Zook, Illini making full recovery
Published: Tuesday, October 9, 2007 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, October 8, 2007 at 10:03 p.m.
When he came to Illinois from Florida before the 2005 season, Ron Zook took on two reclamation projects.
The first was his own. Florida fans never took to him — www.fireronzook.com was up and running before he’d ever coached a down — and he was run out of Gainesville in 2004.
His second project was the Illini, who have had two winning seasons in the past decade.
The prospects for both look pretty good.
The previously unranked Illini (5-1, 3-0) shoved their way into The Associated Press Top 25 Sunday at No. 18, with a 31-26 win Saturday over Wisconsin. They share the Big Ten lead with No. 3 Ohio State.
‘‘For a program like us, the fact that we’re fortunate enough to get voted into the Top 25, what that means is we haven’t been there in a long time,’’ Zook said.
To be exact, 2001.
That was Illinois’ last winning season (10-2), last Big Ten title and last bowl appearance, a Sugar Bowl loss to LSU. The Illini finished the season ranked No. 12.
Illinois fans would consider any of Zook’s three seasons at Florida — he won at least seven games in each — a success. They so far have endured a pair of two-win years on the promise that Zook would make things better.
‘‘I kept saying last year that we’re making progress,’’ Zook said, ‘‘and no one believed it.’’
Illinois has the fifth-best running game in the nation, at 261 yards a game and a pesky and quick defense.
The Illini give up a lot of yards (368 a game), but have kept the points down (20 a game) and made big stops when they’ve needed them.
Against Penn State two weeks ago, Illinois intercepted four second-half passes.
On Saturday against Wisconsin (5-1, 2-1), the Illini picked off quarterback Tyler Donovan twice, but also held P.J. Hill, who entered the game as the conference’s top running back, to 83 yards.
Zook talked a lot before the season about the need to improve his passing game, but so far, other than the opening loss to Missouri, the Illini haven’t needed to much through the air.
When they line up in their spread offense — often with four wide receivers and a lone running back, Rashard Mendenhall — the Illini are as likely to run the option as they are to pass.
‘‘I think your system has to be flexible enough that you do what your players can do best,’’ Zook said. ‘‘I’d have never guessed we’d be running the option, when I came here, as much.’’
Part of the reason that option is working is the talented players Zook — by reputation a maniacal recruiter — has convinced to come to Illinois.
Sophomore quarterback Juice Williams, while an erratic passer, ran the ball for 92 yards Saturday against Wisconsin.
Freshman wide receiver Arrelious Benn, a Washington, D.C., kid who was so sought after that his decision to come to Illinois rather than Notre Dame or a couple of other big-name schools fed rumors that Zook must be cheating, is often Williams’ third option. He’s has 121 yards on 21 carries this season.
The most important piece of the option, though, was on campus when Zook came to Champaign.
Mendenhall, a junior, has rushed for at least 100 yards in every game this season, his first as the every-week starter, and has 772 total yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s the No. 2 rusher in the Big Ten behind Michigan’s Mike Hart at 128.7 yards a game, and No. 7 in the country.
Illinois lists Mendenhall at 5-11, 224 pounds. That’s 15-20 more pounds than in 2006, weight he said he added to get ready to be a featured back in the Big Ten.
If they didn’t fully appreciate Mendenhall’s strength before Saturday’s game, Wisconsin’s defenders did afterward.
‘‘That guy’s got muscles everywhere,’’ said Badger cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu, who saw a lot of Mendenhall rounding the corner on the option Saturday. ‘‘He’s just a hard runner.’’
The Illini still have to play Michigan at home on Oct. 20 and at Ohio State on Nov. 10. They also have games at Iowa next Saturday, and against Ball State, Minnesota and Northwestern. Illinois is likely to be favored in each.
The Illini are a win away from bowl eligibility, which would be a huge step, but they aren’t thinking yet about bowls or polls.
‘‘It really doesn’t matter,’’ sophomore cornerback Vontae Davis, who had an interception against Wisconsin, said. ‘‘It’s the middle of the season. We can’t fall now. We just have to keep pushing.’’
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