Today’s column from CBS Chicago …
By Dave Wischnowsky –
(CBS) For the Illinois football team, the good news is that its record is 3-1. The bad news is that getting there hasn’t exactly been easy, while the worst news is that the actual easy part of the season is now officially over.
Welcome back to the Big Ten, Tim Beckman.
I’m guessing that the conference has missed you, although I’m also guessing that you may not share similar feelings.
Come Saturday night in Lincoln, Neb., the Illini will kick off their Big Ten slate against the 21st-ranked and undefeated Cornhuskers (4-0), a team that pounded them 39-19 in last season’s conference opener.
With an eventual 1-7 Big Ten record, 2013 didn’t go so well for Beckman’s Illini, just like 2012 (0-8) didn’t either. In fact, dating back to Ron Zook’s final season in 2011, Illinois has one won only once in its past 22 conference games.
Even the Cubs think that’s bad.
Of those losses in that sorry string, the last 15 belong to Beckman, which should be particularly troubling for the coach because it was Big Ten failures that put his predecessor on the chopping block.
Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …