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 Almost a perfect weekend
Illini back on track
By Jeff Mayfield
[OCT.
16, 2000]
The
stands were packed, the weather cooperated and the Illini got back
on track with a 31-0 whitewashing of the Iowa Hawkeyes. It was
almost a perfect weekend…we were one Cardinal victory away from a
perfect weekend! I hate to say the overused word that this was a
must win for the Illini, but this was a must win for the Illini.
Though they appeared to have a slow, sluggish start, they got things
rolling by taking a 21-0 halftime lead to the locker room…
Led
by a stingy defense and the solid performance of the offense, the
Illini got back in line for a bowl bid with a semi-convincing 31-0
blanking of the Iowa Hawks. The Illini were led by junior
quarterback Kurt Kittner, who finished the day 17-of-25 for 248
yards passing and three touchdowns. Kittner was given ample
protection all afternoon in a good showing by his offensive line.
The line opened some nice holes and allowed the running backs to
average nearly four yards per carry. Rocky Harvey had a couple of
electrifying runs and ended up with 104 yards on just 14 carries.
But the day’s offensive star probably would have to go to
sophomore wide-out Aaron Moorehead. Moorehead caught four passes for
125 yards and two touchdowns. Christian Morton announced his
presence with a nifty 23-yard punt return. Fred Wakefield had some
impressive sacks to lead a resurgent defense that will need to keep
their opponents in check as the Illini continue to go bowl hunting.
Next
up for Illinois is a road tilt at Penn State on Saturday.
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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All photos by Tom Seggelke
[Tom and Jeff go to great lengths to give LDN
readers on-the-spot coverage!]
[Aaron Moorehead gathers in a spectacular 61-yard
scoring strike from QB #15 Kurt Kittner]
[Antoineo Harris is denied access to the south end
zone.]
[A happy and relieved Coach Turner at his post-game
conference.]
[The Illini hoopsters take a bow.]
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Illini
hoopsters unleashed
By Jeff Mayfield
[OCT.
16, 2000]
Another
reason that it was such a great weekend is that the greatest show on
earth was reopened after the football game on Saturday. Under the
big top at Assembly Hall, both the Illini women’s and Illini men’s
basketball teams were introduced to the public for the first time
this year. Once again, Lincoln’s own Brian Cook received a raucous
ovation from the crowd as he came out of the tunnel to begin his
sophomore season. As usual, the LDN was there to take it all in for
your reading pleasure…
Brian
Cook and his Illini brethren looked a little tired and a little
sluggish as new coach Bill Self ran the Illini through their paces
in the first scrimmage of the year. We spoke with Brian after the
game, and he said many of the players were both sore and tired. They
had been through an exhausting three-hour workout earlier in the
day. Brian was hobbled by a slightly twisted ankle but said that he
will be fine. Despite all that, he was listed unofficially going
2-for-3 from the field and 1-for-2 at the line for five points. I
think people are starting to realize that the more he gets the ball,
the more good things that will happen. Brian sends his regards to
the fans back home and hopes that his former Railer teammates have a
great season.
I
also spoke to Rob Judson, Illini assistant coach, before the game.
Rob feels very good about this Illini team. He felt that the team
has a good work ethic, and they seem to be coming together nicely.
At
the post-game conference, new head coach Bill Self cautioned the
media not to worry too much about the team’s early sloppy play. He
said that he told them to go out and have some fun today. He added
that they don’t even know what he wants yet, so it was hard for
him to evaluate their play. We think that he is sly like a fox and
that this Illini team is going to be an exciting one to watch.
A
brutal schedule will challenge Self and his young cagers. The Illini
open the season three weeks from tonight with a contest against
Athletes in Action. For single game or season tickets call (217)
333-5000.
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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All photos by Tom Seggelke
[Illini assistant coach Rob Judson discusses the
upcoming season with LDN sports editor Jeff Mayfield]
[New Illini head coach Bill Self contemplates the new
season at hand.]
[Brian Cook and company. In front is Nick Smith and
in between is Cook's roommate, Jerrance Howard.]
[Cook prepares to embark on his sophomore season.]
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And
what can you say about the World Champion St. Louis Rams? I’m
still not even used to saying it. Many commentators and media types
have said that the Rams were nothing but a fluke last year. I don’t
see how they come up with this stuff. The Rams took on all comers
and dusted them all off. That’s what champions do. So, fluke or no
fluke, they could only play the teams that advanced, and they beat
them all! End of story!
And
they may just do it again this year. Talk about offenses? They are
currently on pace to set the all-time NFL record for most points in
a season. Incidentally, if you took their totals from their last 16
games (which would normally make up one full regular season), they
have already set that record. They’re currently on an amazing
streak in that they have scored over 30 points in every game they
have played this year!
