Posts Tagged ‘Illinois’
My 2011 Defensive All-American Ballot
By Paul Myerberg // Nov 15, 2011
Picking all-American teams isn’t easy, believe it or not. You only have so many slots to fill: 11 starters on a defense, 11 players you can pick. So it’s only natural that a player or two — or three, or four — fall by the wayside, and for every 11 players you pick for your team it’s only natural that there are at least another 11 players worthy of heavy consideration. There is no second-team on a voters’ ballot; just 11 guys, and pick ‘em as you see ‘em. I filled out the defensive half of my all-American ballot yesterday — three days late for the deadline, so it may not even count. Here are the picks:
Tags: Alabama, Bacarri Rambo, Boston College, Devon Still, Dont'a Hightower, Dre Kirkpatrick, Frank Alexander, Georgia, Illinois, Jerel Worthy, L.S.U., Lavonte David, Luke Kuechly, Mark Barron, Michigan State, Nagurski Award, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tyrann Mathieu, Whitney Mercilus
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As if Picking the Teams Isn’t Hard Enough
By Paul Myerberg // Nov 2, 2011
I’ve never tried my hand at projecting the entire F.B.S. bowl slate; I have enough trouble with the five B.C.S. games, in my mind. But it’s worth a shot for one week, even if I mess up the various tie-ins, conference affiliations and so forth. Not to mention choose teams that end up staying home during bowl play. Well, here goes. Remember: those numbers signifying which team slots where in its conference are very arbitrary — to a point. The No. 7 team isn’t vaulting the No. 3 team, but No. 6 could be No. 4, No. 5 could be No. 7 and so on. And not every conference can meet its allotted bowl tie-ins; in that case, a substitute team is selected.
Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Auburn, B.Y.U., Baylor, Boise State, California, Cincinnati, Clemson, East Carolina, Florida, Florida International, Florida State, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas State, L.S.U., Louisiana-Lafayette, Miami (Fla.), Michigan State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, S.M.U., San Diego State, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Mississippi, Stanford, Syracuse, T.C.U., Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tulsa, U.C.F., U.C.L.A., Utah, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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The Path to Perfection for the 13 Leaders
By Paul Myerberg // Oct 12, 2011
This won’t be the year for a one-loss team. All signs point towards there being at least two undefeated teams atop the B.C.S. at the end of the regular season and conference championship games, so the age of two-loss L.S.U. lifting the crystal ball are dead, at least until next year. There are 13 undefeated teams in the F.B.S., two of which play on the non-B.C.S. conference level – Boise State and Houston. The other 11, those that control their own destiny, for better or for worse, might try to avoid the damning defeat that could send them from the B.C.S. title game to the Fiesta Bowl, if not lower. Let’s take a peek at the lucky baker’s dozen, looking at each team’s road to perfection and the big games to watch.
Tags: Alabama, B.C.S., Boise State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Houston, Illinois, Kansas State, L.S.U., Michigan, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Wisconsin
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Persa’s Back, Maybe With a New Role
By Paul Myerberg // Sep 29, 2011
Dan Persa’s back, and just in time. Northwestern needs a boost of confidence after losing to Army two weeks ago, 17-14, a defeat that evaporated much of the goodwill associated with Kain Colter’s fine two-game debut as Persa’s replacement. Colter was solid against Boston College and Eastern Illinois, completing 27 of 37 attempts for 301 yards with another 180 yards on the ground. Then came the Cadets: Colter did some work on the ground and even threw a touchdown pass, but Army’s ball-control offense prevented the once-and-future-backup — and future starter — from developing any momentum. Based on his regression against Army, Colter would have been a liability against Illinois; good thing Persa’s back.
Tags: Adonis Smith, Dan Persa, Illinois, Jacob Schmidt, Jeremy Ebert, Kain Colter, Mike Trumpy, Northwestern
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Clemson’s Young Star; B.C.S. Themes
By Paul Myerberg // Sep 27, 2011
Sammy Watkins does it again. And again. And again. Clemson’s true freshman wide receiver had his breakout game two weeks ago, setting a new school record for receptions by a freshman in a single game, and he was back at with force at home against Florida Stat. He made two touchdown grabs, the latter covering 62 yards to give Clemson a commanding 35-23 lead in the fourth quarter. This is how Watkins typically scores: Tajh Boyd finds him for about 15 yards, Watkins makes one or two guys miss and then outruns everyone else to the end zone. Watkins is one of several true freshmen making an impact for the Tigers, who are 4-0 for the first time since 2007. Touching on Watkins and other B.C.S. conference themes:
Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Big East, Bill Snyder, Bobby Petrino, Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa State, Jamar Miller, Jayron Hosley, Kansas State, Michigan, Nick Saban, Oklahoma, Oregon, Sammy Watkins, South Florida, West Virginia
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Big East Wins, Loses: B.C.S. Themes
By Paul Myerberg // Sep 19, 2011
Fittingly, the two programs that left the Big East in the cold — that first left the Big East in the cold — were the conference’s lone losers on Saturday. In a weekend where the Big East fared well, notching two wins over B.C.S. conference competition, the primary development was the league’s impending destruction: Syracuse and Pittsburgh are gone, soon to be joined by at least one, perhaps two conference brethren, and the Orange and the Panthers followed up that disappointment with a pair of disappointing defeats. Thanks for nothing, says the Big East. Touching on that and other themes from Saturday’s B.C.S. conference action:
Tags: B.J. Daniels, Big East, Chris Petersen, E.J. Manuel, Florida State, Illinois, James Franklin, Jeff Tuel, Marshall Loebbestael, Mike Leach, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Rick Neuhseil, Seth Doege, South Florida, Syracuse, Texas Tech, U.C.L.A., Vanderbilt, Washington State, West Virginia
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P.S.R. 1-120: Week 4 Re-Ranking
By Paul Myerberg // Sep 19, 2011
With the weekend in the books, here’s a look at how the country ranks — using the original rankings as the starting point, with the season’s results as rationale for any movement. The top 25 teams land a one-sentence breakdown. The rest? Not so much. Part of the perks of being one of the best. Think your team is too low? Feel another team deserves more credit, less credit? Let’s hear it below. It’s a delicate ranking process, particularly with only one week in the books, so you may seen one team ranked below a team it has beat on the field — see T.C.U. and Baylor, for example. Don’t be alarmed. Everything will become clearer by the end of the month.
Tags: Alabama, Boise State, Florida International, Hawaii, Illinois, L.S.U., Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Weekly rankings, Wisconsin
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No. 57: Illinois
By Paul Myerberg // Jul 6, 2011
Just when you think you’re out, Ron Zook is going to pull you right… back… in. We were almost free a year ago today, when Illinois, fresh off hitting rock-bottom at 3-9, entered the summer with a freshman quarterback, holes along the offensive line, a thin receiver corps, question marks in the secondary – I’ll stop here – and two new coordinators, along with the changes in philosophy that accompany such arrivals. And here we are, July, and the Illini are trending again. Zook wins another reprieve. He’s not going anywhere. Ever. Well, never say never.
Tags: A.J. Jenkins, Akeem Spence, Big Ten, Ian Thomas, Illinois, Jeff Allen, Nathan Scheelhaase, Paul Petrino, Ron Zook, Tavon Wilson, Trulon Henry
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