The roar of the crowd: Go Green, Go White

Wow, yet another great video at the end of the Purdue/Michigan State home finale. Listen to the crowd ROAR "Go Green Go White" as we put Purdue to rest.

SPARTANS DESERVE BCS: Let us state the reasons

Why does Michigan State deserve a BCS bowl as Big Ten champs: Adam Rittenberg really goes on the nut supporting the Spartans' argument. But the best quote is from the Doctor hisself, MD: " "If you look at things statistically, Ohio State lost 31-18 to Wisconsin and we beat Wisconsin 34-24. If you were just taking those things into consideration, things ought to weigh more in our favor."

Sez Rittenberg:

"Let's get on with the story. Michigan State has a good case for BCS selection, and here's why:

• The Spartans won a share of the Big Ten title for the first time since 1990 and claimed a team-record 11 victories.
• Judging by the BCS standings, the Spartans have the best win among the Big Ten leaders, a 34-24 triumph against Wisconsin on Oct. 2.
• The Spartans are the only team out of the three that hasn't lost to one of the other two.
• The Spartans have played the nation's 38th toughest schedule based on cumulative opposition. Ohio State's schedule ranks 54th, while Wisconsin's ranks 66th.
• The Spartans have eight wins against bowl-eligible teams, more than both Ohio State (6) and Wisconsin (4).
• Michigan State received the highest TV rating among Big Ten teams for games played on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. It's only fair to point out that the Spartans got a major boost from their Sept. 18 double-overtime thriller against Notre Dame, a reliable ratings grabber.

There are also circumstantial factors that add to Michigan State's case." We all know those.

MICHIGAN STATE TO THE BCS. You Orange/Sugar bowl leaders think we won't travel? I'll be there, and I have a PhD to complete and four college classes to teach. But I wuz at the 1988 Rose Bowl and I'll make it this year. So will 40,000 more of the Spartan Nation, damn straight!

Screw Ohio State - they have been to the damn BCS a zillion times - now we actually have a shot, have the best record among the three Big Ten champs, and get zilch? T'ain't fair.

MICHIGAN STATE: BIG TEN CHAMPIONS

A little late on the post, but... CONGRATS SPARTANS! We won the Big Ten Championship! Unbelieveable. 11-1 to end the regular season after a 28-22 dominating victory at Penn State. Our first win at JoePa since before he was a coach at PSU - since 1965. Kirk Cousins played fantastic, an impressive 17-of-22 passing for 152 yards and 2 TDs. Even Keith Nlichol played great, another great playcall by OC Treadwell to put him in at QB to throw a tight pass to Charlie Gantt to extend the Spartan lead to 28-10. MSU outgained JoePa 163-84 on the ground, including 118 yards on 28 impressive carries by Edwin Baker. The Spartan defense pressured Penn State QB Matt McGloin all game long and should have had 3-4 INTs. MSU came in prepared and stepped on the jugular early and often. Impressive, impressive performance.

11-1? Possibility for a 12-1 season? Michigan State has never before won 11 games in one season, and we could win 12. Look at the poll to the right, out of 285 votes before the season, only 12 predicted at least 11 wins - just 4.2% of all voters. The ES is not going to complain about settling for a third-tier bowl, even though we manhandled Wisconsin at home earlier this year. Michigan State is Big Ten champs, and we'll be happy to play on New Year's Day and kick some SEC, Big 12, or Pac 10 butt.

The Big Green jumped to #7 in the AP and USA Today polls... BCS ranks Michigan State #8. ... It is just nice to say BIG TEN CHAMPIONS in FOOTBALL.

