College Football: Arch Rivalry Game a Huge Success

Illinois looked like it had a solid defense but their scheme was ill-prepared for the 4- and 5-wide vertical attack by the Tigers.  This game felt like déjà vu in the first half as Missouri started out firing on all cylinders while Illinois’ offense struggled.  One of the Fighting Illini’s two touchdowns in the first half came from a pick-6 by defensive lineman Derek Walker.

By the end of the first half, this game seemed like it was almost over.  Missouri racked up an astonishing 373 yards on offense in the first half en route to scoring 31 points.  By far the most impressive play of the half was when tight end and All-American candidate Chase Coffman caught a ball in traffic, juked a defender, and jumped over a defensive back to make another in a series of first downs.  Most fans were sitting down at that point but we all stood up and cheered, in awe of what just happened.

The second half, like last year, belonged to the Fighting Illini.  One of our first observations of the second half was that Juice Williams – the highly-touted but not all that productive junior quarterback – has a cannon for an arm.  More specifically, he has the strongest arm I’ve ever seen in a college quarterback.  Remember those fake Powerade commercials with Michael Vick throwing lasers to his receivers?  That’s what it looked like with Juice.  When on target, he was literally drilling his receivers in the numbers.  In NCAA Football, he should have a 99 rating in arm strength.  The only issue with Juice is that his accuracy is probably around a 70.  Hitches, outs, and slant routes are not his forte but he can sure throw a good deep ball.

By the middle of the 3^rd quarter as Illinoismade its way back into the game, Juice was throwing downfield at will to Chris Duvalt and Will Judson.  An angry Mizzou fan sitting next to me almost had a heart attack over the sudden demise of the Missouri secondary, to which we merely replied, “maybe they’re just too slow.” Indeed, the defenses on both sides of the ball just couldn’t keep up with the high-powered O.

By the 4^th quarter, Illinois was back in the game with a chance to get within three points.  But just like last year, the Illini Pride faithful were disappointed as Missourilinebacker Sean Weatherspoon ripped the ball away from running back Daniel Dufrene and scored to make the game out of reach.  Juice threw his career high 5^th touchdown as the game came to a conclusion but it was too little, too late.

From their performance, Missourilooks like a bona fide Big 12 and national title contender and Illinois might have some work to do on D.  Either way, the game atmosphere was incredible.

After the game we wandered on our way through the Landing where the single most important thing on both the Illinois and Missouri fans’ minds was getting as wasted as possible.  Any ill feelings during the game vanished.  They were here to have a good time and surely got more than what they asked for. 

If the 3^rd Arch Rivalry game is as entertaining as the first two have been, then I can’t wait to do this again next year.

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