As head coach Tim Beckman walked into the room for his press conference earlier this week, he lugged a large, square trophy that he placed on the table next to the lectern. The trophy has a gold football coated in fingerprints and dust sitting atop a square, wooden surface, with golden football players at each of its four corners. 

The front lists years from 1984 until 2001, and space for the winner of that year’s game. The Blue team in ‘84, and Orange team from 1985-1987, and then for some reason it stops listing a winner. 

Maybe everyone stopped caring?

Beckman dug through the Illinois football offices last year to find that trophy and award it to the Blue team last year. It’ll be the prize for the annual Orange and Blue Spring Game on Friday night under the lights at Memorial Stadium. Beckman is emphasizing competition again this spring; although, the mentions of beans and weenies have been much less frequent. 

“More competition, more one-on-ones, more physicalness throughout this spring,” Beckman said. “Regardless of injury or not, we’re going to become a mentally tough football team.”

He wants the players to have something to play for during this game, and they’ve had a chance to look at that trophy in the middle of the locker room during spring practice.

This game will be without some of the biggest stars from last season. Some will be preparing for the NFL draft such as Michael Buchanan, Akeem Spence and Terry Hawthorne. An abundance of others — Steve Hull, Jonathan Brown, Jon Davis — will miss the game because of injury. And Nathan Scheelhaase, entering his fifth year with the program, will play limited snaps, so expect a lot of reps from third-string quarterback Chase Haslett. 

The fans that come to Memorial Stadium should be prepared to wonder who exactly is in the game. 

It could be a junior college transfer, such as wide receiver Martize Barr (look for No. 7) who spent last season playing for Iowa Western Community College, or Eric Finney, (12) who will be in the defensive backfield.

Or an early high school graduate like defensive back Darius Mosely (24), who Beckman joked hasn’t even made it to prom yet.

Beckman projects all three of those players to be running with the first team if the season started today, and they all are members of the Orange team.

The teams were split up via a draft, where the Orange team selected quarterback Reilly O’Toole and offensive linemen Ted Karras and Corey Lewis. 

The Blue team selected offensive lineman Simon Cvijanovic with the first pick. Add him alongside Scheelhaase, running backs Josh Ferguson and Donovonn Young, wide receiver Ryan Lankford and linebackers Mason Monheim and Mike Svetina, and the Blue team would appear to be the favorites. 

This game could be a small sample of new offensive coordinator Bill Cubit’s system. It’s unlikely that Cubit will reveal much of his playbook, nor is it likely the Illini are fully adjusted to the new offense yet. 

“You can see there’s not a lot of trust early in practice,” Cubit said. “So we’re holding the ball a little bit longer than I’d like. I thought the last two practices we got it out faster, and you can see at times we’re a little bit better … so it’s gotten better, but it’s nowhere near where it needs to be.”

Friday night will also give fans a chance to see if the Illini defense has improved at all. The secondary will be especially young, with most of last season’s starters gone. 

“As far as the system goes and the plan, it’s still the same, but obviously it’s utilizing those pieces a little bit better,” defensive coordinator Tim Banks said.

This will also be the first look at the five new assistant coaches hired this past offseason, including Cubit; however, the new HD video scoreboard, 36-feet-tall and 96-feet-wide, will not be installed in time for the game. 

Illinois is going to bring back notable alumni to serve as honorary coaches including New England Patriots defensive back Tavon Wilson (Blue) and former All-American guard Tim Simpson (Orange).

Wide receivers coach Mike Bellamy will be the head coach of the Orange team against the Blue team’s head coach defensive line coach Greg Colby. Both are new coaches and also played at Illinois.

Jamal can be reached at [email protected] and @jamalcollier.