"Old School" is the College Football FanHouse's irregular look back at the rich history of college football, usually through the medium of embeddable flash video. Check out the Old School archive for more famous plays and infamous hair.
Before Tim Brewster was Minnesota's head coach, he coached tight ends in the NFL. Before that, he coached tight ends in college. And before that, he was an Illinois tight end with a killer Buckstache and coachspeak down pat:
About two minutes into the video, Thomas Rooks scores the game's only touchdown in a 16-6 Illinois win over Michigan, Illinois' first since 1966. Illinois would go to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1964.
Now that the Big Ten Network and Comcast cable have finally come to an agreement that will actually allow the majority of Big Ten fans to see the network, it's time to figure out what exactly they're going to be showing to fill all that dead air between Iowa/Indiana lacrosse matches and Minnesota/Penn State tennis.
Last season the BTN did a series called "The Journey" in which they followed Tubby Smith and the Minnesota basketball team around during the season and chronicled the changes taking place under Smith. The series was a success, and the network will be doing it again this season, with the focus of the show being on Ron Zook and Illinois' football program.
BTN officials plan to announce Thursday the Illini will be featured in Season 2. Minnesota and its first-year basketball coach, Tubby Smith, were the series' guinea pigs.
"I talked with Tubby and he was impressed with their professionalism," Zook said. "He had the same fears in the beginning as I do."
Chief among those fears?
"This will be like having someone in your bedroom," Zook said.
"To tell you the truth, as long as Ron Zook is there it will be hard for me to support the University of Illinois football team," Mendenhall said.
Uh. Dude. In a wide-ranging interview with an Illinois newspaper named the News-Gazette that declines to mention where the hell it's located, Mendenhall drops that bomb and many others. To wit:
His brother and teammate Walter is the only reason Mendenhall didn't transfer before his breakout 2007: ""There was a point where we were at the stadium and I was ready to start walking out and my brother stopped me."
His animosity had nothing to do with "what happened to" his brother, who is going to graduate and transfer to I-AA Illinois State for his final year of eligibility: "It's so much more than that. It's so much that's going on right now, that went on with me that people don't know. It's hard for me to support how things are done."
Ron Zook eats babies.*
Like I said: dude. I think we now know why the hyper-talented Mendenhall spent his first two seasons stuck behind decent but uninspiring backs. Well... sort of. At no point in the article does Mendenhall say why he wants Ron Zook to play in traffic, just that "everything wasn't as it appeared to be."
Well, why not? Does Zook have three heads? Does he shave his legs? Did he walk over to Mendenhall's apartment every morning and take a dump on the porch? INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW.
Illinois Head Coach Ron Zook took in a Cubs game at Wrigley and was given the honor of leading the crowd in singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" today.
Clearly Zook does not get the recruits to Illinois by serenading them.
Not many people remember it, but for a few years in the early 1980s, the Big Ten played a full round-robin schedule, as opposed to the current "skip the same two teams for two years in a row" format that has been in place since Penn State joined the conference. During that brief period, one team actually managed to defeat all nine of its conference opponents: Mike White's Fighting Illini, in the 1983 season. The Angry Indigenous Woodlands People dropped their first game to Missouri, then ran off ten straight wins, entering the Granddaddy of Them All 10-1 and ranked fourth in the nation.
And on the other side of the field? Terry Donahue's UCLA Bruins, a team so dazzlingly awesome they went 0-3 in their non-conference games. The doddering Bruins won the Pac-10 almost by default that season; they were 6-1-1 in conference play (ties were still allowed back then), and 6-4-1 overall. (Can you imagine the outcry today if a six-win team got a BCS berth?)
So, obviously, there was no hope for the Bruins. You'll note, however, that this game wound up on the Big Ten's "worst moments," and of course there's a reason for that.
FanHouse is counting down the 10 best, 10 worst, and 10 weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.
The phrase "three yards and a cloud of dust" was coined to describe Big Ten football, and it's still a fairly apt description of the conference's beefy, run-first mentality. That is not to say, however, that the forward pass is still a novelty in the Big Ten. Indeed, some pretty good quarterbacks have come out of the conference. A guy in New England comes to mind, for instance.
There was one particular day, though, when everything truly went berserk. That day was November 8, 1980. On that Saturday afternoon, the Big Ten's record for the most passing yards in a single game was broken not once but twice. In fact, not only was the conference's single-game passing record broken, so was the NCAA's. Even more improbably, two other national passing records were broken that day, though not by Big Ten quarterbacks.
Was there something in the air that day? Well, duh. Footballs were in the air. Everywhere.
"I chose not to redshirt. I told them I'd work hard and get as much playing time as possible. I got a starting spot on special teams as a gunner, and it helped me a lot to adjust to the speed. Some teams were very fast."
Such as the first and last teams the Illini played last season, he said.
Anecdotal and oh so annoying for Big Ten fans everywhere. Those Big Ten gazelles can't outrun those Pac-10, Big- 12 and SEC cheetahs or so the claim goes. Silly stuff really, but SEC folks need fresh talking points and love to harass the Big 10.
You can send your thank you cards to:
Illinois Football Office c/o Martez 'Benedict' Wilson 1402 S. First St. Champaign IL 61820
Illinois' Rashard Mendenhall may turn out to be an outstanding NFL running back, but if he does, he'll be bucking a lot of history.
