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I was miles away from civilized society on gameday, so, I had to get creative with listening to the game. I then watched the game replay the other night upon arriving home. My grades are below:

Offense: B
The issues this unit had on Saturday are gladly correctable in a short time frame. ZT will be able to get his timing right with new receivers and will also be able to refine timing against what appears to be lesser competition on paper. The offensive line is capable of creating holes that can allow our running backs to go for long runs, however, despite this not being the case Friday, it kept us on the field long enough to make a difference. It also didn't help that the field conditions were terrible, but I thought we ended up having to settle for field goals when we should have gotten in the end zone.

Defense: C
I've seen us put forth better efforts on the field and still thought poorly of it in the end. That said, I felt like our front seven atoned for their early shortcomings by playing lights out in the second half. The secondary has a lot of work that needs done, as I felt we left their receivers open in zone coverage too many times. NU was also able to have success against us in man and press man coverages. We'll need to be get things ironed out this week and have a good week of practice next week as it seems Illinois likes the deep ball already.

Special Teams: A-
Despite the feeling of having to settle for field goals a few times, I felt like this unit executed well on scrimmage kicks (punts included). Butch Hampton is the real deal and, in spite of his missed 50-yard attempt, he even split the uprights on that try. The kickoff team has some things to iron out, but, I felt like special teams were the furthest thing from a liability.

Coaching: A
I can recall very few coaching gaffes in terms of playcalling and/or strategy. We had, I think, maybe one or two offensive plays where we were absolutely blown up. Otherwise, the coordinators put together a solid gameplan and Fleck did his usual in motivating the boys to win.

Overall: A
Any time you can put a larger number on the board than a team from a major conference, the performance is requisite of a superior rating, regardless of the shortcomings the team is able to overcome. This team seems like it will be able to take care of what it needs to address and has game film from a very fundamentally sound football team to examine.

I might be nitpicking, but this team has elevated its stature enough to be subject to those kinds of criticisms. If a conference title is the goal, it should want to nitpick.

Bravo to Coach Fleck and everyone for starting 1-0.