Not Much to Love Following Lovie's First Season With Illini

Anyone in Champaign who thought this was going to be a fruitful season for the Fighting Illini was quickly disappointed. If it was not enough that the team saw an abrupt coaching change to begin the season, soon after they lost star receiver Mike Dudek for the second straight season. Things did not get any better following this season, but one bright point for this team is they will not enter this offseason searching for a coach. They have what appears to be a keeper, one who not only will develop them to become winners on the field but winners off the field as well. Lovie Smith's credentials as a coach have rarely been called into question.  His resume speaks for itself, and if you look at it a national championship may not occur under Smith's leadership, but the fans in Illinois would simply settle for a consistent contender after two decades of hot and cold football under multiple failed coaching regimes. It wasn't long after the hire of previous coach Tim Beckman did Illini fans begin to miss Ron Zook. Beckman was doomed from the beginning, and it became abundantly clear while he may have been a decent coach at some point he was not cut out for the big lights of the Big 10. His key to success was his wife's spaghetti and his quirky demeanor which rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Following a developing scandal and poor play Beckman was fired, and the team looked to hand the reigns over to Bill Cubit, but Cubit included didn't expect to be the long term solution. While it appeared Cubit was going to get a chance to lead this team the firing of Lovie Smith in Tampa open the door the Illini making their first big investment under new AD Josh Whitman. While it was a bad spot, it was a move Whitman had to make because it wasn't likely Whitman was going to find a better option. The Illini had to move, and while it meant wronging Bill Cubit, Smith was too strong of an option to pass.

Smith was not able to recruit his own talent, but his name alone in the coming years should be enough to win over a number of recruits looking for their chance in the Big 10. Likewise, Smith's presence alone should be enough to help the Illini star winning over the talents of Illinois again, namely the highly talented regions in central Illinois and the Chicagoland area. Lovie Smith will have his work cut out for him, not only does he face an uphill battle in the Big 10 which is rich in talent once again, but he doesn't necessarily have the greatest talent in house at the moment. Nonetheless, he has a foundation which he can build upon. Malik Turner is likely to return, and Mike Dudek if he can rehab his knee gives the Illini a solid receiver duo. Additionally, returning will be All-Big Ten honorable mention Tre Watson. 

3-9 was nowhere near the expectation for this program, but it wasn't a major surprise either, this team is rebuilding, and next season is where the expectations will truly begin. This season was one Illini fans will put on the backburner. It was never supposed to be a success, but that's not what Lovie Smith would tell you. Smith was highly critical of his team's performance throughout the year. While the talent may not have been there, 3 wins seemed paltry even for this group. The move which created waves across the Land of Lincoln, will not finally get a chance to show it's value. A first season which was plagued by inconsistency could eventually be looked upon as a bump in the road before the University of Illinois returns to national prominence, after all, that's why Whitman hired Smith on his first day as AD, to make Illinois relevant again. However, a lot went wrong last season, but don't expect that to be the trend in the long run.

Offensively the Illini could have been better. It did not help matters Wes Lunt not only had a drop off in production but also suffered a back injury. Not to mention Mike Dudek tore his ACL before the season could even get started. Jeff George Jr. and Chayce Crouch had flashes of talent, but overall this offense was inconsistent. The only consistency seemed to be the emergence of Malik Turner. Junior Kenrick Foster was decent, but overall Smith will need to build at a bare minimum an average offensive squad to compete next season. The Illini offense was held to 10 points or less four times last season, and in the Big Ten, this will not get the job done. Smith obviously has his work cut our for him, but it's safe to expect a vast improvement from this squad next season. There will be a lot of turnover for this group, but in the Illini's case, this will be a positive. 

Lovie Smith is known for his defensive mentality and when it looked like the Illini defense was going to turn it around they faltered. There were a number of positives from this group, but many of those positives Hardy Nickerson, Carroll Philips, Dawuane Smoot, and company were seniors.  Smith will surely correct this team's defense which surrendered 48 points against North Carolina, 34 against Purdue, 40 to Minnesota, 48 against Wisconsin and 42 to Northwestern in the regular-season finale. They lacked a lot of playmakers on the defensive side as they lacked playmakers in general, in fact, the only team which was worse at taking the ball away was Maryland. Some of the bright spots will be Tre Watson and freshman Patrick Watson will be returning to this squad. Like much of the rest of the team, the Special Teams was far from special. The silver lining was Chase McLaughlin who put 70% of his field goals through the uprights this season. 

The Illini are hot on the recruiting trail at the moment, and they have already nabbed a number of quality commitments so far, but they will obviously need to add more to this. However, Dwayne Lawson will be competing immediately for the starting QB position, and the Illini has a serviceable backfield. Mikey Dudek hopefully will regain his health because when he has played he has shown the ability be a big play receiver, one the Illini sorely missed last season. We will have to see what kinds of adjustments this team makes, and what the incoming recruiting class will look like. While they likely do not make a run to the top next season, expect to see a major improvement with this squad next season. Their schedule is winnable with only a couple safe bet losses on the schedule. 

Winnable Games:

Sept. 2 — Illinois @ Ball State 

Sept. 9 — Illinois @ Western Kentucky 

Sept. 16 — South Florida @ Illinois 

Sept. 29 — Nebraska @ Illinois

Oct. 14 — Illinois @ Rutgers

Nov. 4 — Illinois @ Purdue

Nov. 11 — Illinois @ Indiana 

Nov. 25 — Northwestern @ Illinois 

Reaches

Oct. 7 — Iowa @ Illinois 

Oct. 21 — Minnesota @ Illinois 

Oct. 28 — Wisconsin @ Illinois

Nov. 18 — Ohio State @ Illinois

Needless to say, it's not out of the question the Illini become bowl eligible next season, don't expect them to sniff the top 25 yet, but if Lovie Smith and his crew can get the necessary talent into this program, it will only be a matter of him adjusting to the college game before this program is a competitive program gain. Depending on the incoming class I would say the best case this is a 7-5 team, and at its worst, I would say 5-7. There is nowhere for this program to go but up. For more opinion on the Fighting Illini follow this blog as we will discuss the future of the Fighting Illini all the way into the next season!