Mendenhall is considered one of the top running backs in this year's draft, and he's pegged by some to be a mid to late first-rounder. But he'll have to overcome a somewhat accurate stigma that Big Ten backs are more trouble than they are worth.
Category
Big 10
Pct.
Others
Pct.
Elite
1
10%
13
31%
1,000-yards in a season
4
40%
23
55%
Busts
5
50%
7
17%
To early to rank
1
10%
7
17%
Over the past 10 years, 10 Big Ten backs have been picked in the first two rounds. Four of them rank among some of the bigger draft busts of the past decade. First-rounders Curtis Enis, Ron Dayne, Chris Perry and T.J. Duckett and second-rounder Joe Montgomery never lived up to the hype and the hopes of the teams that drafted them. Of the other five, Larry Johnson has turned into an elite back, while Ladell Betts, Michael Bennett and Anthony Thomas have each had one 1,000-yard season in careers that have largely left them on the bench. Lawrence Maroney hasn't had a 1,000-yard season yet, but he has shown promise, so it's too early to put any kind of stamp on his career yet.
I picked 10 years as a simple round number. But if you go back further it doesn't get any better for the Big Ten. The conference does get to add Eddie George's greatness, but that gets washed away by busts like Tim Biakabatuka and Ki-Jana Carter. Going back even further gives you epic busts like Blair Thomas, Darrell Thompson and Vaughn Dunbar.
If you're looking for a theme, most of the Big 10 busts have been power backs who have pounded their way between the tackles to big college careers. Dayne, Duckett and Enis were all among the biggest backs in their draft. They all proved unable to hit the hole quick enough to be a consistent every-down back in the NFL. The argument that the Big Ten is a slow-man's league seems to gain some credence from their struggles. Mendehall isn't nearly as big as Dayne or Duckett, but his scouting report mentions questions about his lack of breakaway speed, which should be a concern considering the league's past history.
It's been a few years since I was making the rounds at all of Champaign's finest drinking establishments, so maybe I'm just out of the loop on how the social scene at the University of Illinois works these days. However things have changed, I don't think I'm going to be asking Illinois linebacker Erique Robertson for advice.
Earlier on Monday it was announced that Robertson had been suspended indefinitely by the team for violating team rules, but there was nothing said about what Robertson did. Well, now we know.
The 19-year-old freshman is charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and two counts of aggravated unlawful use of weapons. Both are felonies.
Champaign police spokeswoman Rene Dunn said Robertson was arrested about 1:45 a.m. Sunday in front of Ellusions, a local bar. No one was injured.
Why Robertson felt the need to fire his gun, I don't know. Nobody's saying. Maybe that cute co-ed he bought a beer for just wasn't feeling him, and he wanted to vent his frustration. Whatever happened, I hope this is a valuable lesson for college football players everywhere. If you want a girl's attention, don't fire your gun at the bar. Just go back to your dorm room and post naked photos of yourself on the internet.
Tuesday was the deadline for underclassmen to declare their entry into the NFL Draft. Below, a look at the damage done across the Big Ten in the NFL Damage Report. Yes, the NFL is still interested in the occasional Big Ten player.
Ohio State
Gone
DE Vernon Gholston
Back
WR Brian Robiskie, LB James Laurinaitis, LB Marcus Freeman CB Malcolm Jenkins, OT Alex Boone
Damage
Gholston will be a major loss. The Detroit junior was a terror all year long -- if OSU hadn't busted three coverages at the wrong time he would have made an enormous impact on the national title game -- and perhaps the best defensive end in the Big Ten since Simeon Rice. OSU has a lot of talent, but guys like Gholston are rare no matter how many hyped recruits you've reeled in.
But the unfortunate reality for Big Ten fans is that OSU got off easier than everyone expected. Jenkins and Laurinaitis have been projected in the top half of the first round by most draft services, but elected to return. A few likely first-day picks in Robiskie, Freeman, and Boone elected to stick around, as well. Despite the loss of Gholston OSU is a big winner here.
Michigan
Gone
WR Mario Manningham, WR Adrian Arrington, QB Ryan Mallett (transfer)
Back
DT Terrance Taylor, DE Tim Jamison
Damage
Manningham's departure was assumed from last summer, but Adrian Arrington's dynamite Citrus Bowl might have been the decisive factor in his decision to enter early; both departing leaves Michigan thin and young at wideout. Third WR Greg Mathews comes back, but he seems a steady possession type in the mold of Jason Avant, not a gamebreaker like Manningham was and Arrington was developing into.
Mallett's departure will mean little to Michigan fans if Rich Rodriguez can reel in uberrecruit Terrelle Pryor.
Meanwhile, a couple defensive linemen who could have gone somewhere on the first day return; Michigan brings back every contributor from a pretty decent defensive line from a year ago. They'll have to make their returns count for Michigan's defense to keep what looks like a shaky-at-best offense in games.
Now that the Big Ten Network and Comcast cable have finally 
Just ... just, shush! ...
It's been a few years since I was making the rounds at all of Champaign's finest drinking establishments, so maybe I'm just out of the loop on how the social scene at the University of Illinois works these days. However things have changed, I don't think I'm going to be asking Illinois linebacker 
Gholston will be a major loss. The Detroit junior was a terror all year long -- if OSU hadn't busted three coverages at the wrong time he would have made an enormous impact on the national title game -- and perhaps the best defensive end in the Big Ten since Simeon Rice. OSU has a lot of talent, but guys like Gholston are rare no matter how many hyped recruits you've reeled in.
