Illinois Football: Winners and Losers from Fighting Illini's First Month

The 19th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini couldn't ask for a better position than they are in right now. Opening the season 5-0 with one Big Ten victory in the books, it looks like they are flying high right now.

They have yet to play on the road though, but are 5-0 for the first time since 1951 when they opened the season with seven straight wins. 

Their first road tussle comes this weekend in Indiana, but before that let's see who are the clear winners and losers of the first month of the season for the Illini.

Nathan Scheelhaase is a clear winner for Illinois.  After not throwing for over 267 yards a game, or 211 against a Big Ten team, he exploded against the Northwestern Wildcats. 

Setting career highs in completions (21), attempts (32), and yards (391) he led his Fighting Illini to their first Big Ten victory of the season.

Realizing that they need to throw deep in their close victory over Western Michigan, offensive coordinator Paul Petrino learned quickly and unleashed Scheelhaase's arm.

This worked great and should keep working for the Illini.  Clearly they are winning behind Scheelhaase's gun and will keep winning.  Their biggest test of the season is in five weeks against the Michigan Wolverines, but if Scheelhaase can get in a groove, they may have a chance to run the table.

Senior running back Jason Ford has had a rough start to the season.  After being arrested for suspicion of drunk driving this summer, he still somehow won Mikel LeShoure's old job out of camp.

Fellow Senior Troy Pollard and Freshman running back Donovonn Young have each outshined Ford though this season.  Pollard has 28 carries for 269 yards (9.6 average) including two 100 yard games and one touchdown and Young has 241 yards including one 100 yard game to go with his 6.9 average and four touchdowns. 

Ford only has 224 yards and a 3.2 yard average to go with his four touchdowns.  He has also seen his carries suddenly decrease from 21 in Week 3 to eight in Week 4 and seven in Week 5.  Young has seen more carries the past two weeks than Pollard and Ford with 12 and eight respectively, mostly due to Fords woes on the ground and fumbling issues and an injury to Pollards knee. 

Clearly Jason Ford is on the verge of losing his starting job, if not lost already.  As he was the winner to replace Mikel LeShore this year, he is a clear loser due to the fact he is already losing his job.

Honestly, has there been a better receiver in college football this year than A.J. Jenkins?  With already 40 catches and 633 yards through five games, he has been a clear superstar and has taken over the Illini offense.  Jenkins only needs 113 more yards to top his total for all of last year.

He already has three 100+ yard games and and two games with 10+ catches including an 11-catch, 148-yard and score game, and a 12-catch school record 268-yard, three touchdown game. 

He nearly single handedly won the game against Northwestern, catching 268 of Scheelhaase's 391 yards and all three of his touchdowns.  With only 82 total yards on the ground, Jenkins had to come up big, as he has all year and take over the game.

Without A.J. Jenkins, the Illini are no way 5-0 so he is a clear winner through the first month of the season for Illinois.

Sophomore linebacker Jonathan Brown has been on a very short leash this season and it finally has snapped. 

In the first quarter against Northwestern, Brown was flagged for unnecessary roughness.  This was after he was flagged for roughing the passer when he hit QB Dan Persa right in the face after throwing the ball.  After that he was caught ramming his knee into the groin of a Northwestern lineman.  He is now suspended for their next game against Indiana, after the league has reviewed the video evidence of this kneeing.

He did take over the Northwestern game, accumulating 11 tackles and a half of a sack.  He totals out at 20 tackles and two sacks in the five games, so his presence will be missed by the defense.

Overall, just because he can't keep it together, Jonathan Brown is a loser for being suspended and leaving his defense hanging.

So we will see how this team fairs on their first road trip.  It will be interesting to watch if these winners can keep winning and if the losers can step up their game and take the Fighting Illini to the next level.