VIDEO: Illini Now/SI Morning Update With Matthew Stevens - July 10, 2020
Illini Now/Sports Illustrated publisher/editor Matthew Stevens didn't have much to talk about in today's morning update video, right?
WRONG!
Stevens talks about the Big Ten's announcement to play only conference games for the 2020 football season in the fall. The first month of the season with opponents such as Illinois State, Bowling Green and Connecticut was supposed to be grooved toward the Illini’s first 3-0 start since 2011 and only the third 3-0 start since 2001. “Optimism”, as Illini head coach Lovie Smith put it, was warranted. Then, Illinois was to open up Big Ten Conference play with Rutgers on Oct. 3. The Illini were likely to be favored in all of those first four games and the last Illinois won four games in a row to start a season was 2011 when they started 6-0 but lost their final six regular season games resulting in the firing of then-head coach Ron Zook. See, not even getting out fast results in anything but a bummer for Illini football. Before 2011, the last time Illinois started 4-0 in a season was 1951 when they ended up in the Rose Bowl.
By playing only conference games, Illinois is now highly unlikely to have the similar jumpstart to its 2020 campaign, assuming that the season even gets played. And judging by the tone of both the Big Ten’s and Illinois’ media releases, the prospects of football being played in the fall becomes a more remote possibility by the minute, hour and day.
- MAJOR RECRUITING NEWS: Stevens also talks about the verbal commitment of three-star offensive lineman Josh Kreutz, the son of six-time Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz, played nine seasons for the Chicago Bears under head coach Lovie Smith. Kreutz selected Illinois after receiving early scholarship offers from Memphis, Northern Illinois, Ball State, Central Michigan, Western Kentucky and Wyoming. He is the third verbal commitment this week for an Illini program that has gone from one verbal commitment on May 1 to a baker’s dozen before the end of the first week of July.
- One other note: The Illini Now/Sports Illustrated site will be doing another LIVE BLOG for the 'House Of Paign' Illinois alumni team in the quarterfinal of The Basketball Tournament 2020 today. House Of Paign will take on Dayton alumni team Red Scare at 3 p.m. on ESPN. At Illini Now/SI we will have live coverage similarly to how we provide live coverage of an Illini football or basketball game.