Illinois Preview

Ah, me. Another Big Ten football season is drawing to a close. As has become usual, NU is taking on in-state rival Illinois. You may recall that last year, down in the balmy southland of Urbana, the ApostroCats rushed the ball until it could be rushed no more. And then some. Northwestern's longest pass of the day was, if I'm not mistaken, completed in the Memorial Stadium parking lot by aspiring quarterback "Little" Billy Cheever. His 16-yard throw was caught by his father "Big" Billy Cheever, who proceeded to spike the ball in some cheese dip. It was an inauspicious day for NU passing, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

But the Cats won anyway, behind a ton of running and some real bad UI offense. This year may be more of the same. I think Baz will be a little more productive on Saturday, but if Herron and Jordan are moving the ball, we can look for 35-40 rushing plays. Or more.

Now, I know that the Illini probably had some sort of Senior Day stuff at Illinois' home finale against Indiana. But I'll spotlight a couple of the seniors here too. I'm sure NU will have the Cats covered on the senior level.

* Jon Beutjer (QB). Let me tell you, he's 24 years old. No seriously. He's a month and a half older than I am. This is his sixth year of playing at UI. Don't ask me how. Plus he's really pretty crappy and fragile. I don't think he'll be seeing time.

* Matt Sinclair (LB). Not quite as old as our dear friend Jon. According to his bio, he wants to own a restaurant after he graduates. I think he should move to Madison and run John's Tacos (John Stocco's).

* Taman Jordan (DB). Now look. I don't anything about him. I know that his major is Rhetoric. And I'm sure that's a great major. Years from now, I guess he'll be able to convince his McDonald's manager to give him an extra day off at Christmas.

And the rest of the bunch...
*Breaking his own record: Sharriff Abdullah (So. DB) is planning to add another double letter to his name. This will help him break his own Big Ten record in that category.
*Get some original names please: Arthur Boyd III, Sam Carson III, Joe Mele III, Duke Preston III, James Stevenson III, Raymond Willis III.
*You, plenty original. Thanks: Kisan Flakes (Fr. QB)
*AND!: Waller, Walker, Tischer, Shafer, Kruger, Kleckner, Frazier, Creamer (eww), Cooper, Buckner, Bower, Beutjer.

GO CATS!