Tim Beckman says he can win eight games in 2015

We all have days where we wish we were Tim Beckman.

No, not Illinois coach Tim Beckman, he’s 10-24 and probably going to lose his job, but eternal optimist Tim Beckman. A man who can take even the most dismal situation, spin it a few times and have himself convinced that there’s always a rainbow waiting on the other side.

That optimistic Tim Beckman used part of his weekly press conference to claim that his 4-6 team could still win seven games this season. Yep, beat Penn State, Northwestern, become bowl eligible and then win the bowl game.

“If we take care of business in the next two football games or three football games, that’s a seven-win season,” he said. “You’ve got to win one at a time, and we haven’t won five yet."

Beckman went on to say that if he and his staff were allowed another season — yes, the campaign to not be fired has begun — he could see his program winning eight games next year.

Yes, eight.

To put that into perspective, Illinois hasn’t won eight games since winning nine in 2007, the year USC manhandled it in the Rose Bowl. And that’s the only time the program has won more than seven games since 2001. Beckman hasn’t won more than four games as Illinois’ coach since he took the job in 2012.

So moving from four wins, to winning out this year to eight wins in 2015 sounds, well, optimistic.

But that’s the picture Beckman has tried to paint as he’s put lipstick on the pig of a season Illinois has had this year.

After getting blown out 44-19 at Washington on Sept. 13, Beckman said: “You take out 21 points on three plays and we’re in this football game. If you look at the second half, we won.”

After losing 38-27 to Purdue, Beckman told media, “If we take out ten plays in that football game, it’s a different game.”

Fans always want their coach to stay positive, but not to a fault.

In Beckman’s defense, he did take a 3-9 Toledo team and turn it into a division title winner, a feat that got him the Illinois job in the first place. He thought he could perform a similar transformation with the Illini.

And he has shown some improvement going from 2-10 his first season to winning four games last year and winning at least four games this season. But it’s also hard to ignore that Beckman is 2-20 in Big Ten games during that stint, which is downright terrible no matter how many times you try to spin it.

There have been many examples of schools sticking with coaches through rough starts only to be rewarded for their patience, but the opposite trend is more often the likely outcome.

If Beckman’s team can somehow figure out a way to win — or even make a bowl game — he probably gets another year. If not, he’ll need to use his strong PR spin skills to find another job.

For more Illinois news, visit OrangeandBlueNews.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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