This week's forgotten Illini-guard Bucky Babcock...signed in Ron Turner's 2000 Illini recruiting class....two time all state football player/Class A heavyweight state wrestling champion at Stillman Valley High School south of Rockford.....picked Illinois over offers from Minnesota and Iowa among others....four year starter for the Illini played both guard and tackle (2001-2004)...co captain 2004 team....Freshman All American 2001....First Illini linemen summer camp 1999 I attended Babcock and Mike Lorenz (Manitowoc Wis. Lutheran HS) two prep standouts working out for Turner's staff that day.....mention Lorenz cause the Badgers staff took Lorenz over Babcock for the final oline ride in their class of 2000..……Babcock/parents went up to Minneapolis spring of 1999 for an unofficial visit with the Gophers....all 3 met with then Minnesota head coach Glen Mason for 15-20 minutes in the head coaches office....parents/Bucky impressed by the Gophers/Mason seriously thought of committing on their next trip to Minneapolis..……summer 1999 family went back up to visit the Gophers again, waiting for their assistant coach to meet them in the lobby of the football office, Mason comes out of a room, sees the three Babcock's waiting, asks, 'can I help you?' no idea who they were, quickly brushed them off to the assistant....didn't sit well with the parents/Bucky, turned them off to Minnesota.....years later would tell a then Illini assistant coach who had worked for Mason at Kansas, then Minnesota that story, his reply 'Oh yeah Coach (Mason) hated recruiting. He was good for 20 minutes in those meetings than we had to get the kid, his family out of there cause Coach would lose patience. If we didn't go over who was coming in, the background, that wouldn't surprise me that Coach would not have any idea who that recruit was'.....Babcock now a teacher/assistant head football coach at Geneseo (Ill.) High School outside of the Quad Cities.
Big Ten team of the week 11-Ohio State....Freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud was dialed in, throwing for 361 yards and five touchdowns as the Buckeyes struck early and rolled over Purdue 59-31 on Saturday. (courtesy ESPN)....thought Purdue would give the Buckeyes a game but this one was over quickly...Buckeyes scored 45 points in the first half....watching that game, how interested was in it....flashback to 1995 Illini at Ohio State...Eddie George (314 yards, three TD's) clinched the Heisman running wild over the Illini 'vaunted' defense in Columbus...final that day? Ohio State 41 Illinois 3....still can't believe paid 49.95 for the 'pay per view' out of market option...what an idiot.
Big Ten football week 12
Rutgers (+17) at Penn State (6-4) 11 am CT. BTN
Penn State has a hard time blowing anyone out....Rutgers and the points.
Purdue (6-4) at Northwestern (+11) 11 am CT. BTN
The Wrigley Field game.....this time both teams won't have to both go in the same direction on offense like the 2010 Illini beat down of the Cats....Purdue lay the points.
Michigan State (+19) at Ohio State (9-1) 11 am CT ABC
Buckeyes will continue to roll....only Big Ten team left that has a chance to slow down Ohio State is Wisconsin...Ohio State lay the points.
Michigan (9-1) at Maryland (+15) 2:30 pm CT. BTN
Terrapins needs one more win to be bowl eligible...won't happen this week....Michigan lay the points.
Nebraska (+9.5) at Wisconsin (7-3) 2:30 pm CT. ABC
Cornhuskers playing out the string after Nebraska head coach Scott Frost sacrificed majority of his offensive staff bye week....Badgers lay the points.
Minnesota (6-4) at Indiana (+7) 2:30 pm CT. BTN
Gophers offense could run the ball for over 400 yards, 45 minutes of possession time on offense and score 16 points....Gophers lay the points.
Illinois (+13) at Iowa (8-2) 1 pm CT. FS1
With Bielema out still think Ron Guenther should have been this week’s 'honorary' Illini head coach....sit in the front seat of the bus make sure the team gets to the stadium on time...lead ‘em out of the tunnel....Bielema appointing former Metamora (Ill.) head coach/Illini staffer Pat Ryan as an assistant coach this week smart......Ryan knows how to run a game as a head coach.....last time an Illini head coach was a positive on the sidelines during the game? I kid I kid....Hawkeyes running the ball have struggled in their outside zone scheme vs. odd man defensive fronts…..Iowa interior d-line can be run on.……defensive coordinator/‘D’ game plan/running the football inside on offense…..Illini strengths...Illinois and the points.
*Fighting Illini football recruits from the state of Iowa since 1980....those that actually played high school football in the state of Iowa vs. the recruits from other states that played JC football at Iowa Western then signed with Illinois.
