As a fifth-year student returning to the University of Illinois for graduate school, I now officially qualify as an “old guy” by campus standards. I remember when CRCE was referred to as WIMPE and when the closest place to get a Potbelly’s sandwich was Chicago.

With that said, there’s a good percentage of students here who don’t know how bad Fighting Illini football once was. To put it nicely, this team was craptacular. I’ll just leave it at that.

Instead, most of us have been recently treated to a team gushing with potential and the actual on-field results to prove it.

Some people now have high expectations for the 2008 Illini, and why shouldn’t they? Last year’s team finished tied for second place in the conference and earned a trip to the Rose Bowl. The offense looked solid and the defense was vastly improved over recent season performances. And another heralded recruiting class was already in the bank.

People are excited and with good reason.

But as they say, staying on top is usually harder than getting there. In order for the 2008 Illini football team to stay near the top, they are going to need to overcome their worst enemy – themselves.

Quarterback

Most of the Illini’s success will be determined by the play of junior quarterback Juice Williams. With Rashard Mendenhall no longer conducting the No. 5 train through defenses, Juice will now become the offensive focal point.

Williams is an accomplished runner and sealed a victory over Ohio State with his legs alone last season, but he’ll need to improve on the offense’s 168.2 passing yards per game (ranked 109th in the nation) to take some of the pressure off himself. He’ll have star receiver Arrelious Benn terrorizing the secondary downfield to help, but Juice is his own best friend this season.

Head coach Ron Zook has also been grooming Juice to be not only a playmaker, but also the team leader. Anyone can see there’s a lot riding on Juice this season … not that there’s pressure or anything.

Running backs

What size shoe does Rashard Mendenhall wear? Huge. And you know what they say about guys with big shoes? Big footsteps for successors to follow in. What did you think I was talking about?

Yes, it’s true Mendenhall had a great season last year and the offense will sorely miss his production. But as great as Mendenhall was with the ball, he owes much of his success to quality blocking from the offensive line and wide receivers.

With most of that blocking talent returning, the key at running back is to find someone who can hit the hole hard and, most importantly, not fumble the ball.

Finding one player to replace Mendenhall is going to be tricky, but a committee of players could be equally successful. Look for junior Daniel Dufrene, redshirt freshman Troy Pollard (who I believe showed the ability to be a huge playmaker before being hurt early last season) and true freshman Mikel LeShoure to share the duties.

Motto for the 2008 running backs corps: NO FUMBLES.

Linebackers

Senior Brit Miller now becomes “the man” on defense, taking over for the departed J Leman. Miller was a beacon of consistency last year, and I expect more of the same from him this season.

The big plays from the linebackers are going to come from sophomore Martez Wilson, who made huge plays in certain situations last year.

The key for Wilson – who is still developing and has a ton of raw talent – is to be a ball hawk but not play outside his abilities. Last year, I felt like Wilson probably tried too hard at times to showcase his talents and over-pursue in his tackling as a result.

Safeties

Both starters from last year are gone and a parade of sophomores will be competing for playing time, including Travon Bellamy, Nate Bussey and Bo Flowers.

With cornerback Vontae Davis roaming the secondary and making plays, I’m sure the coaches won’t ask the platoon of safeties to do more than prevent the deep ball.

Opposing teams will likely test the safeties with downfield shots early, but a tenacious pass rush should help.

Home schedule

Illinois plays six home games at the renovated Memorial Stadium this year, against Eastern Illinois, Louisiana-Lafayette, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio State.

Minus the game against the Buckeyes, it looks like Illinois can chalk up five guaranteed wins … that is, if the team isn’t too overconfident.

Most of the Illini’s marquee games will come on the road this year, and it is very easy for a young team to look past less-talented opponents at home and instead toward the supposed bigger challenges. That is especially true when the Illini are the heavy favorites … a status Illinois football has not seen for years.

Because of the difficult road schedule, the Illini must take care of business at home in order to even think about a bowl game.

There is no doubt in my mind that Illinois should win these games, but there needs to be no distraction in the players’ minds about the task at hand.

The 2008 Illini have all the tools to be just as successful as they were in 2007. Being in a weakened Big Ten conference (Doesn’t it always seem that way?), with the traditional top dogs suffering at the quarterback position, Illinois has a chance to win the conference. The only thing that could return them to their old, losing ways is themselves.

And nobody wants to go back to the old days. Trust me. I was there.

Kyle Betts is a graduate student. He can be reached at [email protected].