Illinois coach Tim Beckman has been known to make some perplexing statements from time to time.
After getting blown out 44-19 on the road to Washington on Sept. 13, Beckman offered this brilliance: “You take out 21 points on three plays and we’re in this football game. If you look at the second half, we won.”
A few weeks later, after losing at home to Purdue, Beckman told reporters “if we take out ten plays in that football game, it’s a different game.” He also reporters that his team could end up at nine wins if it “run(s) the table.”
Well, that hasn’t happened as the Illini sit at 4-5 with games against Iowa, Penn State and Northwestern remaining. Despite an upset over Minnesota two weeks ago, Beckman is firmly on the hot seat and on Tuesday’s Big Ten coaches’ conference call, Beckman was asked why he has not been able to land more talented recruits from the Midwest. Perplexingly, Beckman cited Illinois’ academics as a major factor.
Beckman says academic standards at Illinois are higher than other B1G schools. He says it's the biggest issue in recruiting for Illini.
— Dan Murphy (@DanMurphyESPN) November 11, 2014
@CheersHeavy He was asked why Illinois wasn't getting more good recruits from Midwest, cited academics as top reason.
— Dan Murphy (@DanMurphyESPN) November 11, 2014 You don’t have to look far to find another Big Ten school that would laugh at that assertion. Northwestern, who Beckman has hyped up as an in-state rival, has academic standards comparable to Ivy League schools. Illinois is certainly no slouch. The U.S. News and World Report rankings has Illinois ranked No. 42 nationally – third best in the Big Ten behind Northwestern (No. 13) and Michigan (No. 29). With that said, schools with similar rankings like Wisconsin (No. 47), Penn State (No. 48) and Ohio State (No. 54) haven’t had the trouble Beckman has had in recruiting.
Beckman’s 2014 class was ranked 75th nationally by Rivals.com – the worst in the Big Ten. His best class was his 2013 class (No. 47 overall), which was seventh best in the conference.
Beckman’s predecessor, Ron Zook, had three classes in Rivals.com's top 30 during his tenure.
At this point, Beckman just seems to be making excuses for his sputtering program. It will be a struggle for the Illini to reach bowl eligibility, but that starts this weekend with Iowa coming to Champaign for a noon kickoff on Saturday.
“As I said to the team Sunday, we have played extremely well in the fourth quarter and we have to continue that trend,” said Beckman. “The way I see it, we’re in the fourth quarter of our season. Our seniors have set goals and we have to get to six wins to be bowl eligible. “
For more Illinois news, visit OrangeandBlueNews.com.
- - - - - - -
Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Illinois coach Tim Beckman says academic standards are hurting the Illini's recruiting
No comments:
Post a Comment