Quarterback
Kurt Warner, who may even be a better person than he is a player, is
looking better in season number two than he did in his MVP season
from a year ago! And their receiving corps is downright scary! When
you can sit in the pocket and throw passes to the likes of Isaac
Bruce, Tory Holt and Az Hakim, you can almost just set the controls
to automatic pilot! And then when you tack on the amazing
versatility of running back and receiver extraordinaire Marshall
Faulk and stick him into your arsenal, you’re ready to go to
battle.
I
haven’t even mentioned their dominating offensive line. With
giants like Orlando Pace creating holes and running lanes that you
could drive a semi through, I’m not too surprised at how
successful they have been.
[to top of second
column in this section]
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They
even appear to be having a good time doing it. These guys actually
look like they like each other. Is that supposed to be happening on
a professional sports team? I admit, I may be a little confused by
it all. The next thing you know, someone’s going to tell me that
these guys are a throwback to some of my favorite teams from the ’60s,
and this team actually doesn’t just play for the money. That could
never happen again, could it?
If
the Rams have a concern, it would be on the defensive side of the
ball. For two years they simply have outscored their opponents. That
theory almost did not work in the Super Bowl against the Tennessee
Titans, but almost only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and
drive-in movies. (Did I just date myself with that comment? Does
anyone else miss drive-ins as much as I do?)
The
reason I think they should bolster up their defense is that you
never know when some team will devise a blitz package that can
actually get to Warner. If the defense can keep the Rams in the game
when that situation occurs, they may just have a dynasty on their
hands. That might be a big "if."
In
the meantime, St. Louis seems to be happy just playing pinball and
racking up points against their opponents.
So,
that wraps up the LDN’s early report on our local or regional NFL
teams. Hopefully, there’s still time for your favorite team to
make a run for the playoffs. Let the LDN know who your favorite team
is, and we’ll see by the response how much more info to get for
you. No matter what, this season is shaping up to be one of the best
in recent years. Let us know if you have any extra tickets to any
upcoming games, and we’ll try to make ourselves available.
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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The
best thing I can probably say about the NFL can be summed up in one
word: parity! Fans all over the league are operating under the
fallacy that their area team actually has a chance to make it to the
Super Bowl. I would bet the hot tub that the
San
Diego Chargers will not make it to this year’s Super Bowl.
Unfortunately for all of our local Bears fans, I don’t think
Chicago is going to make it either. They started off with a good
showing against the Vikings in the Twinkie dome. They really
deserved a better fate. They even looked a little better when they
beat the Packers. However, their poor performance displayed against
the New Orleans Saints removes any hope that they’re climbing to
some acceptable level of consistency and respectability. They just
don’t seem to have enough skill at the skill positions. Their
inability to run the football consistently has put too much pressure
on quarterback Cade McNown. Also, the defense will need to step up
big on a regular basis for this team to improve.
The
Indianapolis Colts on the other hand, are entertaining Super Bowl
dreams of their own after making it to the AFC championship game
last year. Things may be not be going according to plan with their
recent losses to New England and a tough home setback to Oakland.
However, at times their offense looks as good as anybody’s. When
Peyton Manning is in rhythm, he is as good as anyone in the NFL.
[to top of second
column in this section]
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Edgerrin
James doesn’t seem like he is the dominant running back that he
was last year. If the Colts are to go deep in the playoffs, James
will have to punish people from week to week. I noticed how
important he is to the overall offensive scheme when I recently
attended their game with the Minnesota Vikings. When he was
clicking, the Colts looked pretty hard to stop. That may say more
about the Vikes' defense than it says about the offensive prowess of
Indianapolis.
Speaking
of the Vikings, their offense is really impressive. I know that they’re
not one of the local teams that loyal Lincoln Daily News readers
follow, but I’m on a roll here! Have you ever seen a quarterback
the size of Dante Culpepper? He is 6 feet 5 inches and weighs over
260 pounds. How would you like to try to bring this guy down in the
open field? Everyone dissed on the Vikings for letting all of their
good quarterbacks go to keep Culpepper. It appears that Coach Dennis
Green knew a lot more about it all than the armchair quarterback
nation!
Back
to the Colts… Several things impress me about them. One is the
emergence of Peyton Manning at the quarterback position at such a
young age. He is simply brilliant back there and has deserved a
better fate in the few games that they have lost the last two
seasons. The consistency of their kicking game also is one of their
strong suits, especially Mike Vanderjack. He has shown a consistency
that takes a lot of pressure off of both the offense and the
defense. In fact, the game I saw versus the Vikes, he calmly hit the
game winner as time expired. I think he has been one of the unsung
heroes of the Colts rise over the last two years. Their defense will
tell the story as to how far they will go this season.
(To
be continued)
[Jeff
Mayfield]
[click
here for Part 2]
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