Illinois QB bummed he won't play in Kinnick

CHICAGO - The Iowa and Illinois football teams are in the middle of a six-year scheduling break, and nobody is more disappointed than Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase.

The teams' hiatus was nothing more than a scheduling glitch because of Big Ten realignment. The last game between Iowa and Illinois took place in 2008 and the next one is scheduled for 2015. Scheelhaase, a junior, joined the Illini in 2009 and will be two years removed from Illinois for the next meeting.

"I was like, ‘Dang, I really wish I could have got that chance,'" Scheelhaase said. "Just because there's so much surrounding that, that I would have been excited for. Not only did my dad play there, not only have I been there since I was a little guy, I'm good friends with Jordan Cotton."

Scheelhaase is as knowledgeable about Iowa as any player or fan. He's the son of Nate Creer, who played cornerback at Iowa from 1982 through 1985. In fifth grade Scheelhaase attended Steve Alford's basketball camp. Scheelhaase was guided around The Fieldhouse by John Streif, the lifelong Iowa sports trainer who also took care of his father in the early 1980s.

Scheelhaase nicknamed former Iowa running back Owen Gill "Uncle O" and stays with him when he returns to his hometown of Kansas City. Scheelhaase still talks with former Iowa assistant Bernie Wyatt, who recruited Creer from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Iowa City. And Scheelhaase has high regard for Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz, who recruited him hard out of Rockhurst High School.

"I obviously was excited when I came to Illinois to have a chance to play against Iowa,"Scheelhaase said. "My dad played there. I've been to Kinnick since I probably couldn't walk, honestly. I was born in the state of Iowa. My biggest hope is that we meet in the Big Ten championship."

Scheelhaase has a special relationship with Cotton, his lifelong friend. Their dads - Creer and Marshall Cotton - played on Iowa's 1985 Big Ten title team, and Marshall Cotton calls Creer his "big brother."  They raised their families together and their sons are best of friends.

"I've known Jordan since I was in diapers," Scheelhaase said.

Scheelhaase and Cotton were born barely three months apart in 1990. They attended the same sports camps, spent weekends with one another and kept in touch over the years, even when Scheelhaase moved from Iowa to Kansas City. Cotton's younger brother, Darian, tagged along but mostly was left out.

"That's usually been those two's thing," said Darian Cotton, a freshman defensive back at Iowa State. "Ever since I can remember, every summer he either comes to our house or my brother goes to his house."

Scheelhaase and Cotton wanted to attend the same college, and it nearly happened. Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz offered Scheelhaase a scholarship after a one-day camp before his junior year. But there were two reasons why Scheelhaase chose Illinois over Iowa. One, he wanted to stay a quarterback. Two, he wanted to get on the field quickly. At Iowa it was possible Scheelhaase could switch positions or stay on the bench for years with former quarterback Ricky Stanzi and current starter James Vandenberg in place.

"I think I had to choose a program that fit me a little better, and I think the depth at quarterback at Illinois was definitely something that was eye-opening," Scheelhaase said. "I thought I would get a chance to play pretty early, and it ended up working out like that."

When asked if it was tough to accept his son playing for an Iowa rival, Creer said, "It wasn't difficult at all. I played already."

With neither Iowa nor Illinois advancing to the inaugural Big Ten title game last December, Scheelhaase drove four hours to Iowa City to attend the Iowa-Illinois wrestling meet and stay with Cotton. They hung out at The Airliner, to which Creer said, "I'm surprised it's still there." They also met with current Iowa players, who needed a little prodding before accepting Scheelhaase.

"It was a little weird at first for everyone I hang out with," Cotton said. "Micah (Hyde) was like, ‘He's coming over? He goes to Illinois, how do you guys know each other?'"

"You don't want to build relationships with other teams and other players or whatever," Hyde said. "I was like iffy about it or whatever. Finally he got there. He's a cool dude. He's just like one of us. The only negative is he plays for a different team."

Scheelhaase paid for his visit in terms of sleep. The next morning Marshall Cotton woke him up at 6 a.m. to give him a hug.

"He was like, 'Nathan,' yelling my ear off," Scheelhaase said with a laugh.

