Illinois junior Simeon Rice acknowledges he has considered the possibility of turning pro after this year. But he also sounds petrified at the idea, so chances are he will remain in school.
“It’s something in the back of my mind, but it scares me a little bit,” admitted the linebacker from Mt. Carmel High School. “That’s real life and I wonder if I’m ready for it. It’s like bills and everything. I don’t know if I have the business mentality right now.”
Rice and the Illini defense were honored by the Big 10 Tuesday. The conference selected the entire unit as the defensive players of the week after holding Missouri to one first down in Saturday’s 42-0 victory.
QB question: Illini coaches weren’t publicly pointing the finger this week at quarterback Johnny Johnson, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t repeat the same mistakes he made when a 10-9 loss to Washington State Sept. 1 cost him his starting position.
Privately, team officials are saying Johnson once again showed Saturday against Missouri, in limited playing time, that he didn’t spend enough time cracking the playbook during the week.
Some folks at the school wish he would wise up and learn the routine, because they think the fact Johnson is from North Chicago makes him a better draw than current starter Scott Weaver, who hails from Beaver Falls, Pa.
Still can’t believe it: Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz and his defensive coordinator are still shaking their heads in disbelief over Michigan’s last-minute comeback Saturday, a 26-24 loss which Holtz believes has taken his Irish out of the national championship picture.
Holtz and defensive coordinator Bob Davie had studied over and over again the films from last year’s Boston College game, in which BC mounted a similar comeback against a Notre Dame prevent defense. This time, Davie persuaded Holtz to use four rushmen, instead of two or three, but it still didn’t work because of a couple of superb plays by Michigan quarterback Todd Collins and a blown coverage of the tight end.
“It (a last-minute comeback) ain’t never going to happen to us again,” Holtz said. “I use the word `ain’t’ to emphasize my feelings and not because I thought it was grammatically correct.”