Illinois Fighting Illini Look to Bounce Back Against In-State Rival Red Birds

Last week was bad.  After an entire offseason of talking about how good this iteration of the Illinois Fighting Illini would be, they opened the season not with a bang, but a whimper.   Head Coach Ron Zook’s boys looked out of sorts, unprepared, and injuries to starting wide receiver Arrelious Benn and running back Daniel Dufrene certainly hurt Illinois’ cause, it was not the reason they got thumped 37-9. The team played a rebuilding Missouri team close for two quarters, and then, instead of coming out of halftime with fire and focus, they fell flat.  Missouri appeared to be the better team by quite a large margin, and Illinois opened the season with a loss for the third straight year. This week should be a welcome change from the poor mouth mood that settled over Champaign following the blowout loss.  FCS school Illinois State comes to town and presents what should only be schedule fodder for a downtrodden, yet massively talented Illini squad. While ...