The Illini v. Mizzou football game only has one more year to go. Last summer both schools decided to end the 22 year tradition.

“Both Missouri and Illinois have agreed to call off the St. Louis series,” Guenther said. “Eventually, we might resume it on a home-and-home basis, or perhaps return to St. Louis, but we have been leaning toward games on campus at some point in the future.

Illini HQ: UI, Missouri sack football series

stlToday: Missouri Tigers vs. Illinois Fighting Illini football series ends

Disappointing and humiliating. These are the words I use to describe Illinois’ season opener against Missouri. 

It was a true pummeling, to say the least. Illinois was dominated on both defense and offense by a young Mizzou squad. Quarterback Juice Williams was 18 for 28 for 178 yards with a touchdown and an interception. While Missouri rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a fourth. Illinois wide receiver Arrelious Benn and running back Jason Ford missed the second half with ankle injuries.

Preseason predictions were in the hands of the Illini coming into the game as a 6.5 point favorite with a highly experienced offensive unit. If you watched the game, you would have seen an ugly and unbelievable sight. The so-called “veteran” offense was no where to be found. Quarterback Juice Williams seemed to be playing worse than he had as a rookie. The preseason predictions were completely wrong and the Illini played a awful game. It was humiliating to be wearing orange and blue and an embarrassing blow to the hearts of Illini Nation. At this rate, it’s going to be a long season.

“I feel sick for these guys,” Zook said. “I feel sick for them. I feel sick for the Illini Nation. It’s up to us to make sure we get that fixed.” … “I wouldn’t have thought we’d play like that. That’s not the kind of off-season we’ve had, the kind of camp we’ve had, the preparation this last week we’ve had. I’m embarrassed with it, but I’m not ready to throw in the towel. I know our guys will come back and fix it. We didn’t play the way we are capable of playing. I think that everyone who follows us knows that, and more importantly, the guys in the locker room know that. We’ll be back and get the things fixed that need to be fixed.”

I’m not ready to throw in the towel either, but I think that the team needs a leader. I think that man should be the quarterback. Juice, you need to be more consistent. You need to motivate your teammates and keep up the team’s focus. You need to make accurate throws and use good judgement. You also need to make sure you don’t trip over your linemen’s feet, especially not on a fourth down in the red zone.

So here we are again, starting the season 0-1. It’s gonna take a lot of work to be considered a good team again. It’s gonna take a rally by the Illini to make it to a bowl game. I hope we can do it. The next game is the season home opener against Illinois State University. It is also the Red Grange dedication game. Maybe some of the history and talent from the “Greatest College Football Player of All Time” will rub off on the team (well at least I hope so).

“In the game of football, you’re going to have adversity. It’s how you handle it that will determine the type of success you’ll have. We’re going to take one game at a time.” – Ron Zook

Illini nation, let’s join Mr. Zook and rally behind our team, for “we love no other.”  Let’s do this together… Go Illini!

Illinois Loses Season Opener Against Missouri, 37-9 – FightingIllini.com 
After blowout, Zook has no answer for injuries or effort – IlliniHQ.com

Saturday marks the beginning of the 120th season for the Fighting Illini Football Team. The season opener is against the Missouri Tigers as part of the State Farm Arch Rivalry game in the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO. Mizzou leads the all-time series, 15-7, and has won all four games in the State Farm Arch Rivalry series played in St. Louis. Missouri beat Illinois last year 52-42.

This year is expected to be different, however. Missouri has lost a lot of their big name starters from last year, including quarterback Chase Daniel, tight end Chase Coffman, and wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. Illinois has been preparing for this game for quite some time, and it seems to have paid off. The Fighting Illini are a 6.5-point favorite going into this week’s game.

Some controversy has recently been brewing between these two teams when Missouri senior linebacker Sean Weatherspoon called out Juice Williams in a personal Tweet: “just finished a stellar workout, hit 475 on the bench easy, almost hit 500, gotta get it soon! 50 days until I squeeze the pulp out of Juice.” Weatherspoon received a lecture from Coach Gary Pinkel following this post. Williams is expected to answer with his own message on Saturday. 

The game plan for Saturday according to Coach Ron Zook:

Well I think number one, we can’t turn the ball over, which is something we always say but it really became our Achilles heel last year. We can’t turn the ball over and we can’t give up big plays. We have to stop the run. I think the one thing we didn’t do last year was stop the run. It really felt like that was a reason that we weren’t able to make it a better game. Our defense has been made aware of that all summer and obviously in camp. But we’ve got to stop the run. We can’t let that running back get going. Washington is a good player, a guy that can beat you. We have to take care of business and take care of the ball on offense.

Watch our for quarterback Juice Williams who will be playing his final season with Illinois along with running back Daniel Dufrene and junior receiver Arrelious Benn.

Illinois vs. Missouri
Saturday, September 5, 2009
2:40pm | ESPN

Live Coverage vs. Missouri
Live Audio | GameTracker | TV: ESPN | RADIO

Good luck to the 2009 Fighting Illini Football Team!

Wear orange, and Go Illini!

Ron Zook Press Conference Transcript
Game 1: Illinois (0-0) vs. Missouri (0-0) at St. Louis
State Farm Arch Rivalry

Making your plans for the Arch Rivalry Football Game this weekend? Be sure to check out the free University of Illinois Alumni Association Tailgate, which will be for 3 hours before the game at the corner of Broadway and Convention, across the street from the Edward Jones Dome.

Highlights:

• Wide variety of music played by Todd Thomas, DJ for the St. Louis Cardinals
• Special appearances by the Marching Illini and UI cheerleaders
• Quarterback and Touchdown Challenge and other fun, interactive activities
• Face painting, caricaturists, snow cones, cotton candy and inflatable items for kids
• Food and beverages available for purchase
• The latest Illini merchandise from Game Day Spirit

The Arch Rivalry Football Game is the yearly battle between the University of Illinois and the University of Missouri at Columbia. This will be the first game of the season for the Fighting Illini, and it should be a great game. Tickets are on sale now to St. Louis Rams Season Ticket Holders, and will go on sale to the public on August 3. But Illinois Student Season Ticket Holders can get tickets through the Illinois Ticket Office for about $65 (1-866-ILLINI-1).

Get ready for a great season of football!