Scheelhaase has built an impressive resume at Illinois, starting 26 consecutive games. He's passed for 3,935 yards and 30 touchdowns and rushed for 1,492 yards and 11 scores. In 2010, he was named the Big Ten's top rookie after earning freshman of the week honors six times. He completed his first 13 passes en route to a 38-14 win against Baylor in the Texas Bowl that year.

Scheelhaase last year was named a team captain and picked up the offensive MVP award in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. He's earned academic all-Big Ten honors after both seasons and earned Illinois' Faculty Award for exemplary leadership in the community, classroom and field as a red-shirt in 2009. He was the Kansas City Star's Metro Player of the Year in 2008.

"Just an outstanding young player, dynamic player, which we've seen for a while now in conference play," Ferentz said. "Great personality, smart, just everything that you want in a player."

Ferentz coached Iowa's offensive line when Creer played cornerback. Creer, who had eight career interceptions, started for three seasons and was named one of 13 team MVPs in 1985. Outside of their positions, Ferentz said there are a few differences between Creer and Scheelhaase.

"Nate's a different personality," Ferentz said. "Nathan is probably a little more measured, but Nate was probably the life of the party. He was a spirited player."

Creer and Scheelhaase's mother, LouAnn, moved to Champaign when Nathan picked the Illini. Creer attends football practice regularly, and doesn't miss an Illinois football game. Creer had to miss the 1985 Rose Bowl reunion two years ago because his son opened as Illinois' starting quarterback against Missouri.

But Scheelhaase still gets the chance to see Iowa, in basketball at least. Last year when he attended the Iowa-Illinois game in Champaign, he stopped down during a timeout and said hello to Streif, who later called him to chat.

Scheelhaase said he still plans to attend a game at Kinnick Stadium, it just won't be as an opposing player.

"There's a whole lot that made me wish I would have had a chance to play at Iowa," Scheelhaase said. "But unfortunately when the conference realigned and all that stuff happened, it switched up schedules where we didn't have them and we weren't in their division. It stunk a little bit. It would have been fun to look out across the field.

"I can to go to an Illini-Iowa game when I'm out of it to see what it will be like, I guess."

ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI

• Division: Leaders
• 2011 record: 7-6, 2-6 Big Ten
• Returning offensive starters (7): QB Nathan Scheelhaase, WR Darius Millines, WR Spencer Harris, TE Evan Wilson, OL Michael Heitz, OL Hugh Thornton, C Graham Pocic

• Returning defensive starters (8): DE Michael Buchanan, DT Glenn Foster, DT Akeem Spence, LB Ashante Williams, LB Jonathan Brown, CB Terry Hawthorne, SS Steve Hull, FS Suppo Sanni
• Key losses: T Jeff Allen, WR A.J. Jenkins, DE Whitney Mercilus, CB Tavon Wilson, LB Ian Thomas
• 2010 review: No team featured such an schizophrenic season as the Illini, which started 6-0. Illinois then lost six straight, including tough defeats to Purdue and Penn State, to close the regular season. The collapse cost Coach Ron Zook his job, but the Illini rallied in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl to beat UCLA.
• 2011 schedule: S1 Western Michigan; S8 at Arizona State; S15 Charleston Southern; S22 Louisiana Tech; S29 Penn State; O6 at Wisconsin; O13 at Michigan; O27 Indiana; N3 at Ohio State; N10 Minnesota; N17 Purdue; N24 at Northwestern
• Key stretch: Illinois opens Big Ten play against three teams that won a combined 31 games last year. Three straight defeats could send the group into a funk entering the back half of its schedule.
• Trap game: Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs won the WAC last year, barely lost the Poinsettia Bowl to TCU, beat Ole Miss and averaged 30.1 points per game.
• Glass half-full: The Illini returns junior QB Nathan Scheelhaase, who has produced in two years as a starter. There's loads of talent and experience on defense, especially up front. The schedule is manageable.
• Glass half-empty: Four Illinois players were drafted in the first two rounds in the spring NFL draft, including national sacks leader Whitney Mercilus. It might take a while for a new coach to acclimate to both his team and the league.
• Quotable: "We're going to do what we believe will be successful." -- Illinois Coach Tim Beckman

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