BCS		Harris Poll			USA Today			Computer Rankings
RK	TEAM	AVG	PVS	RK	PTS	%	RK	PTS	%	AVG	A&H	RB	CM	KM	JS	PW	%
1	Auburn	.9779	2	2	2769	.9716	2	1419	.9620	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1.000
2	Oregon	.9777	1	1	2804	.9839	1	1459	.9892	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	.960
3	TCU	.9167	3	3	2621	.9196	3	1343	.9105	3	3	2	3	3	6	3	.920
4	Stanford	.8413	6	5	2417	.8481	5	1233	.8359	4	8	7	5	4	4	4	.840
5	Wisconsin	.8185	7	4	2441	.8565	4	1282	.8692	7	4	4	12	9	11	7	.730
6	Ohio State	.7632	8	6	2301	.8074	6	1213	.8224	9	5	6	8	14	15	10	.660
7	Arkansas	.7189	12	8	1997	.7007	8	1012	.6861	5	9	8	9	5	3	5	.770
8	Michigan State	.6980	10	7	2080	.7298	7	1083	.7342	11	7	11	6	15	14	9	.630
9	Oklahoma	.6780	13	9	1809	.6347	9	943	.6393	6	6	12	4	7	7	8	.760
10	LSU	.6067	5	11	1569	.5505	12	796	.5397	7	11	9	10	6	5	6	.730
11	Boise State	.5805	4	10	1802	.6323	10	869	.5892	14	13	5	11	16	16	12	.520
12	Missouri	.5148	14	14	1291	.4530	14	666	.4515	10	10	17	7	11	8	11	.640
13	Nebraska	.5071	15	13	1446	.5074	13	773	.5241	15	14	14	15	13	10	14	.490
14	Oklahoma State	.4630	9	16	1171	.4109	15	661	.4481	12	12	13	13	10	13	15	.530
15	Virginia Tech	.4396	16	12	1503	.5274	11	843	.5715	20	20	18	20	24	22	20	.220
16	Alabama	.4201	11	18	1113	.3905	19	501	.3397	12	16	10	17	12	9	13	.530
17	Nevada	.4043	19	15	1231	.4319	17	621	.4210	17	18	16	16	17	18	17	.360
18	Texas A&M	.3910	17	19	1032	.3621	18	503	.3410	16	15	20	14	8	12	16	.470
19	South Carolina	.3817	18	17	1142	.4007	16	626	.4244	18	17	19	18	18	17	19	.320
20	Utah	.2254	20	21	567	.1989	21	291	.1973	19	21	15	19	19	20	18	.280
21	Florida State	.2125	22	20	650	.2281	20	353	.2393	22	19	22	21	22	23	22	.170
22	Mississippi State	.1630	25	22	393	.1379	22	223	.1512	21	22	21	25	20	19	21	.200
23	Arizona	.0713	21	25	120	.0421	NR	47	.0319	23	23	23	0	21	21	23	.140
24	West Virginia	.0542	NR	23	251	.0881	24	110	.0746	24	0	0	23	0	0	0	.000
25	Northern Illinois	.0482	NR	24	161	.0565	23	130	.0881	24	0	25	0	0	0	0	.000

Prediction: Michigan State at Penn State

The ES is in Chicago, and will be heading up to The Stretch on Addison to join fellow green and white and watch the Big Green take on Joe Pa and his little men.

ES predicts... Michigan State 23, Pennsylvania State 21.

Kickoff at Noon, ET. ESPN 2.
Line: Michigan State favored by 2.

GO SPARTANS... get to Pasadena!

A hot coffee enema or root for Michigan?

Enlightened Spartan Nation:

My dear bro in Chicago, a Spartan faithful, sent me an email that made me LOL, in tears of joy and agony. Why reinvent the wheel on our bowl possibilities. Here it is, read it and weep:

"Dear all,

Unfortunately, OSU's win vs Iowa pretty much sealed MSU's fate to a lesser New Year's Bowl. It's a shame, but this is the year when there may be three teams atop the Big Ten with only one loss. How remarkable.

It is still possible for MSU to get to the Rose Bowl with a victory this weekend and OSU loss to Michigan in Columbus - this latter is as likely as finding signs of life on Venus. And as it causes exceptional nausea to root for Michigan against Ohio State, I will try and refrain from watching it and do something more enjoyable like having a root canal or a hot coffee enema.

Another possibility: Oregon and Auburn lose, throwing TCU or Boise in the title game vs Wisconsin and putting MSU if not in the Rose then in the Orange or Sugar. If this were to happen I'd expect the earth to split in two in utter shock.

