![\"Kyle](\"http:\/\/www.sportscapping.com\/new\/cache\/capper_photos\/366_service_photo.jpg\" "\\"Kyle")
<\/a>Big Ten Conference 2011-2012 Football Previews: Illinois Fighting Illini<\/strong> Zook was on the hot seat before last year, but the team did enough to get its first bowl berth since the 2007 Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n Can the Fighting Illini build off last season\u2019s relative success?<\/p>\n Those who want the Fighting Illini to get a new coach will point out that this program continues to fail to get off the ground despite pulling in some big name recruits on an annual basis. Last year\u2019s team surprised a few people, and the Fighting Illini picked up a bowl victory. Illinois was hurt badly by its top two defensive players, Cory Liuget and Martez Wilson, both entering the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n In addition, star running back Mikel LeShoure is now in the NFL as well.<\/p>\n It will be up to some youngsters to step up if this team is going to surprise once again in 2011.<\/p>\n Nathan Scheelhaase was one of the biggest reasons the Fighting Illini surprised quite a few people in 2010. Scheelhaase performed admirably in his freshman season, and I fully expect him to continue to improve. Scheelhaase is a dual-threat quarterback, which helps keep the defense off guard at all times.<\/p>\n If he can improve his passing accuracy, he could be one of the better signal callers in the conference.<\/p>\n Illinois should improve in the secondary this season. Tavon Wilson is a very good cover corner, and I expect him to be someone that the NFL scouts are looking at after this season. At free safety, Trulon Henry does a good job serving as the back line of the defense.<\/p>\n This secondary is experienced and I expect a better year from them, especially if the front seven can get a decent pass rush going.<\/p>\n Paul Petrino has done a good job with the Illinois offense, and he is all about establishing a running game. Even without LeShoure, I expect the Fighting Illini to be pretty good at running the football. Jason Ford is a talented running back that appears ready to pick up the slack.<\/p>\n In addition, Scheelhaase will likely look to run more often now that LeShoure isn\u2019t around.<\/p>\n The linebackers lost a star when Martez Wilson left, and I think this group could suffer quite a bit this season. Ian Thomas is a solid senior starter in this group, but the rest of the linebackers will be inexperienced. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n With so many youngsters in key positions, expect the Fighting Illini linebackers to struggle to match last year\u2019s productivity.<\/p>\n Where is the depth at wide receiver? A.J. Jenkins is a very good wide receiver, and he\u2019ll clearly be the team\u2019s number one option, but after that there are a lot of question marks. In order to take the next step as an offense, Illinois needs to become more balanced.<\/p>\n Scheelhaase will likely improve as a passer, but he\u2019ll need some play makers on the outside.<\/p>\n The Fighting Illini have struggled badly with special teams play in the last few years. The return teams are consistently the worst in the Big Ten. The coverage teams have allowed far too many long returns as well.<\/p>\n The Fighting Illini have one of the easiest schedules in the Big Ten this year. The first five games are all at home, and only the Arizona State game would be considered a difficult matchup. Illinois is fortunate to be able to avoid Nebraska and Michigan State this season in conference play.<\/p>\n With an easy schedule like this, I would certainly expect this team to make it to another bowl game. There are too many question marks to expect much more than a low level bowl berth.<\/p>\n I expect the Illini to finish slightly above .500.<\/p>\n 2011 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n 9\/3\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\tARKST College football preview guide for the 2011 Big 10 Conference Illinois Fighting Illini CFB betting season. Kyle Hunter weighs in with his ncaa football predictions, and BCS championship handicapping analysis\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":23682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[50788,44530,49957,50790,50791,11475,4916,50868,2954,50869,50870,50871,50872],"class_list":["post-41144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2011-big-10-conference-football-previews","tag-2012-bcs-lines","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-big-10-conference-football-predictions","tag-big-10-conference-odds","tag-big-10-conference-picks","tag-big-ten-conference","tag-fighting-illini-bcs-futures","tag-illinois-fighting-illini","tag-illinois-football-predictions","tag-illinois-gambling-odds","tag-illinois-predictions","tag-illinois-schedule"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41144"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41162,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41144\/revisions\/41162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n Head Coach: Ron Zook<\/strong>
\n 2010 Record: 7-6<\/strong>
\n Illinois Gambling Odds from JustBet to win BCS: +15,000 (Part of Field)<\/strong>
\n Illinois Odds from JustBet to win Big Ten Leaders Division: +750<\/strong>
\n Illinois Odds from JustBet to win Big Ten Conference Championship: +2,000<\/strong>
\n Illinois Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2011 Schedule –><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n**BETONLINE – THE BEST SPORTSBOOK FOR NCAA FOOTBALL BETTING! \u2013 CLICK HERE NOW + BET TODAY!**<\/a><\/h3>\n
Team Strengths:<\/h3>\n
Team Weaknesses:<\/h3>\n
2011-2012 Illinois Football Prediction: 7-6<\/h3>\n
\n9\/10\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\t SDST
\n9\/17\/11\t 7:00 PM ET\tARZST
\n9\/24\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\tWMICH
\n10\/1\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\tNWEST
\n10\/8\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\t @IND
\n10\/15\/11 12:00 PM ET\tOHIST
\n10\/22\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @PURD
\n10\/29\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @PENST
\n11\/12\/11 12:00 PM ET\tMICH
\n11\/19\/11 12:00 PM ET\tWISC
\n11\/26\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @MINN <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"