In college football, there is an exception to the passing interference rule, an “out” if you will. Even if a defender interferes with the receiver, when the referee determines that the pass was “uncatchable,” there is no penalty. The rule makes sense—the offense should not get the yardage if the pass wouldn’t have been completed regardless of the infraction.
Why is this germane?
Towards the end of the second quarter in the matchup between the Fighting Illini and the Indiana Hoosiers, in a 3rd down and long situation, offensive coordinator Paul Petrino called exactly what you would expect for the situation: a deep strike pass from Nathan Scheelhaase to A.J. Jenkins. As Jenkins sprinted along the sidelines, the pass came arcing in and the defender got overly friendly with Jenkins, obviously interfering as he shoved Jenkins out of bounds. The referees called off the penalty, saying that the ball was uncatchable.
But here’s the rub: Jenkins actually caught the ball. That’s right, A.J. Jenkins pulled in a catch that was ruled, by the officiating crew, as uncatchable. This pretty much sums up the Illinois football season to date—performance above and beyond rational expectation.
(Granted, Jenkins pulled in the catch out of bounds. However, he was, at most, half a step out of bounds, and it was a realistic possibility that he could have kept his feet in bounds but for the Hoosier shove towards the sideline.)
Jenkins continued his streak of phenomenal play, racking up 182 yards and 2 touchdowns. On six catches. That’s right, six catches added up to 182 yards. Fun fact: Jenkins two-game total, including his performance against Northwestern, of 450 receiving yards is a Big Ten record.
Nathan Scheelhaase continued to look terrific, putting balls right where they needed to be, not just for Jenkins but for an increasingly active corps of tight ends. And Illinois’ ground game was very good as well, averaging 5.6 yards per carry for 308 total yards in the game, with the carries distributed all around.
Someone else had a big day on Saturday as well. It was me.
No need to trot out the false modesty here: my pre-game prediction was eerily accurate. In the preview I put together for you all (http://www.smilepolitely.com/sports/road_yes._trip_doubtful/), I noted how I was getting increasingly nervous, as Illinois had been more than a bit unpredictable. Throwing caution to the wind, I invited disaster by attempting to predict what a bunch of 18 to 22 year olds would do and telling the internet hordes to call me out if/when I failed. Here was my prediction:
Illinois finally broke its habit of playing lackluster in the first half of games on Saturday, and got off to strong start offensively, with a balanced attack between the run and the pass. Indiana’s defense was flummoxed by a committee of running backs mixed in with liberal use of the pass game. The Hoosiers continued their streak of forcing opponents into turnovers, but failed to capitalize offensively, as Illinois’ defense matches the offense for the most balanced game Illinois has put forth yet. Illinois won 34–14.
So Jenkins caught the uncatchable catch, and so did I. Every single one of those things is true, save the precision of the score. It was actually 41-20, so the margin of victory was nearly spot on just the same.
But I like to think I was pretty close to nailing the score: it was 34 to 13 with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter, and if we take away Indiana’s opening kickoff return and Illinois’ scoop and score on an Indiana fumble (both pretty fluky plays), I’m right in there.
How did I do it? A lady never tells.
So, the Orange and Blue notched their first road victory. Granted, the game wasn’t perfect. There were several turnovers, including some of the type that better teams (read: everyone else remaining on Illinois’ schedule except Minnesota) are pretty much guaranteed to convert into points. But these are minor quibbles. It truly was a balanced attack: offense and defense, run and pass. The defense looked terrific, reminiscent of the performance against Arizona State. Quarterback pressure is becoming the trademark of the Illini D, and it was on full display against an outmatched Indiana. Illinois advances to 6–0, meaning that they are already eligible to play in a bowl game, 2 games into the Big Ten schedule.
Now Illinois returns to Champaign to play THE scandal-ridden Buckeyes of THE Ohio State University next Saturday. Should be a fun Saturday: the athletic department has decided to tell everyone what to wear in the interests of aesthetics, and you’ll get a chance to see Bruce Weber’s basketball team in action for free before the game.
Check back in with Smile Politely later in the week for a full preview. If you behave yourselves for the rest of the week, I just may reward you with a prediction for precisely which NCAA violations will be committed by the Buckeyes in the 8 hours before the game (spoiler alert: there’s lots of ’em).