C-U AT THE BIG GAME: Illini campus again place to be
CHAMPAIGN - The University of Illinois campus is buzzing, and not from a swarm or hornets or a flyby from the Blue Angels.
After a five-season drought, football frenzy has made its way back to Champaign-Urbana, and it figures to reverberate from all corners of the Twin Cities today when unbeaten, fifth-ranked Wisconsin arrives to collide with a confident Illini team looking to reach 3-0 in Big Ten Conference play for the first time since 1990.
All signs point to an Illini revival awakening a fan base lulled to sleep by five straight years of losing.
Consider:
Memorial Stadium is sold out for the second straight week. The next home game, Oct. 20 against Michigan, is a sellout, too.
The fledgling Big Ten Network brings its nationally broadcast ``Big Ten Football Saturday'' show to campus prior to today's game. Fans are invited to watch the show from the stage set up at the corner of Fourth and Kirby, just east of Memorial Stadium. The show airs from 10-11 a.m. and will preview all of the Big Ten games.
Players said congratulatory slaps on the back multiplied this week in the wake of Illinois' victory over 21st-ranked Penn State, making it stylish and fun to be a football player again.
``There is definitely a different feeling around campus,'' middle linebacker J Leman said this week. ``People have been starved for the success of a football team. We're happy to oblige.''
Hotels are full for the weekend, and about the only one who claims to be unaffected by the hype for today's game against Wisconsin is Illini head coach Ron Zook.
``I'm not hearing any of it,'' Zook said on Tuesday of this week. ``Not the coaches and I. The worry is about the players. They're out there. I listen to Christian radio. That's all I hear.''
And, apparently, the Christians aren't up in arms about the Illini. Not yet, anyhow.
But on Zook's weekly radio show Thursday evening, he heard plenty of praise and fond wishes from fans who couldn't be happier with the direction the program is headed. One predicted Illinois would not lose another game, a thought Zook quickly quieted. It has been quite a difference from two years ago, Zook's first season, when frustrated fans were bewildered by a succession of blowouts.
Players and fans are still talking about the impromptu celebration that took place in the new north end zone seats immediately following last week's victory. The players marched into the stands and sang the school fight song with students and Marching Illini members while others around the stadium clapped and sang along.
``Yeah, it was exciting for the fans,'' said safety Kevin Mitchell. ``We finally gave them something to cheer about. Everyone has been anticipating us doing it, and we finally did so.
``It's what I expected. Everyone is excited about this program, and now that we have a major win under our belt, the excitement will continue to rise.''
It will rise through the roof if Illinois is able to get past Wisconsin today, but Zook acknowledged it won't be a simple task.
``First of all, it sure doesn't get any easier. This football team that is coming in is a really good team. There's a reason they are the No. 5 team in the nation. In our opinion, they are better than they were last year.
``I was hoping that with losing their quarterback they wouldn't be as good, but they are. Anytime you are able to do what they've done since 2004 (third in victories nationally behind Southern California and Texas), that's something.
``It's imperative that our team understands how we've gotten where we are. If we forget, we'll be a very, very mediocre football team, an also-ran.''
Zook has been guarded this week in discussions regarding his quarterback situation. He replaced starter Juice Williams with backup Eddie McGee in the fourth quarter last week, then indicated that using both of them in some fashion might be the way to go.
This week, perhaps wanting to safeguard Williams' confidence as the starter, and perhaps not wanting to tip his hand to Wisconsin, he danced around the question of playing-time strategy.
``I think that's a game-by-game thing,'' Zook said. ``One of the things people have to understand is that it's very, very important for Juice to win. He's not an `I' guy. He wants to win, but part of his inexperience is that he presses, and that's something we try to get him not to do.
``The good thing is, if we have to make a change, we can do that. We have an awfully good (backup) player there, also.''
Zook said he told McGee to be ready.
``I told Eddie yesterday, one of the hardest jobs in the NFL is the backup quarterback. He has to be just as prepared as the starting quarterback, knowing he probably won't play unless the starter is hurt. Eddie is learning it. He had a good practice yesterday.''
And if the focus is not on the quarterbacks in this game, it surely swings to the tailbacks.
Wisconsin's P.J. Hill is second in the Big Ten (behind Michigan's Mike Hart) and sixth nationally with an average of 133.4 yards per game on the ground. Just behind him is Illinois' Rashard Mendenhall, third in the league, with an average of 122.4 yards rushing per game.
As a team, though, Illinois leads the Big Ten in rushing for the second straight year while Wisconsin is fourth.
Mitchell said the defense is excited to be playing a team that likes to run the football.
``They do have a good running game, and they always have,'' he said. ``We just have to come ready to play, and we'll see what happens. This is what the Big Ten is all about. You just line up and play.''
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