To lose at Ohio State is one thing.  We all knew we would lose, right?  15 point dogs, off-the-tracks offense, opponent out for revenge – this was a loss no matter how you looked at it.

But to lose like that?  To not even score?  To look that lifeless?

Last year, in a 30-20 loss, we ran for 214 yards against Ohio State. We return 9 of 11 starters, including every single running back, and this year we run for 82?  What?

I’m rambling.  Need to focus.  3 things that kept me up until 3:11 Saturday night/Sunday morning:

1. Where the hell is Rantoul Juice?

Friday morning practice, August 14th.  Two minute drill.  Eddie McGee at the helm.  And the offense looked much like it did yesterday – bumbling, fumbling, throw a few nice plays together, but then FAIL.  Turnover here, turnover on downs there.  Very disconcerting.

Then Juice steps in with the same offense running the same drill.  Precise throws.  70 yard TD drive with a nice fade to the corner of the endzone for Jack Ramsey.  The O looked like a machine.

Eddie’s back in.  Throws an INT.  Takes his helmet off and nearly tosses it.  Walks off livid.

Juice at the helm again.  Precision.  Another long drive.  Another TD.

What happened?  Where has that gone?  I know what you’re thinking: “he was facing our pass defense in practice – who wouldn’t look outstanding?” And there’s probably some truth to that.  And yes, we’re talkin’ ’bout practice.  You can hope, but it doesn’t always translate to games.  But I’m telling you, Juice looked like Michigan Juice.  Northwestern 2007 Juice.  In control, confident, and comfortable.  Light years better than McGee that day.  Eddie would come in, and the offense looked nearly identical to what we’re currently seeing on the field.  Juice would come in, and it was knife-butter.

But there I was on Saturday, calling for Eddie.  Juice looked like Rutgers Juice.  Pre-pick-6-against-Ball-State Juice.  Bad pass one play, then holding the ball too long the next.  Solid read-option run decision, followed by a ball thrown too late (and behind) Jarred Fayson.  From demeanor through results, he looked absolutely nothing like the senior-ready-to-put-it-all-together I saw in camp.

And I have no idea how he gets that back.  Or if he gets that back.

2. Champaign wishes with Fort Worth dreams

Mike Schultz worked with Gary Patterson at TCU for the last 9 years.  And Gary Patterson is a “defense, defense, defense, special teams, then offense” kind of coach.  As a result, Schultz’s job at TCU was to run a ball control, clock-eating offense that would give a fresh defense the chance to shut down their opponent.  It worked to perfection last year, as TCU was #1 nationally in time of possession and #1 nationally in total defense.

So you can’t fault Mike Schultz when he tries to do the same thing here.  Turnovers absolutely killed us last year, single-handedly losing us the Minnesota and Wisconsin games.  Schultz had to figure that if he could install the TCU mindset at Illinois – a keep-the-D-fresh-and-never-turn-it-over offense – that he would improve our chances of winning tenfold.

So far, it’s been an abject failure.  Three games, one touchdown pass. An 11 play drive and a 10 play drive at Ohio State… and zero points from either drive.  Play calls taking us away from Juice’s strengths and towards a situation where we need to expect him to complete 75% of his passes to keep a 14 play drive going.

At TCU, this worked because the defense would get the ball back.  Drive stalls at the 45, punt, hold them 3-and-out at the 15, and get the ball back and start over.  They had the luxury of being patient because their defensive scheme and playcalling might be the best in the country.

We can’t be patient.  Not only do we not have the defense to make this scenario work, we don’t have the discipline on offense.  We have the skill – a fact that makes me incredibly sad, seeing as we might have as much talent at skill positions as we’ve ever had, yet we’ve scored 9 points against BCS competition – but we don’t have the discipline.  TCU punted 7 times, turned it over on downs once, missed a field goal… and won at Clemson on Saturday 14-10.  Illinois punted 7 times, turned it over 4 times, and didn’t score in a 30-0 drubbing.

Most every quote out of Mike Schultz’s mouth this summer was some form of “dadgumit, we’re gonna find out what works and go with that – this ain’t my first rodeo”.  Well, Mike, you’re seated atop Red Rock, they’ve tightened the flank strap, and the gate’s about to swing open.  Hang on tight.

3. August seems long ago and far away.

College Football News had us at 10-2.  Stewart Mandel was all over college radio stations pimping Illinois as his surprise team. Guy-who-annually-nails-his-preseason-predictions Phil Steele had us at 10-2, even saying “If you told me at the end of the year, Illinois goes 12-0 and plays in the national title game,  it wouldn’t surprise me”.  Even the preseason publications that weren’t as high on us had us in a bowl game.

How do we go from that to 9 points?  How does an offense that finished 19th in total yards last year, returns 9 starters and adds a 5-star transfer at wideout, slide to 82nd in total offense after three games, one of which was an awful FCS opponent?  How does top-20 passing offense slide to 110th without losing players?

So far, this season is much more frustrating than any I can remember.  In 2004, we had no talent and therefore no chance.  We knew that 45-0 defeats were forthcoming, and there was nothing we (or Matt Sinclair) could do to stop it.

But this year, the talent is finally there.  And the talent has experience.  And the talent has a schedule that gets easier as the Big Ten goes along.  And the talent now has 9 points in 2 games.

Penn State struggling?  MSU in a 1-3 tailspin?  Indiana has no D?  Meaning the next three games could be had?  Nah – can’t even drag myself anywhere close to that.  Not yet.

I need to see that somebody actually cares first.