When players from Illinois (1-0) and ASU (1-0) look across the field from each other Saturday, they may as well be looking into a mirror.
The teams going head-to-head this weekend are eerily similar to each other.
Both teams are coming off disappointing seasons. Illinois went 7-6, winning only two conference games. ASU went 6-7 losing their last five games.
Both teams have a new head coach this season. Illinois is starting their first season with coach Tim Beckman, who came from Toledo.
Both teams want to start off their season with an impressive non-conference win against a quality opponent.
“This is one of the games that will set us on pace to do good this season,” said Illinois sophomore running back Donovonn Young . “I know a big win here will get the fans hyped, us hyped and just get a good feel going on in coach Beckman’s new era.”
There is one difference between the two teams. ASU’s starting quarterback is not injured.
Illinois starting junior quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase suffered an ankle sprain in the Illini’s first game against Western Michigan last weekend.
Beckman said that he is optimistic that Scheelhaase can be ready by Saturday. But he needs his quarterback to snap during the week in order to have confidence in him.
“I’m a firm believer in practice,” Beckman said. “You got to go through some practice. I’ve found that when you are not ready and prepared come Saturday and you haven’t practiced.”
Scheelhaase did practice fully on Wednesday according to a tweet from AZCentral’s Doug Haller. Beckman wanted Scheelhaase to practice on Wednesday at the latest to be prepared for Saturday.
It appears that Scheelhaase will be ready for ASU.
If the ankle continues to slow down Scheelhaase, the backup Illini quarterbacks will have to step up.
Scheelhaase’s backups are sophomore Reilly O’Toole and junior Miles Osei. Beckman said both quarterbacks have been getting the same amount of reps in practice.
“Both those two young men are going to be prepared this week to play in this football game,” Beckman said. “We’ll see how they do and how they progress. But game plan and all that stuff, that will be very little changed.”
Beckman and ASU coach Todd Graham agree on one thing: to win the game, both teams need to take care of the football and go after the football.
In the Illini’s first game, they did an exceptional job forcing turnovers. They stole the ball away from WMU four times, while only turning the ball over on offense once.
When the Illini took on the Sun Devils last season, ASU’s three turnovers were the difference in the close game.
Illinois junior linebacker Jonathan Brown knows how his team can force some turnovers again against the Sun Devils.
“Just stick to the fundamentals, stick to what we’ve been coached to do all summer, all spring,” Brown said. “If we do that…it will pay dividends.”
On the other side of the ball, Young has a responsibility to protect the ball.
“A statistic that coach goes over with us a lot is if you don’t turn the ball over, you are ninety-two percent more likely to win a game,” Young said. “I think we will be fine next week as long as we follow what we preach, ball security.”
The Illini will enter Sun Devil Stadium looking to beat the Sun Devils two years in a row.
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
