Raise your hand if before the season you thought Illinois would beat Washington in Seattle. If you’re now reading this with your hand held high, you’re probably in the minority.

Illinois fans might have freaked out a little bit watching the first half of the Illini’s game at Washington. The 35-5 score at one point didn’t look good. But Illini fans shouldn’t be up in arms after that loss.

I know I chalked that one up for a loss long ago. But I’ll agree — the first half was unexpectedly terrible, almost to a comical extent. It was a ‘here we go again’ moment for Illinois fans everywhere.

After last week, Illini fans need someone to calm them down. They certainly don’t want to listen to me. So I’ll let linebacker Mason Monheim take the stage.

When I want a calm and honest answer about Illinois football, Monheim is the go-to source. Even with his long hair and scruffy beard, Monheim is soft-spoken and always has well though-out answers for the media.

I asked Monheim where this team is through one quarter of the season compared to where it was hoping to be.

“We’re definitely not close to where we want to be and where we need to be,” Monheim said. “We need to get on track, especially before the start of the Big Ten. We need a great week.”

OK, that’s not really a surprising answer. It sounds simple, but sometimes that’s the way it is. Coaches and athletes so often give answers riddled with sports cliches. Defensive coordinator Tim Banks is brimming with them.

In answer to the same question he said: “Every game is going to be judged on what you do that particular week. We didn’t get it done. Hopefully we get it done this week, and then we move on to the next. And I know that sounds really cliche, but there’s a reason why coaches stand by it. At least for me, because it’s the truth.”

So, Banks wants to talk about this week, let’s talk about this week. I asked Monheim what he knew about Texas State.

I asked him this mostly because I don’t know anything about Texas State football. Who outside of central Texas does? After a pause, Monheim said, “I mean, I’ve heard their quarterback’s pretty athletic, running back’s pretty good.”

But what he was really saying — in my words — was, I don’t know anything about Texas State, and I don’t care.

“We need to focus on us,” Monheim continued, “on getting back to where we need to be, being consistent on every down and we’ll be fine.”

Granted, I was talking to Monheim on Monday and he undoubtedly knows much more about the Bobcats now than he did earlier this week.

But this game is not about Texas State. This game is about Illinois.

You could substitute any sub-par FBS school in for Texas State. The opponent doesn’t matter — the Illini should win Saturday. This game is about seeing continued improvement on both sides of the ball.

Illinois struggled through two early games against subpar opponents — Youngstown State and Western Kentucky. Now it’s time to see what the Illini learned in Seattle. It’s time to see the improvement the team keeps talking about.

Sean is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @sean_hammond.