5 Things: Iowa vs. Illinois

Crow tastes good, right? Someone has to know, because there's a few people who will be partaking this week after what we predicted to happen in Iowa vs Michigan.

There wasn't much evidence to suggest the Hawkeyes would be able to do what they did at Kinnick Stadium last Saturday, but obviously we all forgot about how random college football can be. Who woulda thought when dealing with 18-22 year-olds, right? I wrote in this space last week stranger things have happened. Well, strange things happened. So don't overlook Iowa's trip to Illinois.

Let's look at 5 Things: Iowa vs. Illinois.

1. 'We're on to Iowa'

When Lovie Smith was head coach of the Chicago Bears (hold that thought), he had a catch phrase that became something of a punch-line for those who covered and followed the team.

'[Insert name] is our quarterback.'

First it was Rex Grossman, mostly during the 2007 season, in which his turnovers and inconsistent play left the Smith-coached team considering Iowa native Kyle Orton as the starter. Then it was Jay Cutler, at various points, before being let go. It was phrasing he used, more or less, over and over.

Smith had another phrase he used in much the same way Monday during his media availability.

'We're on to Iowa.'

Both times Smith was asked to review Illinois' 48-3 shellacking (hold that thought, too) to Wisconsin, he either cut off the question or refused to accept the premise. You've heard of Iowa's 24-hour rule. Well, sure looks like Smith has the same policy, especially in regards to the big loss. He was asked about reviewing Wisconsin film — obviously standard practice.

'What film? We're on to Iowa. So that should answer your question. We didn't really look at it, so we didn't get much from it,' Smith said.

Two questions later, a reporter tried again. And again, Smith wanted no part of discussing what the Badgers did to the Illini.

'Again, we didn't spend a whole lot of time on it, so I can't talk an awful lot about the Wisconsin game. You guys saw it. There's not much to get from it. We didn't play well,' Smith said. 'We looked at things Sunday. Monday we're on to Iowa.'

OK, then. On to Iowa it is.

2. Reversal of fortunes?

Remember the whole 'stranger things have happened' thing? Well, would it really be the strangest thing for Iowa to go to Illinois and lose on Senior Day?

Not to be a pessimist, but the emotional fallout from an upset like Saturday's for Iowa can be hard to overcome. And no one is comparing Illinois hosting Iowa to Iowa hosting Michigan. The Hawkeyes were 21.5-point underdogs to Michigan, while the Illini are 10-point underdogs as of Monday afternoon.

In Illinois' most recent Big Ten win, against Michigan State two weeks ago, the Illini were coming off a blowout loss to Minnesota at home, 40-17. Iowa itself is an example of bouncing back well from big losses with unexpected victories. The Hawkeyes came back from losing to Northwestern for a road win at Minnesota, and then the shocker last week after the 41-14 loss to Penn State.

On paper, Iowa is better than Illinois. On paper, Iowa should go into Memorial Stadium, take care of business and leave with a win. But we all saw what 'on paper' meant last week. So when you hear Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz and his players say Tuesday that they're not overlooking Illinois, you'll know why.

3. Senior struggles

The Illinois senior class has been through a few things.

Smith is the third coach they've played for in four (or five, for the redshirt seniors) years. The first, Tim Beckman, won 12 games in three years and was fired right before the start of the 2015 season after allegations of abuse of players surfaced. Bill Cubit was named interim head coach, then had the interim label removed, led Illinois to a 5-7 record and then was fired after the season. Now Smith has led them to a 3-7 record to start their senior season.

For the true seniors, the last four years saw a combined 18-29 record and a loss in the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl. The redshirt seniors got to watch a 2-10 campaign in 2012. It's worse when looking just at Big Ten play, too. Illinois is 8-27 in Big Ten play over the last four years.

It stands to reason why Smith would want to send them off from home games on a positive note.

'We want to send these guys off the right way. In order to have that happen, we need to play better football than we did the past week. We understand that,' Smith said. 'The plan was to have a better record right now, but what we got from our seniors is what I thought we would get — good leadership; they show up each day.'

4. Wes Lunt's journey

Wes Lunt was once supposed to be the future of Oklahoma State football. That turned out to last one season. He started the opener for the Cowboys, but a roller coaster season saw five starts and six games played before he transferred to Illinois.

He was in and out of the starting lineup again in his first season with the Iliini dealing with injuries, playing in eight games and starting seven. Lunt managed to start all 12 games last year in what will be the only season in which he wasn't injured or missing time. He entered this season the starter again, but a leg injury against Purdue knocked him out again.

Lunt's journey has been rocky, to say the least. He's a career 59.4 percent passer, with 40 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

He made it back last week, splitting snaps with Jeff George Jr. (yes, his dad is the Jeff George you're thinking of) but went just 2 of 8 for 22 yards. He'll be back in the starting lineup this week, and Smith is hoping for a return to his 2015 form.

'He hadn't played in a while … it's a tough situation, when we're down like that, but you have to have your first time back and he got that out of the way,' Smith said. 'He's like every other senior. You want to go out a certain way, and that's playing the best ball you've played all year.'

5. Bears connections

Lovie Smith made his return to Illinois — and blue and orange — this year, four years after being given the boot by the McCaskey family as head coach of the Chicago Bears. Smith represents one of many connections the Bears and Illinois share.

Smith is the second head coach of Illinois who spent time as a coach of the Bears. Former Illini head coach Ron Turner was offensive coordinator for the Bears from 1993-96, left to coach Illinois, then returned to Chicago under Smith from 2005-09 in his former role. Smith fired Turner after 2009 and hired Mike Martz.

Some other Bears-Illinois connections?

Some guys named Red Grange and Dick Butkus played at both places. Both men are the only Illinois players to have their numbers retired, too. Bears' founder George Halas also played at Illinois before taking the school's colors to Chicago.

The Bears also played the entire 2002 season at Memorial Stadium while Soldier Field was being renovated.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com