Here are the bowl projections now; nearly everyone sees MSU in the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando (again); this would happen whether MSU wins or loses vs Penn State because they'll remain in the contracted Big Ten #2 slot as the other two will go to BCS games.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls/projections?season=2010&week=12

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/39922542/ns/sports-college_football/?ns=sports-college_football

all vs Alabama (!)

http://cfn.scout.com/2/1024029.html

vs South Carolina

Only Bleacher Report has a potential shocker with MSU in the Sugar Bowl:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/523950-bcs-rankings-week-13-bcs-bowl-projections-based-on-sixth-bcs-rankings#page/7

And here's an article all about MSU post Purdue that sums up how we all feel: http://noise.typepad.com/hey_joe/2010/11/roses-are-out.html#more

In reality, do we deserve a BCS bowl? Hate to say it, but probably not. Other than Nevada we're certainly the weakest 1 loss team in the nation and I personally cringe to see us play 'Bama. If we want to be with the big boys we gotta play with them and we'll see if we are of the same caliber come January 1st.

Close your eyes, keep busy and hope for a Michigan victory this weekend. And please note this is the one and only time you'll see me say such a thing."

Vote to the right: Which do you choose? A hot coffee enema, root canal, or rooting for Michigan?

UPDATE (5:45 pm): The ES just received this update from Mike Vest at the Big Ten Network:

"Hello, The producers of The Big Ten Pulse want to get the input of Michigan State fans and bloggers for a segment that we plan to include in this Thursday’s show (7:30pm ET).

This week’s question: “Michigan State could sure use an Ohio State loss to help the Spartans’ chances for a Rose Bowl or a different BCS game berth. As an MSU fan, can you bring yourself to CHEER for Michigan this Saturday?”

We will take the best/most interesting responses and air them during Thursday’s show. If you could pose this question to your fans, and send us a link to where we can either follow the thread or view the comments, that’d be great."

Video of MSU vs Purdue punt block

Here is a great video of the punt block vs. Purdue on Saturday. Again, this was easily the play of the game, right when the Spartans needed it... the crowd was as loud as it has been in my 24 years of attending Spartan Stadium, a la Notre Dame fake FG, a la Smoker-Duckett pass.... Watch the camera shake.

#10 MSU favored by 2 over Joe Pa; Bo Pelini on thin ice

Michigan State is favored by 2 at Penn State. Kickoff is Noon ET, on ESPN. Ohio State is favored by 17 over scUM; Purdon't favored by 4 at home over Indiana; Wisky by 23 over Northwestern; Iowa is favored by 15 at Minny.

BIG TEN TITLE GAME IN INDY
FYI - The inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game will be played in prime time on December 3, 2011, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. It will be televised by Fox Sports.

NEBRASKA CHANCELLOR CALLS OUT COACH PELINI AS HOT HEAD WITH BAD BEHAVIOR
If you saw the Nebraska loss to Texas A & M on Saturday night, you saw Nebraska coach Bo Pelini screaming at his players, officials... anyone who would listen. Well, the president at Nebraska ain't happy about it. "Bo has a lot of passion for his football team," Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman said, "and there is a strong upside to that. But again, overall, the conduct was unfortunate last night." Bo Pelini had a big downside when he was touted as a hire: he was a hothead. It's getting him in trouble...

MICHIGAN STATE AT #10 IN BCS
The Big Green have jumped to a solid #10 in the latest BCS rankings... Wisconsin is #7, Ohio State is #8, Nebraska is #15, Iowa is #24...

