats are ranked No. 4 and making a push to play in the BCS title game. Smallish Nippert Stadium will be full and loud for the Thanksgiving Friday game and Brian Kelly hasn't shown much willingness to take it easy on visitors.

Minnesota won't present the same challenge. The Gophers are favored by six points and are coming off a 1-2 stretch that includes blowout losses to Penn State and Ohio State. Those teams beat Minnesota by a combined 58-7 and beat Illinois by a combined 65-17.

The Gophers haven't been great in their new home, losing to Cal and Wisconsin. They are 3-2 in the first year at TCF Bank Stadium.

Road games weren't a problem for Zook's 2007 team, which went 3-1 in Big Ten road games on its way to the Rose Bowl. In 2008, the Illini were 1-3 in conference road games, the lone win coming at Michigan. And they are 0-3 this season. Since taking over at Illinois in 2005, Zook is 5-14 in Big Ten road games.

4. Try new guys

Sixl first-year freshmen have been given a try, including Terry Hawthorne, Walter Aikens, Michael Buchanan, Hugh Thornton, Justin Green and Joelil Thrash.

Hawthorne, Aikens and Thornton are starters, but it might be time to increase the role for the other three. Their redshirts are already gone, so they should be on the field.

Green and Buchanan could be huge stars for Illinois in the future. The more experience they get now, the better they will be in 2010 and beyond.

But the youth movement can't come at the expense of players who are giving effort.

With his 1-10 North Carolina teams, Brown didn't sugarcoat the situation.

"We didn't care about age," Brown said. "We didn't give up on a guy who was playing hard. But we told the guys, 'If you're older and you're not producing, we're going to put a younger guy in.' "

One of the early years, Brown started 10 freshmen.

"I can remember asking Coach (Joe) Paterno, 'What happens when you play young ones? How do you handle that?' " Brown said. "And he said, 'You get beat. For every freshman you start, you lose a game.' We lost 10, so he was right."

5. Send seniors out a winner

It's been seven years since the Illini won their final game of the season. Ron Turner's 2002 team won at Northwestern 31-24 to end a disappointing 5-7 season. Though the seniors on the team wanted to go to a bowl game, they were smiling on their way out of Ryan Field that day.

Only one of the season ending losses since 2002 has been by a touchdown or less. The other games have been decided by 17 (Northwestern in 2003), 17 (Northwestern in '05), 11 (Northwestern in '06), 32 (2008 Rose Bowl against Southern Cal) and 17 (Northwestern in '08).

The Illini don't close the 2009 season against the Wildcats or the Trojans. Instead, it's Fresno State on Dec. 5, the first home game ever for the Illini after November.

The Bulldogs won't be an easy out. They lost three of their first four games, but all to teams currently ranked. They lost to No. 4 Cincinnati by eight points and No. 5 Boise State by 17.

Since the loss to the Broncos, Fresno State has won four in a row and could come to Champaign with an 8-3 record.

Comments

Add a Comment