BTN.com staff, August 17, 2012
The BTN bus tour hit Champaign, Ill., on Friday so our crew could take in Illinois practice. Now that practice and filming of the show is over, it's time for Gerry DiNardo's post-practice tweets - a feature he?ll provide after all 12 stops across Big Ten country. You can also find tweets from Dave Revsine and Tom Dienhart in this post. And don?t forget to catch the debut of the Illinois Preview Show at 10 p.m. ET Saturday on BTN/BTN2Go.
[BTN.com: Tom Dienhart's thoughts from Illinois practice]
[BTN.com: Nathan Scheelhaase signs the BTN tour bus]
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI This doesn't appear 2 b a drastic coaching change in either style or X/O's Brady @ UM, JK @ Minn KW @ IU was this isn't
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI Offense looks similar to Illinois's off in 2009 but maybe more like Northwestern last year w Persa May b a pass first O
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI Coach Beckman tells us about their ?Tempo" offense – they 6 different "Tempos? Might b PSU/MSU b 4 we see traditional O
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI RB very much involved in the passing game – Dami Ayoola very impressive frosh RB
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI Jon Davis looks like he may have special opportunities in this offense – He may line up as TE/SE/RB
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI Perfect non-conf schedule – 1 BCS opponent and 3 non-bcs opponents. Home B1G schedule are match ups PSU/IU/Minn/PU NICE
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI LB group impressive Brown/Bates/Cooper – T.J Neal frosh LB who was impressive and looks like he'll play
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI D Line no surprise that they were impressive – 1 reason people think they have underachieved is their history of D Line
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI Off line looked good,starters will be fine,not the depth this yr they've had in past Alex Hil young guy who looked good
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI WR r obviously a major part of the off – depth could b a problem D Millines jumps out coaches very complimentary of him
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI Scheelhaase threw ball well as did O'Toole interesting not much QB run allows both 2 fit into off 2 deep at QB 4 sure
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN #ILLINI Interesting even though this is TB 2nd HFC job he did not bring either coord with him-it may take some time 2 develop chemistry
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
BTN Bus Tour #ILLINI If special teams aren't better in 2012 I will b shocked The most impreesive part of the 3 practices I've seen were ST.
— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) August 18, 2012
Tight end is a deep position for #Illinois. Three are being used liberally today: Davis, Wilson and Viliunas. #B1G
— Tom Dienhart (@TomDienhart1) August 17, 2012
No. 1 #Illinois RB today is Josh Ferguson. I will say this: fellow RB Donovonn Young is a marvelous specimen. #B1G
— Tom Dienhart (@TomDienhart1) August 17, 2012
#Illinois true frosh K/P Ryan Frain is booming the ball. I bet he wins one of the two jobs. #B1G
— Tom Dienhart (@TomDienhart1) August 17, 2012
#Illinois CB Terry Hawthorne told me before practice that he hasn't been working as a WR in camp. #B1G
— Tom Dienhart (@TomDienhart1) August 17, 2012
Illinois co-OC Chris Beatty will work in the booth and call plays. Co-OC Billy Gonzales will be on the field. #B1G
— Tom Dienhart (@TomDienhart1) August 17, 2012
#Illinois DTs Spence and Foster (on left) look good. Future pros. #Illinois star DE Buchanan not taking part in drills. pic.twitter.com/vAVZbD1E
— Tom Dienhart (@TomDienhart1) August 17, 2012
#Illini DLine is really athletic – along the lines of what we saw at Purdue. This group will be tough to deal with.
— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 17, 2012
FWIW – Scheelhaase consistently the 1st QB in drills – but it's clear nothing has been decided. Nate says he and o'Toole splitting 1 reps
— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 17, 2012
WR is not a position of strength. Plenty of capable guys – but there's no one out here who looks like he can have A.J. Jenkins type season
— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 17, 2012
#Illini look great at TE, though. We've seen what Evan Wilson can do, and Jon Davis looks like a playmaker
— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 17, 2012
#Illini True frosh RB Dami Ayola looks good. Would not be surprised if he plays. Very comfortable catching ball – good for spread RB
— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 17, 2012
Nate Scheelhaase has really looked good today. Very comfortable in #Illini offense – suits him perfectly
— Dave Revsine (@BTNDaveRevsine) August 17, 2012