*Jim Kisner offensive line Bettendorf (IA.) High School Illini recruiting class of 1982
Lettered in 84/85 as a reserve center....wasn't invited back for his fifth season in 1986.
*Kraig Koester tight end Davenport (IA.) North High School Illini recruiting class of 1989
Sweet mullet back in the day...excellent high school hoops players...three year letterman at Illinois tight end (91-93)
*Corey Ryan offensive line Bettendorf (IA.) High School Illini recruiting class of 1993
Rated one of the top 10 players out of the state of Iowa class of 93'.....high school teammate of former Iowa great Tavian Banks.....lettered in 1995 for Illinois deep snapper....never played a down on the offensive line.
*Dallas Hinkhouse offensive line Iowa Western JC/West Des Moines (IA.) Valley HS Illini recruiting class of 2013
Skinny tackle that couldn't gain weight...ended up moving him to tight end.
*Andrew Davis tight end Iowa Western JC/Marion (IA.) High School Illini recruiting class of 2015
Then Illini tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator Alex Golesh struck again...having his recruiting' buddies 'rank' Davis as one of the 'top JC tight ends in the country'....Davis had 12 catches in his career in Champaign.
*Jeff Arneson Dubuque (IA.) Hempstead lettered at Illinois 91-93 at safety.
Wins the award for best Illini walk on from the state of Iowa...outstanding high school basketball player.....Lifelong Hawkeye fan was offered a shot at walking on at Iowa...he felt he deserved a scholarship from the Hawkeyes so instead walked on at Illinois..
*Have been in attendance the last three times Illinois has beaten Iowa....1999 Iowa City Rackers touchdown catch Ferentz's first year at head coach at Iowa..……2000 in Champaign, Wakefield keeps sacking then Hawkeye QB Beutjer…..2008 in Champaign...wonderful fall day, why did Zook take that timeout late?....every time Illinois vs. Iowa in football game comes around.....always remember that 1985 game in Iowa City......my uncle at that time was attending the University of Iowa....went up to visit/the game...had to sit in that Iowa student section with all those drunken hillbillies...if that wasn't enough, cold, rainy, windy day and before we were able to sit down...Illinois down 21-0.....student section was in the north end zone then....stood there having to watch time after time Chuck Long rainbow passes to Hawkeye wide receivers running free into the end zone....final 59-0 Iowa....stayed whole for some reason and kept 'hoping'.(again idiot)...late in the game 'heir apparent' Illini QB Jim Bennett got a series....one of the few that saw #5 play in a game..…..next great Illini QB Bennett quit after that 85' season never to be seen on the football field again.....85' team pre season top ten ranking, all the 'youngsters' from the 83' Rose Bowl team (Trudeau, Williams, Rooks, Juriga etc.) were now seniors for their final shot at another Big Ten championship.....finished a disappointing 6-5-1…was Mike White's last winning season in Champaign.....disappointing season and a god awful game day experience in Iowa City for me that day 1985.
*Illini Rose Bowl week 2008....big Illini get together at the Pink Taco on Santa Monica BLVD. few days before the game (know all of you reading this were there)……plenty of former players at event, enjoying themselves and by that time....knew a lot of the guys that were on the 85' team there that night..... talking to the former players, bring up that 85' Iowa game and....almost all start laughing, they remembered it, how shitty they played.……all agreed after they started getting their ass kicked that day, they just tried to not get hurt, stay warm, 'figure out where we will party tonight' when they got back to Champaign....wait what?….was like a 5-year old who was told 'Santa Claus doesn't exist'....when many former players admitted they had checked out that game once they knew they were not going to win they got a kick out of the fact I stayed...they didn't share my hatred of Iowa at that time?…DISAPPOINTED….got over it, out grew that 'hate' for Iowa cause with all the Illinois losses to the Hawkeyes over the years in football…..just beats your enthusiasm down...side note…BS’ing that night at the Pink Taco about the ‘rumors’ that season…..couple of the former players denied the rumored fist fight on the plane back from Iowa City between quarterback Jack Trudeau and Illini safety Craig Swoope….same players had a laugh/confirmed that then Illini defensive coordinator Max McCartney and offensive assistant Bill Callahan (now Cleveland Browns offensive line coach) did get into a fight on the plane going home from Iowa City....the two went at it on the plane, had to be separated....after the plane landed, pair went after each other again inside Willard Airport....players indicated a few Illini coaches 'drinking' their sorrows away on the short plane ride back to Champaign that night….oh yes the good ol’ days.