Homecoming 2005.

Just writing that brings back painful, Vietnam-like flashback memories of a dark time in Illinois football. While most of the Illini faithful would love to forget that night entirely (I’m sure several of you tried by heading over to Green Street after the game), it’s nearly impossible to remove it from our collective fan conscious.

It was a cold night in Champaign and head coach Ron Zook’s first season at Illinois was on life support. The team was 2-4 and was recently embarrassed at home by Michigan State the week before. The Zook Era was off to a less than promising start, and the last thing the team needed was what Penn State had waiting for them: a 53-point defeat.

Under the lights of reasonably crowded Memorial Stadium (that’s glass-half-full thinking), the Illini were promptly trounced by a far superior Penn State team 63-10. To add insult to injury, the Nittany Lions pulled most of their starters before the second half even started.

“Our first year here was where we kind of bottomed out,” Zook said of the 2005 loss. “That’s where the program hit rock bottom. We said, ‘From here on we start climbing.'”

Rock bottom? Probably. But the loss against Penn State that year was more of a representation of a season riddled with blowouts from Big Ten opponents than anything else. (Their lowest margin of defeat to a Big Ten team was a 17-point loss to Northwestern).

Actually, now that I think about, Illinois’ results against Penn State since Zook took over the football program have always been a good indication of how the whole season is going to turn out.

Look at 2006 for example. With quarterback Juice Williams starting as a freshman, the Illini traveled to Happy Valley and actually put up a fight against Penn State.

“I just remember it was a hard-fought battle. I had cuts and bruises all over my hands and I had a gigantic scar on my back,” Williams said about the game.

Of course, the Fighting Zookers ended up losing the game 26-12, but the Nittany Lions had to score two non-offensive touchdowns to win and they never really pulled away until the fourth quarter. Their starters actually had to play the whole game.

In the context of the whole 2006 season, it was clear Illinois football wasn’t going to be a doormat anymore. That was certainly not reflective in their overall record (2-10, 1-7), but the team played every game close – including a near upset of No. 1 Ohio State – and its worst Big Ten loss came at the hands of Iowa in a 17-point defeat. Clearly Penn State got a little taste of things to come.

In 2007 – still fresh in many of our minds – Illinois finally broke through the years of losing on its way to a Rose Bowl appearance. Guess who that breakthrough started against?

In Illinois’ second Big Ten game of the season, Penn State got a rude introduction to wide receiver Arrelious Benn (two touchdowns) and the Illini got their first win over a ranked opponent since 2001. From that 27-20 victory, Illinois (enter cliché about never looking back here) and went on to a 9-4 season.

So let’s review. Blown out in 2005 … terrible season. Close loss in 2006 … team shows signs of progress. Close win in 2007 … winning season.

What is it about Penn State and this Illinois program?

“When you prepare for Penn State, they do a lot of the same things that everyone else does like Iowa and Wisconsin,” senior defensive lineman Will Davis said, who will be playing in his fourth game against Penn State this weekend. “It shows us where we are and what we need to work on.”

Perhaps in an ironic twist of fate, the last team to join the Big Ten is now some representation of the style of play throughout the conference that has acted as a litmus test for Illinois over the past few years.

If that is the case, what can we look forward to this Saturday at Beaver Stadium?

My guess is lots of scoring.

The Nittany Lions have a quick spread offensive attack (a style of offense slowly gaining popularity in the conference) led by athletic quarterback Daryll Clark that resembles the same style they played in 2005. The team even has a nickname for it: the High Definition offense (something that I’m sure scares and confuses Joe Paterno).

Illinois, on the other hand, likes to play up (and down) to its competition. Under the lights and on the national TV stage, I’m expecting to see a Mizzou-esque performance out of the offense.

When it’s all said and done, there is no doubt Penn State is going to tell us something about this Illini team and how far it’ll go this season. Hopefully they’ll show us the Illini are going a lot farther than University Park in 2008.

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