As usual, I won't have an official play on an Illinois game, so nothing coming from me on the Reliaquest Bowl, but as usual, I'll give you my thoughts. So much has happened with this game since the matchup was announced that I think most people have flipped their opinions. First of all, RIP to one of the greatest characters and one of the undeniably a trailblazer of college football, Mike Leach. Back in early December, the momentum in the Mississippi State program was kind of questionable. The transfer RB Dillion Johnson had a disrespectful comment about Leach on the way out and there were rumors that more players were not happy. Since then, however, it seems like the team has been galvanized, so much so that two defensive players who had previously opted out have reconsidered (DB Forbes being the most important.) At the same time, 3 very important players for Illinois opted out, and much has been said about that. Devon Witherspoon is a fantastic player, and one of the biggest reasons why Illinois was so good against the pass this year. Did you all know that Illinois gave up only 8 passing TDs and picked off 22 passes? They led the nation in both categories. Witherspoon is a major reason for that. The other two opt outs are S Sydney Brown and his twin brother Chase, both of whom were team leaders. Sydney is a good safety and a playmaker, but he is prone to boneheaded plays. He especially proved that in the back to back stretch against Michigan State and Purdue where he killed the Illini with some terrible personal foul penalties. The Illinois defense will miss those two guys, (as well as their other starting CB Taz Nicholson who is out for the year with a knee injury) but they were far from a 3 man defense. All of their front 7 is playing, and they are impossible to run on. Illinois obviously has a drop off from the 3 missing guys in the secondary, but they have some depth there. Rogers will be able to rack up yards, but Illinois will compete well on that side of the ball. I'm worried about them missing Chase Brown however. The Illinois offense was very reliant on him, and although Reggie Love was ok as he primary second RB, Chase Brown was a Doak Walker finalist for a reason. They'll have Josh McCray back at RB as well, but he has looked very timid in his limited return from a knee injury that has kept him out for much of the year, so I don't expect much from him. Illinois will have to throw it because MSU has very good run defense metrics. Tommy DeVito is capable, but the Illinois receivers are not necessarily deep threats. They are reliable in short routes, and Isaiah Williams breaks a lot of tackles, but they will have to sustain 10-12 play drives, and that's tough against a good SEC defense like the Bulldogs have. Now that the line has gotten to 3, I wouldn't recommend laying it because Bielema is money as a dog, but i won't be on the Illini. I'll be there so I'll be rooting for the Illini, but I won't be vested financially in the outcome.