		BCS		Harris Poll			USA Today			Computer Rankings
RK	TEAM	AVG	PVS	RK	PTS	%	RK	PTS	%	AVG	A&H	RB	CM	KM	JS	PW	%
1	Oregon	.9764	1	1	2793	.9800	1	1459	.9892	2	2	2	5	2	2	2	.960
2	Auburn	.9682	2	2	2727	.9568	2	1398	.9478	1	1	4	1	1	1	1	1.000
3	TCU	.8995	3	4	2557	.8972	4	1300	.8814	3	3	1	2	4	5	3	.920
4	Boise State	.8860	4	3	2619	.9189	3	1341	.9092	5	5	3	4	6	7	6	.830
5	LSU	.8193	5	6	2227	.7814	6	1175	.7966	4	4	5	3	5	3	4	.880
6	Stanford	.7763	6	7	2209	.7751	8	1112	.7539	6	10	9	6	3	4	5	.800
7	Wisconsin	.7688	7	5	2295	.8053	5	1211	.8210	8	8	7	12	9	9	10	.680
8	Ohio State	.7148	9	8	2131	.7477	7	1116	.7566	9	6	10	10	15	11	9	.640
9	Oklahoma State	.6815	10	9	1805	.6333	9	990	.6712	7	7	8	7	7	10	8	.740
10	Michigan State	.6063	12	10	1797	.6305	10	927	.6285	12	9	11	11	16	15	11	.560
11	Alabama	.6019	11	11	1783	.6256	11	885	.6000	11	13	6	14	13	8	12	.580
12	Arkansas	.5697	13	12	1589	.5575	12	784	.5315	10	14	15	13	8	6	7	.620
13	Oklahoma	.5041	14	13	1412	.4954	13	733	.4969	14	11	14	9	12	16	15	.520
14	Missouri	.4564	15	16	1176	.4126	16	585	.3966	12	12	16	8	10	13	13	.560
15	Nebraska	.4423	8	15	1199	.4207	15	614	.4163	15	15	12	15	14	12	14	.490
16	Virginia Tech	.4213	16	14	1322	.4639	14	723	.4902	18	18	17	17	22	21	17	.310
17	Texas A&M	.3607	19	18	936	.3284	18	492	.3336	16	16	19	16	11	14	16	.420
18	South Carolina	.3583	17	17	1037	.3639	17	577	.3912	17	17	18	19	17	18	20	.320
19	Nevada	.2943	18	19	894	.3137	19	456	.3092	19	19	21	18	19	22	19	.260
20	Utah	.1961	23	20	495	.1737	22	228	.1546	19	20	13	20	20	20	18	.260
21	Arizona	.1848	22	21	471	.1653	20	279	.1892	21	24	20	23	18	19	22	.200
22	Florida State	.1296	25	22	439	.1540	21	243	.1647	24	21	0	21	0	0	24	.070
23	North Carolina State	.0923	NR	23	330	.1158	23	208	.1410	25	0	25	22	0	0	25	.020
24	Iowa	.0899	20	24	284	.0996	24	74	.0502	23	22	23	25	23	23	23	.120
25	Mississippi State	.0862	21	25	178	.0625	25	68	.0461	22	25	22	0	21	17	21	.150

#10 Michigan State gets to 10 wins in November

Thanks to the punt-block by Denicos Allen (#22 at right), MSU rallied feverishly to defeat Purdon't 35-31 today. Yes, all you betters didn't come close to covering today. MSU has jumped to #10 in the USAToday poll (below).

Correct the ES if he is wrong, but at 10-1, this is the first time in its storied history that Michigan State has registered double-digit wins in the regular season. FIRST TIME EVER WE HAVE 10 WINS IN NOVEMBER.

MSU will moves up to #10, particularly with Nebraska's loss, 9-6, to Texas A&M in a field goal-kicker's marathon. Can't wait til Nebraska joins next year and we get to kick their ass on an annual basis. The Spartans had only 95 yards rushing today, and most of that was Baker moving across the 1,000-yard mark.

GREAT WIN. NOW, BEAT PENN STATE

Nov. 21, 2010
Rank	Team (first-place votes)	Record	Points	Last week's ranking
1.	Oregon (48)	10-0	1,459	1
2.	Auburn (4)	11-0	1,398	2
3.	Boise State (5)	10-0	1,341	3
4.	TCU (2)	11-0	1,300	4
5.	Wisconsin	10-1	1,211	5
6.	LSU	10-1	1,175	6
7.	Ohio State	10-1	1,116	7
8.	Stanford	10-1	1,1112	8
9.	Oklahoma State	10-1	990	10
10.	Michigan State	10-1	927	11
11.	Alabama	9-2	885	12
12.	Arkansas	9-2	784	13
13.	Oklahoma	9-2	733	14
14.	Virginia Tech	9-2	723	15
15.	Nebraska	9-2	614	9
16.	Missouri	9-2	585	16
17.	South Carolina	8-3	577	17
18.	Texas A&M	8-3	492	19
19.	Nevada	10-1	456	18
20.	Arizona	7-3	279	23
21.	Florida State	8-3	243	NR
22.	Utah	9-2	228	24
23.	North Carolina State	8-3	208	NR
24.	Iowa	7-4	74	20
25.	Mississippi State	7-4	68	22
Dropped out
No. 21 Miami (Fla.) (7-4, lost to then-No. 15 Virginia Tech 31-17), No. 25 Northwestern (7-4, lost to Illinois 48-27).
Others receiving votes
Northern Illinois (9-2) 67; Central Florida (8-3) 21; Hawaii (8-3) 20; Southern Mississippi (8-3) 16; West Virginia (7-3) 13; Florida (7-4) 12; Miami (Fla.) (7-4) 11; Navy (8-3) 7; Ohio (8-3) 5; Pittsburgh (6-4) 5; Penn State (7-4) 4; San Diego State (7-4) 4; Temple (8-3) 4; Maryland (7-4) 3; Michigan (7-4) 2; Northwestern (7-4) 2; Tulsa (8-3) 1.

