All-encompassing Illini post. Feel the love!

ST. LOUIS -- From a statistical standpoint, Nathan Scheelhaase isn’t likely to have a worse game at Illinois. The redshirt freshman completed just 9 of 23 passes for 81 yards, 3 interceptions and 1 touchdown. He also rushed 16 times for 76 yards, but lost a fumble when he was pinballed by two defenders while trying to sprint for a first down.

But if you watched Illinois’ come-from-ahead 23-13 loss to Missouri on Saturday afternoon, you understand Scheelhaase’s college debut wasn’t as bad as the numbers.

No, he doesn’t have Juice Williams’ arm. Scheelhaase’s only completion longer than 13 yards came in the game’s final seconds when he found Eddie McGee open for 24 yards against a prevent defense. He also threw a decent deep ball on a fly pattern to A.J. Jenkins that earned a pass-interference call.

But Scheelhaase has at least one thing that Juice lost during the latter half of his senior year at Illinois: He owns the confidence of the people who coach him.

“BIGGEST NATHAN FAN…”
New offensive coordinator Paul Petrino didn’t spare the rod with Scheelhaase after the game. He noted that his final interception, when he rifled a short crossing pass way too hard and high for McGee to do anything but deflect it to a defensive back, needed some touch. But he also had his quarterback’s back.

“I’m the biggest Nathan fan there is,” Petrino said. “And he did a lot of good things…but on offense it’s all 11 guys. It’s not just Nate. A lot of the times he struggled, there was probably somebody else who was making a mistake that made him struggle.”

“He’ll learn from his mistakes,” said head coach Ron Zook. “He’ll be in there working and working and watching. I promise you he’ll be watching the tape tonight. That’s just the type of person that he is and he’ll learn from it. If there’s one thing Nathan does, maybe he tries a little bit too hard. He’ll settle in there.”

It sounds boring, but Illinois didn’t lose because its quarterback was too inexperienced. It lost because Missouri, once it finally had a chance to see Illinois’ new schemes and make adjustments, won the line of scrimmage.

Weak-side tackle Jeff Allen, a third-year starter who’s the best and most experienced Illini lineman, committed three false start penalties. Fifth-year senior guard Randall Hunt, a captain on Saturday, committed a holding penalty on a play where Scheelhaase had a short drop and there shouldn’t have been time to get a holding call…except that he was beaten so badly on the play.

In the second half in particular, Missouri’s pass rushers had their way. Scheelhaase was sacked just twice, but he avoided two more with adept throwaways and scrambled four other times according to my play-by-play.

On the other side of the ball, Missouri’s five-wideout attack spread Illinois defenders so much that they couldn’t plug all the gaps when the Tigers would bring their running back in motion and run a lead to one side or the other. Moreover, the defense was stuck on the field for 45 plays and almost 18 minutes in the second half. MLB Martez Wilson admitted the defense wore down somewhat, but at least the Illini didn’t quit.

In case you forgot, the Tigers averaged 43 points and 473.3 total yards in the three previous openers here. Mizzou settled for 379 yards today.

"FEED THE STUDS"
As promised when he was hired, Petrino tried to get the ball in the hands of his best guys. Mikel Leshoure rushed 20 times (one off his career-high) and posted 112 yards. Jason Ford rushed just 4 times for 6 yards, though Zook said he sprained his thumb and couldn’t go back in for fear of a fumble. Nonetheless, Ford carried once in the fourth quarter. Petrino used them in the same backfield on several occasions in the first half.

Of Scheelhaase’s 23 pass attempts, deep threat A.J. Jenkins led the way with 8 targets. Jarred Fayson and Eddie McGee had 4 targets apiece. ILL never threw to the tight end and Leshoure had his lone target batted down by the defensive end.

ROOKIES RULE
True freshman fullback Jay Prosch earned his first career start. True freshman tight end Evan Wilson also played a ton on the first series and every series thereafter. Wide receiver Darius Millines played at least one snap on offense and returned one kick. Bandit Brandon Denmark didn’t play defensively, but served on the kick coverage team.

Five redshirt freshmen also made their Illini debut. That included starts from Scheelhaase and defensive tackle Akeem Spence, while tight end Justin Lattimore and receiver-turned-safety Steve Hull played a bunch. Hull posted 7 tackles just 10 days after flipping to defense. “Steve Hull was magnificent,” Zook said.

SECONDARY STUFF
Illinois’ secondary shuffle went about as well as anyone dreamed. Nobody was beaten deep, though fifth-year senior Travon Bellamy fell for a pump fake that enabled Michael Egnew to get open for the 7-yard touchdown pass that put Mizzou ahead for good early in the fourth quarter.

Juco transfer Trulon Henry, who made his first start, appeared to get his bell rung in the first quarter when he drilled a receiver on the sideline. He returned in the second quarter and finished with 7 tackles. Sophomore Justin Green, who switched from running back last week, started and posted 6 tackles with 1 pass breakup.

DEFENSIVE STATS
Junior defensive tackle Corey Liuget tied his career-bests for tackles (7) and TFLs (2.5). He also posted Illinois’ a quarterback hit and broke up a pass.
Junior weak-side linebacker Ian Thomas had a game-high and career-high-tying 13 stops. Bellamy added a career-high 12 tackles and 1 PBU. Martez Wilson contributed 11 tackles, shared a sack with Liuget and forced a fumble. Perhaps most important, he turned his neck vigorously from side-to-side after the game to prove he came away healthy. That wasn’t the case here last year.

SIGHTS SEEN
Missouri transfer Chris Willett (No. 49) served on Illinois’ kickoff coverage and return teams. After the game, several Tigers sought him out and consoled him over the loss. Several Missouri players, including stud receiver T.J. Moe, made sure to chat with injured Illinois cornerback Terry Hawthorne.

Hawthorne, safety Supo Sanni and tight end Zach Becker all roamed the sidelines on crutches. All three had their right foot in a walking boot. Linebacker Nate Palmer wasn’t on crutches, but he didn’t dress.

Former Illini TE Michael Hoomanawanui, who has made the St. Louis Rams' roster, showed up in a backward White Sox cap to lend support to his guys. Initially "Uh-Oh" tried to stay outside of the players' box. But during the fourth quarter when it was slipping away, he moved up to where he was standing just behind the offensive players waiting on the sidelines to go in.

LOCAL REPORT
Senior punter Anthony Santella (Wauconda) boomed three of his four punts and finished with a 46.8-yard average and a 41.8-yard net. That’s a big improvement for the punt-coverage gang, which featured Fayson as a gunner.

Freshman QB Chandler Whitmer (Downers Grove South) waggled signals in from the sideline. Freshman QB Miles Osei (Prospect) did not. They were listed as co-second stringers on the depth chart, but the general perception among Illini scribes is that Osei owns a slight edge if Scheelhaase gets knocked out of a game.

THE FINAL NUMBER
In Missouri's four-year sweep of Illinois, check out the Tigers' passing numbers compiled primarily by Chase Daniel and Blaine Gabbert:

--123 completions in 182 attempts (68 percent rate)
--1,288 yards
--1 INT
--11 TDs.

Ouch.

LW