Illinois routs South Dakota State

CHAMPAIGN — There is Nathan Scheelhaase the passer and there is Nathan Scheelhaase the runner.

South Dakota State coach John Stiegelmeier would much prefer to see the Illinois quarterback throwing the ball.

"He has the ability to not just get five yards but to go a long ways," Stiegelmeier said. "He runs like a running back -- it's not like he's a frail guy that dances."

Scheelhaase made his mark in week one as a passer, throwing for a career-high 267 yards and two touchdowns in a 33-15 win over Arkansas State. By his standards, he barely ran the ball at all — 12 carries, 24 yards.

But the normally humble second-year quarterback said opponents would be wise not to forget about what he can do with those feet.

"I still can run; I probably should have done a better job of that," Scheelhaase said. "I'm still a dual threat. If they don't think I can, they'll find out."

The Jackrabbits (1-0) come to Champaign on Saturday, the second of five straight home games for the Illini (1-0).

Scheelhaase was Illinois' second leading rusher in 2010 with 868 yards, and offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said before the season started that he wants his young quarterback to rush for 1,000 this season.

But against Arkansas State, Scheelhaase said, Illinois turned to the pass out of necessity. After giving up some rushing yards early, the Red Wolves sacked Illinois quarterbacks three times and shoved the Illini offensive line and tailback Jason Ford back into their own end zone for a first-half safety.

The shift to the pass is one Petrino and coach Ron Zook seemed far more reluctant to make a season ago, when Scheelhaase was a freshman.

"Coach Petrino did a good job of just letting us loose as a quarterback and receiver group," Scheelhaase said.

Receiver A.J. Jenkins and Darius Millines were the beneficiaries of those adjustments. Jenkins had 11 catches for 148 yards and a touchdown, while Millines caught five balls for 119 yards and another score.

While the receivers enjoyed the spotlight after the game and Zook talked about what Jenkins, in particular, can do on the field, it was clear Illinois wasn't entirely happy with its offensive line play against a mostly smaller Arkansas State defensive front.

"We watched film, we know the things we can correct," tackle Jeff Allen said. "We definitely like to run the ball."

Zook said South Dakota State's strengths are its offensive and defensive lines.

The Jackrabbits gave up just 53 rushing yards and had four sacks in their 29-28 win over Southern Utah. Much of the 340 passing yards they gave up came late as Southern Utah rallied after falling behind 29-7.

Typically, Stiegelmeier's defense is straight forward — a four-man rush that he says he will rely on against Scheelhaase.

"Most people nowadays pick up every zone blitz anyway," Stiegelmeier said. "Our goal last week was to do that and it's the same this week."

South Dakota State has its stories of near upsets and what-might-have-beens against the big guys. The Jackrabbits lost to Nebraska 17-3 last September, and in 2009 lost on a late field goal at Minnesota, 16-13.

Zook, no doubt trying to keep his team from looking ahead to next week's date with Arizona State, spent the week talking up the danger of South Dakota State.

"They played Nebraska awfully tough," he said.

Stiegelmeier says he doesn't talk about the past with his players. He planned to spend some extra time walking his team around Memorial Stadium — where a statue outside honors Red Grange, who played his college football here — after they arrive "to get the tourist out of our system."

But he doesn't doubt that his players think about those games against Minnesota and Nebraska.

"Both those games, I think without a doubt, create confidence that we could compete on that field," he said, before giving in to a little what-might-have-been thought himself. "We had two touchdowns called back against Nebraska."