Illinois and Northwestern Preview:
Roller Coasters in the Land of Lincoln

By Paul Smith
paul.smith@collegeblitz.com

PORTER, IND. — This is the story of maddening inconsistency, a longterm roller-coaster ride of two Big Ten schools in a football-mad state where the vast majority of the local talent scatters to the four winds and too often leaves the two schools' coaches scrambling to stay competitive.

Northwestern. Illinois.

Too often in the past generation, their annual regular-season-closing battle has been to avoid landing in a double-digit placing in one of college football's most unforgiving conferences.

There have been enough hiccups in this depressing pattern to occasionally lift hopes of fans of one school or the other. Rarely, though, have the two enjoyed any real success at the same time.

Northwestern fans, later jilted by nattily-clad, smooth-talking Gary Barnett, remember the movie-star handsome coach taking his pet expression, "Expect Victory," and actually delivering on the promise in an unforgettable 1995 season that saw the Wildcats play in the Rose Bowl for the first time in two generations.

Competitively, too, before falling to superpower U.S.C. Northwestern, which was located light years from the national rankings through coaching era after coaching era, suddenly had grabbed the spotlight, and Ryan Field's smallish 48,000-seat structure actually found itself packed to the cheap seats for the first time since Ara Parseghian coached in Evanston.

But alas by winter 1998-9, Barnett, who had earlier nodded assertively when somebody asked if he would be a "Wildcat for life," took off for the greener pastures -- if you get the drift -- of Boulder, Colo., where he has led the Buffaloes into and out of major league trouble with the N.C.A.A. repeatedly.

Meanwhile in Champaign, current Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner had seemingly broken the new-coach-every-three-years mold and guided the Fighting Illini to a spectacular 2001 season that included a super-rare road victory at Ohio State. The Illini lost only once and Memorial Stadium became a 71,000-person testing grounds for the wills of any and all visiting teams.

But as was the case at Northwestern, which has found some modest success in Randy Walker's six years, the Illini couldn't sustain momentum and finally Athletic Director Ron Guenther reluctantly fired Turner after last fall's 3-8 finish, which included a 1-7 league record.

Enter Ron Zook, who was fired at Florida to the plaudits of the Gators' notoriously-whiny fanbase, after committing the mortal sin of guiding the Gators to 8-5 last fall, 23-14 overall. Steve Spurrier's successor had fallen uacceptably short in Gainesville, but in Champaign, hope sprang eternal as Zook was introduced to the statewide media last winter.

Thus, despite the clearly different circumstances, each school approaches this season with at least cautious optimism.

Northwestern brings a not-inconsiderable resume to its 2005 season. Maybe not quite enough to string together enough victories to make the post-season -- not with a schedule that includes games against the entire league establishment: Michigan, at Ohio State, Wisconsin, at Purdue, and Iowa at home.

Add in the early-season cupcakes -- which must have been cooked with concrete, starting with Ohio University, now coached by Frank Solich who won 76 percent of his games at Nebraska and got fired for doing so , then Northern Illinois, which has been in the Top 25 the past two seasons, and a visit to No. 20 Arizona State -- and a person with a lesser will than Walker's would be sighing all season long.

"The Big Ten is always tough," quarterback Brett Basanez, one of the league's best, told Jennifer Jones of the Chicago Sun-Times. "That's why you come to this school. That's why you play college football. Coach Walker calls it the biggest stage in the country."

Indeed, for Northwestern and Walker, after a couple of years of reassembling the shattered remains of the Wildcats program, the 'Cats have played over .500 ball as Walker's six-year record improved to 30-41.

The 'Cats, usually 2-3 key players short of the personnel quality of their marquee opponents, have nonetheless sprung some major upsets through the Walker years.

Last fall, for example, Basanez, who completed 53.7 percent of his passes for 2,848 yards and 12 touchdowns, guided N.U. to home upsets of Ohio State and Purdue. With half of each crowd pulling for the visitors.

An emotional sort, the native of nearby Arlington Heights, Ill., took a far more mature game-by-game approach and established a high-powered passing offense, led by receivers Mark Philmore and Jonathon Fields, both of whom return and figure to test the tensile strength of opposing secondaries.

