Top Five Questions for Illinois Football in 2014

By Alex Ortiz on July 31, 2014

Image via espn.go.com

With Big Ten Media Day going on in Chicago this week, Illinois head coach Tim Beckman and company will be fielding an endless stream of questions. So it is only appropriate that we look at the five biggest, burning questions for the Illini this season.

1. Is Wes Lunt the guy?

Wes Lunt may have come to Illinois via Oklahoma State as the supposed one to succeed above all-time good guy, Nathan Scheelhaase at quarterback, but he has not fully reassured the fan base of his abilities. He has a strong arm and is still learning, but as a more prototypical quarterback; he may fit the offense as well, if not better, than Scheelhaase did.

It is also safe to say that senior Reilly O’Toole is destined to be a career back up. His tendency to make the crucial play in the crucial moment proved to be his downfall.

Sophomore Aaron Bailey is the only real threat, a dual threat at that. He is still being guided along to master the offense but at least Illinois has a guy for when Lunt graduates.

Let’s just hope that these guys’ play at quarterback is better than their singing.

2. Can Bill Cubit keep up the offensive success in 2014?

The lack of depth at wide receiver is a concern. Playmaker Steve Hull and Ryan Lankford graduated and so players like senior Martize Barr and junior college transfer Geronimo Allison (great name by the way) will have to step up. One of the probable bright spots in the passing game may be the tight end position with redzone threats Jon Davis and Matt LaCosse.

At least the versatile Josh Ferguson and Donovan Young will for sure provide a threat out of the backfield. New offensive line coach Tim Brattan brings plenty of quality experience. Cubit still has some potential to keep up his good work, but it really does not get much easier than last year.

3. Can the defense at least be decent this season?

God I hope so. It really cannot get a whole lot worse than one of the worst two defenses in the Big Ten. The problem last year was that the defense was young and inexperienced. Linebacker Mason Monheim returns to lead a defense that should at least have some measureable improvement from 2013.

Decent may still be a stretch, but it seems like they can make some strides. It still looks like Illinois will rank in the bottom half of the conference but, if it can keep opponents to just less than 30 points a game, that might actually help a lot.

4. Is this a make or break year for the hot seat that is Tim Beckman’s job?

Beckman is lucky that he is a football coach because anyone could tell you that it takes time to develop into a consistent winner. It is hard to attract good recruits to a basketball school like Illinois, but he is actually making quite a bit of noise with his recent commits.

I’m comfortable saying that if there is an incremental improvement (i.e. six wins) this season, Beckman’s seat will cool down a bit.

5. Bowl game or no bowl game?

If I had to pick, I would be willing to predict an improvement in the win column, especially considering there were only four last season. But you’d be hard pressed to realistically expect a good bowl game appearance. At best they’ll make one of those obscure bowl games that take place in like mid-December. Lysol Toilet Bowl anyone?

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