Illini get message on Western Michigan

When you're an Illinois football fan, dealing with disheartening losses represents a big part of the gig.

With that in mind, the Western Michigan game in 2008 still has its own niche in the pantheon of painful defeats.

Among the questions that don't have answers: Why, again, did Illinois play a MAC team at Ford Field in Detroit?

It's no wonder fifth-year senior guard Jack Cornell interrupted Illinois' celebration after Saturday's win over No. 22 Arizona State to remind his teammates about that 23-17 loss on Nov. 8, 2008.

Before the Illini started jumping around in their locker room — spraying water and singing “Illinois Loyalty” as they do after every victory — Cornell stood up after the team prayer and demanded an eye for an eye from Western Michigan.

The Broncos (2-1) show up to play No. 24 Illinois (3-0) Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

“Everybody heard the message,” sophomore quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase said. “Everybody knows that our mindset should be that we're coming full force after this team.

“And anybody who's not under that belief shouldn't even step on the field Saturday. That's how I look at it.”

Western Michigan gets a $300,000 guarantee to play in Champaign. Coincidentally, Illinois received a $300,000 guarantee to face the Broncos in 2008 at Ford Field in Detroit.

A win would have clinched a bowl berth for Illinois (5-4), but Western Michigan took advantage of 2 Juice Williams passes to build a big halftime lead that held up.

The Illini rallied in the fourth quarter and needed to go 99 yards in the final 1:57 to pull out the win.

Fueled by Williams' 54-yard-pass to A.J. Jenkins — one of eight current Illinois starters active for that game — the Illini zipped all the way to WMU's 18.

From there, Williams threw 4 incompletions and triggered a spiral that saw Illinois lose 12 of its next 15 and require Ron Zook to find new coordinators after the 2009 season.

Brown wins: Sophomore linebacker Jonathan Brown received the Big Ten's defensive player of the week award after racking up 3frac12; tackles for loss, 1frac12; sacks and 1 interception Saturday night against Arizona State.He's the first Illini to win the award since defensive tackle Corey Liuget, who went on to be the San Diego Chargers' first-round pick in April.#8220;I looked up to him a lot last year,#8221; Brown said of Liuget. #8220;He had a big game against Michigan State (11 tackles, 2 hurries, 1 TFL) and after that he just kept getting better, getting better.#8220;That's something I plan to do.#8221;Scheelhaase OK:Sophomore quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase sat out one play Saturday night after jamming his throwing shoulder when he hit the turf.#8220;He's fine,#8221; coach Ron Zook said Tuesday. #8220;He was sore, but he was throwing today without any issues.#8221;