Talented Illini have bowl aspirations

CHAMPAIGN -- On the immaculate grass fields east of Memorial Stadium, the air practically crackled with anticipation Friday on the first day of practice.

To a man, everyone in the Illinois football program believes this to be the year they re-assert themselves as a Big Ten factor and a bowl-worthy crew.

"We talked all through winter program, through spring practice," said Illinois coach Ron Zook. "We said, 'Hey, it's time for us to do it. We're good enough to do it.' We've just got to go do it."

Some might wonder why a team that has lost 30 of its last 32 conference games thinks it's on the verge of something special, but last season's narrow losses and back-to-back stellar recruiting classes have the Illini roster brimming with confident, talented athletes.

"We've got a lot more talent running around now," said junior outside linebacker Brit Miller.

One of those many talents, freshman receiver Arrelious Benn, showed off during a 7-on-7 drill Friday when he soared well above two defensive backs to snare a 20-yard out pass from freshman Phil Haig.

The last guy in an Illini uniform to do something like that was Brandon Lloyd -- and he's now preparing for his fifth NFL season.

"You like coaching those guys that are good athletes," Zook said with a glint in his eye. "They tend to become better players quicker."

If Illinois is going to make the leap from a 2-10 season to a team eligible for a bowl (meaning at least 6 wins), then several key athletes must get better quickly.

Here are three things the Illini must discover over the next three weeks if they're going to have a legitimate chance to upset Missouri on Sept. 1 in St. Louis.

•Is Juice no longer loose? Now, sophomore quarterback Juice Williams can admit it. He was in over his head last fall as a true freshman.

"Last year I was out there guessing and hoping things would go right -- guessing at the coverages," Williams said. "Now I know what's going on. I see the guys move. I see the safeties rotate. I see the D-linemen sliding and what they're trying to do."

With more knowledge at his disposal, Williams won't scramble so quickly. He set the school's career rushing record for quarterbacks last fall, but the coaches want him to set some passing marks in the future.

"The confidence zone is tremendous compared to last year," Williams said. "It makes it a lot easier because I'm not guessing out there. I know exactly where to go with the ball."

•Mendenhall the man? Junior running back Rashard Mendenhall readily admits he misses former comrades Pierre Thomas and E.B. Halsey.

"It's a little different, especially in the meeting rooms," Mendenhall said. "The young guys are a little more quiet, but as far as E.B. and Pierre, they were in there cracking jokes."

On the field, though, Mendenhall won't miss his graduated teammates at all.

After getting just 78 carries last fall as part of a time-share arrangement, the Niles West graduate will tote the ball as many times as he can handle it this fall.

Considering the absurdly muscular Mendenhall averaged 8.2 yards per carry last year, it's understandable that Zook wants him to have the ball.

But there's a catch: Mendenhall fumbled the ball a few too many times in his first two seasons.

"I don't think it's going to be a problem," said Mendenhall, who protected the ball well during spring practice. "That's out the window. I don't think that's a problem at all."

•'X' factor at left tackle: Considering redshirt junior Xavier Fulton didn't switch from the defensive line to left tackle until the day before spring practice, it's amazing to think he's the likely opening-day starter at such a key spot.

But Fulton opened the coaches' eyes with his athleticism during the spring, then he opened his mouth during the off-season.

Fulton weighed in at 296 pounds Friday, which means he packed on 28 pounds since spring ball ended.

"I just made sure I was full at all times," Fulton said. "And then at dinner I made sure I was past full. A couple days I was kind of close to putting dinner back on my plate, but I managed to keep it down."

More impressively, Fulton retained nearly all of his speed and quickness. Now it's just a matter of getting enough snaps to feel comfortable protecting Juice Williams' blind side.

"Awareness is something I've got to learn to pick up again," Fulton said. "It's easy to see looking at Xs and Os, but just being out there and seeing people moving around and how they're responding to your actions, that's what's the most difficult to get back."