Missing, however, will be 1,381-yard rusher Noah Herron, who scored 14 touchdowns, a torpedo shot a program like Northwestern's can ill afford. Michigan loses Running Back A, plug in Mr. B. Same for Ohio State, usually. It's like that at the uber-powers.

Walker just shrugs and deals with the here and now. along the way, raving about Basanez' leadership. "I couldn't be happier with how he's embraced all the aspects of being a quarterback," Walker told Jones. "He's taken ownership of the team and he and (defensive end) Barry Cofield and (linebacker) Tim McGarigle and (offensive tackle) Zach Strief and Mark Philmore, those five guys have really stepped forward in terms of leadership.

Where the rushing yards will come from -- behind a fairly talented veteran offensive line led by Strief, is still a mystery...maybe tailback Terrell Jordan, who managed 315 yards last year as a junior? But the 'Cats should be fairly steady on defense and if Jordan is even three-fifths as good as Herron was, Northwestern will be a tough weekly assignment.

Zook's team opens against mysterious Rutgers, which upset Michigan State in sweaty Piscataway, N.J. last September, but under energetic fourth-year coach Greg Schiano, has yet to consistently display real proof it will gain prime time status anytime soon.

The Illini, who saw their average home attendance drop precipitously to under 50,000 last fall, despite being in nearly all of their league losses except the 45-0 nadir at Minnesota, may be re-energized by Zook's hands-on approach.

The losses of talented quarterback Jon Beutjer, much of a fairly productive offensive line, plus key linebackers Matt Sinclair and Mike Gawelek will test Zook early in the season.

After Rutgers comes San Jose at home, then a visit to Cal. A 2-1 start is not out of the question here, and maybe if the confidence level builds behind junior quarterback Tim Brasic, the Illini could envision a 3-1 record before some form of reality sets in with a visit to No. 11 Iowa.

One key to the 2005 Illini puzzle may be enigmatic junior tailback E.B. Halsey, who grew up in the concrete and broken glass of Elizabeth, N.J.

His Illinois career was put on hold until a sexual-assault case with a girl Halsey was unaware was a minor was resolved. Then this past January, the 5-feet, 10-inch 200-pounder was arrested for speeding while heading back to Champaign from New Jersey in a rental car.

The case took some awkward twists and turns, including the fact the vehicle was registered in his uncle's name and this meant a potential misdemeanor charge for unauthorized motor vehicular usage. "It was a minor thing that turned into a big thing," he told the Chicago Sun-Times' longtime Illini beat writer Herb Gould.

Zook, an Ohio native who recruited a few north Jersey athletes for Florida, envisions the multi-talented junior tailback finally kicking into high gear this year.

"Have you ever spent any time in Elizabeth?" he asked Gould. Enough said. But both he and Guenther, after close scrutiny, have liked enough of Halsey's improving outlook and work habits to envision him as a key part of the 2005 Illini. Backing up Pierre Thomas, a talented all-purpose tailback who ran for 893 yards and eight TDs last year, Halsey could provide a key extra dimension to Zook's spread-the-field offense.

"I've watched his work ethic and listened to him," Zook said. "He's a competitor and a winner. He's an unselfish guy who cares. That's what's fun about this whole thing right now.

"Everyone understands that there's some rough seas out there, but no one's afraid to work."

The offensive line returns three starters and two more who have had significant success as backups. And senior wideout Kendrick Jones heads a modestly-talented corps of receivers who at this point are an unknown quantity to outsiders.

The defense returns two tough down linemen in Xavier Fulton and Chris Norwell. But even against Rutgers, which hasn't had a winning season in a decade, but features a high-powered offense led by senior quarterback Ryan Hart and fullback Brian Leonard, the Illini D will have to mature in a hurry.

Leonard shredded Michigan State's defense in the second-half heat at Piscataway last fall, and you can be sure Zook's staff has dissected that tape from every angle.

If Illinois' defense can at least stand its ground early on, then the 3-1 start is possible and the standard-issue prediction of 3-4 victories may prove to be a bit of an understatement.

For both teams, 2005 will likely include few post-season hopes. But in both camps, there is optimism. And enough talent to validate the age-old expression "That's why they play the games."

If either makes it past Nov. 19, then the Big Ten will have yet another bit of proof that it clearly is one of the nation's two best conferences.