By Jordan Hansen
Part I of The Daily Iowan’s early summer look at the Big Ten.
There’s a scene at the end of the movie Twister that sort of encapsulates the last three or so years of Illinois football.
For some reason, Bill Paxton’s and Helen Hunt’s characters try to survive an EF-5 tornado by tying themselves to a pump while the building crashes around them. Incredibly, they survive, as do the data about tornadoes they were trying to collect.
It’s ridiculous and unlikely but somehow works out in perhaps the best way possible for the pair.
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Likewise, Illinois football survived a coach being investigated for player abuse, another coach only signed to a two-year deal (who was then fired a short time later) as well as a firing and hiring of an athletics director.
And yet, somehow, Lovie Smith is now the coach of Illinois. The same Lovie Smith who coached the Bears for nine years and led them to a Super Bowl.
“I’m excited about what’s going on here,” Smith said during the Big Ten’s annual spring teleconferences in April. “Obviously got a late start, but we’re catching up quickly.”
However, there still is an astronomically high number of things to prove for someone who hasn’t coached in a college game since 1995. He was fired from both Chicago and Tampa Bay after the teams did not reach expectations.
College football is certainly more patient and forgiving than the NFL, but if he fails to win more than a couple games in the coming season, there will be pressure — deserved or not.
Luckily for Smith, there is talent on the Illinois roster, and it starts with quarterback Wes Lunt.
He is heading into his senior year following a solid junior campaign in which he threw for 2,761 yards and 14 touchdowns with just 6 interceptions. He loses standout wide receiver Geronimo Allison, which means wideouts Desmond Cain and Malik Turner will have to build on the solid performances they turned in last season.
Smith will be able to turn to some semblance of a running game, as Ke’Shawn Vaughn — who had 723 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns — will return to Illinois this season.
While the Illini did lose running back Dre Brown and wide receiver Mikey Dudek to ACL injuries, the barrel of offensive talent is not empty. It does remain to be seen what the offensive line will be able to do, but there was bound to be growing pains with this team regardless of what happened.
Defensively, Illinois will be led by defensive end Dawuane Smoot, who had a breakout junior year, tallying 8 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.
With Smith’s reputation as a defensive coach, it will be interesting to see how he builds and runs this part of his team. During his years with the Bears, his defense regularly was one of the best in the league.
Plenty of respect should be given to the offense and for good reason — there’s quite a bit of proven talent there — but the place where Illinois can really make a mark is on the defensive end.
And Smith seems to be the perfect coach for just that.
Follow @JordyHansen all summer long for all sorts of Iowa and Big Ten sports content.