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By Craig Sanders
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 13, 1996
Arizona's game against Illinois tomorrow night may be a tale of two teams going in different directions.The Wildcats (1-1 overall, 0-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference) have been successful early, sporting a new offensive scheme, the leading defense in the Pac-10 and the ability to play tough against top 25 opponents.
The Illini (0-2 overall, 0-1 in the Big Ten Conference) seem to be falling apart at the seams. They have yet to score a touchdown this season and, worse yet, they have lost any semblance of their once proud defense. Both teams will be taking a long look in the mirror, trying to find out exactly where they are going.
"I'm not even thinking about Illinois," UA head coach Dick Tomey said. "I'm thinking about getting 'us' straight.
"We go try to prove and improve ourselves. That's what Illinois will be doing this week. They started out with two losses last year and beat us. They just played a team coming off a loss (Southern Cal) which was trying to prove and improve itself. Our concentration will be on Arizona."
Last season when these two teams met, Illinois won 9-7 in Champaign, Ill. The teams mirrored each other, using great defenses and big-name players to set the pace of the game.
When Illinois meets the Wildcats at 7:07 p.m. at Arizona Stadium tomorrow, it should be a far different game. The Wildcats have shown they still have the kind of team that can be competitive, falling 21-20 to No. 22 Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, last week. Illinois, on the other hand, was embarrassed at home by No. 21 Southern Cal 55-3.
The 52-point loss was Illinois' worst in 10 years. Yet the defensive ineptness is overshadowed only by the offense's inability to score. Illinois has gone 12 straight quarters without a touchdown and has scored only 11 points in its first two games this season.
While the offensive hardships are nothing new to the team, the defensive ones are. Gone are linebackers Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice, who dominated last season's match with Arizona. Last season the Illini defense was ranked second in the Big Ten and 21st in the nation in total defense.
Illinois isn't without some good players, however. Linebacker Dennis Stallings is solid behind the line, cornerback James Williams leads the secondary in tackles and defensive tackle Tom Claussen is expected to step in for the injured Garrett Johnson.
But if the history of the series is any indication, the Wildcats may not want to take anything for granted, especially when they have so many questions surrounding their own offense.
Arizona comes in still uncertain about who will be its staring quarterback. Junior Brady Batten has started both games so far, but backup redshirt freshman Keith Smith has played extensively, including the entire second half of the game against Iowa.
"Keith gave us a big lift," Tomey said. "We have two guys who can play. I'm thrilled we have two guys. We need to decide whether to continue with Brady or give Keith a shot."
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