ES predicts Michigan State vs Purdue

OK, the Big Green is favored by 20 over Purdon't. I will have to leave here by 6:30 AM to go meet my buddy, Big Bob, at the Roadhouse at 11 am prior to the game... I'll be there, by hook or by crook.

ES sez: Big Green 42, Purdon't 13.

Iowa is a 3-pt dog to Ohio State. The ES has never, ever been a bigger Skinny Chicken fan than this weekend. And, Wisky is favored by 3 at scUM. They'll win by 14.

Did you hear about the zany decision with the Illinois-Northwestern game? All offense will head in one direction. It is the right decision for safety reasons, but makes for what will be a unique game, all four quarters playing in one direction.

NCAA PRESIDENT NOT OPPOSED TO FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

So, here I am in Indianapolis at the conference for the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)... I was in a session yesterday, at which Bob Kustra, the president of Boise State University, interviewed the president of the NCAA, Mark Emmert.

BK: "When you were president at the University of Washington, you stated that a college football playoff was expected, sooner or later. So, when are we going to get an NCAA playoff?"

ME: "Now, I am in a bit of a different role. We make decisions based on the needs of the member institutions. We have 88 NCAA championships that we run, so we know how to do them. If the members decide that they would like a championship for NCAA Division I-FBS, then we will do what we are asked."

Michigan State at #11 and how to get to the Rose Bowl

ES sez: MSU must beat Penn State and Iowa must beat Ohio State. That hasn't changed from last week.

Here is a nice summary from the ES' brother in Chicago:

The good news is that Iowa lost. That leaves 3 teams in the drivers seat for the Big Ten Championship.

The bad news is not only did Ohio State win convincingly in the second half, but Wisconsin destroyed Indiana by the highest point total of any game by any team this year. And both Oregon, Auburn and TCU survived. And MSU actually *dropped* one place in the rankings for not playing anyone.

This matters because if it ends up tied at the end - with MSU, OSU and Wisconsin all tied up - OSU would go to the Rose Bowl because they has the higher BCS standings; the MSU loss to Iowa looks all the worse as they have now lost 3 games, so they have the lowest of the three BCS ratings. Remember, MSU beat Wisconsin, so given that MSU wins out and OSU loses, MSU should get the Rose Bowl nod and Wisconsin into the Orange, probably. Two Big Ten teams will likely get into BCS bowls it appears - but not 3.

It is utterly critical not only for State to win out but for Iowa or - god, forbid - Michigan to beat OSU before end of season.

Latest expectations:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls/projections?season=2010&week=11

http://cfn.scout.com/2/1021713.html

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/39922542/ns/sports-college_football/?ns=sports-college_football

Michigan State up to #10 after beating up Minnesota, 31-8

Kind of a yawner, as expected, yesterday as Michigan State's defense dominated Minnesota, 31-8. RB Edwin Baker had a great game, with 4 TDs and 179 yards on the ground at 6.6 yards per clip. Michigan State continues its torrid pace at 9-1 overall. The ES left the game in the middle of the fourth quarter to get to the Harrison Roadhouse, only to watch Indiana's WR drop a game winning TD pass over Iowa. The Roadhouse exploded, just expecting he caught it... only for one minute later for everyone to realize the guy dropped it. The lesson: you can never count on Indiana to do the dirty work...

Michigan State made a big leap, up to #10 in the coaches poll... now a week off to sit back and watch other teams beat each other up.

The USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 football coaches poll, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th and ranking in last week's poll.

Nov. 7, 2010
Rank	Team (first-place votes)	Record	Points	Last week's ranking
1.	Oregon (50)	9-0	1,463	1
2.	Auburn (4)	10-0	1,389	2
3.	TCU (2)	10-0	1,340	4
4.	Boise State (3)	8-0	1,330	3
5.	Wisconsin	8-1	1,184	7
6.	LSU	8-1	1,153	11
7.	Ohio State	8-1	1,123	8
8.	Nebraska	8-1	1,067	10
9.	Stanford	8-1	1,058	12
10.	Michigan State	9-1	876	15
11.	Oklahoma State	8-1	832	18
12.	Alabama	7-2	791	5
13.	Iowa	7-2	779	16
14.	Arkansas	7-2	696	19
15.	Utah	8-1	659	6
16.	Oklahoma	7-2	569	9
17.	Virginia Tech	7-2	563	20
18.	Mississippi State	7-2	477	21
19.	Arizona	7-2	403	13
20.	Missouri	7-2	395	14
21.	Nevada	8-1	328	23
22.	South Carolina	6-3	151	17
23.	Central Florida	7-2	99	NR
24.	Florida	6-3	85	NR
25.	Texas A&M	6-3	79	NR
Dropped out
No. 22 Baylor (7-3, lost to then-No. 18 Oklahoma State 55-28), No. 24 Florida State (6-3, lost to North Carolina 37-35), No. 25 North Carolina State (6-3, lost to Clemson 14-13).
Others receiving votes
Miami (Fla.) (6-3) 67; San Diego State (7-2) 44; Kansas State (6-3) 36; Baylor (7-3) 30; Penn State (6-3) 28; Michigan (6-3) 15; Fresno State (6-2) 11; Temple (8-2) 11; Florida State (6-3) 8; North Carolina (6-3) 8; Northern Illinois (7-2) 8; Navy (6-3) 5; North Carolina State (6-3) 5; Pittsburgh (5-3) 5; Hawaii (7-3) 3; Southern Mississippi (6-3) 2.

Predicting MSU vs Minnesota

ES prediction for the second-most uninteresting game of the season: MSU 42, Minnesota 14. MSU will gain 200+ yards on the ground and move up two more spots in the national polls by days end...

Trifecta for 2010

After watching a wide variety of video clips from the fake-FG touchdown victory in OT over Notre Dame... the ES started wondering: how successful has been the TRIFECTA in 2010?

Just a reminder to enlighten the masses: the trifecta is a weekend with an MSU football victory, a Michigan loss, and a Notre Dame loss. As of last year, for the 41 years of the life of the ES (since 1968), it had happened 17 times in 479 weekends of football. But, it happened 7 times from 2007-2009, and only 10 times from 1968-2006. So the frequency had increased dramatically as both ND and scUM take a nosedive in their quality of football.

Does the trend continue in 2010? Not yet. Actually, Michigan lost the past three of the past four weeks, including a bye... but, in two of those weeks when scUM played, Notre Dame did not lose. And, when scUM and ND lost last week - so did Michigan State. Sigh.

This weekend, the TRIFECTA looks good - Notre Dame sans Crist faces undefeated #5 Utah; Michigan faces Illinois, and Michigan State faces Minnesota.

ES predicts TRIFECTA this weekend.

Michigan State by 24 over Minnesota

Regrouping this week... the Big Green Touchdown Machine is a home 24-pt favorite over the coach-less Minny Gophers on Saturday. A noon kickoff on the Big Ten Network. Wear your thermals, it will be 41 degrees, coming off a night with a forecast of potential snow showers, the first white flakes of the season. It will be nice for the ES to head out on Sunday to Louisiana to accomplish some dissertation data collection in 75-degree weather...

scUM is favored by 3 at home over Illinois...which is a joke. Illinois is the second-best team Michigan State has faced all year. Wait until Denard gets a load of that Illini interior smack-down defense.