Zook says several changes in store for Illinois

Ron Zook says he's not pushing a panic button. He's not blaming his players for the 37-9 season-opening loss against Missouri on Saturday.

But as his Illini prepare for Saturday's home opener against Illinois State, Zook has different players working in different places with hopes of allotting playing time in a different manner.

"You can either sit and expect it to change or you can change it," Zook said. "I'm kind of the philosophy, if there's things we need to look at - I'm not one to sit around and wait."

After senior wide receiver Jeff Cumberland coughed up a fumble and dropped two other passes - and sophomore A.J. Jenkins let a Juice Williams bullet go off his hands for an interception - Zook wants to see other receivers.

"(Sophomore) Cordale Scott's going to play," Zook said. "C.J. (Chris James) is going to play. Fred Sykes is going to get in there and play. Those guys have worked hard and they deserve it and they're good football players."

Sykes caught 3 passes for 18 yards in a reserve role against Missouri, while James caught 1 pass for 19 yards during junk time. Scott, a ballyhooed recruit from Cleveland, has yet to catch a college pass.

Zook, who takes special pride in Illinois' secondary as a former defensive back as well as a long-time secondary coach, has initiated changes there after Missouri piled up 325 passing yards.

Senior Dere Hicks' 26-game starting streak at cornerback appears over as he's shifting to nickel back. Former nickel Travon Bellamy moves to the corner, while Zook intends to give true freshmen Walt Aikens and Terry Hawthorne a longer look at safety.

Hawthorne arrived at Illinois as a receiver, but has spent the last two weeks at cornerback.

"I don't want to push the panic button, but we've got to play better at the safety spot," Zook said. "I think for the most part, Donsay (Hardeman) will. He understands he can't make some of the mistakes that he made and we'll get better there."

One other item that's sure to please Illinois fans: Zook plans to scrap the offensive strategy against Missouri that called for the Illini to control the ball and eschew using Juice Williams' rocket arm to beat the defense deep.

"Offensively, we know we've got to push the ball downfield," Zook said. "We can't be afraid to worry about running the ball more with Juice. We're going to do the things that we feel like we can do the best."

Leshoure out: Sophomore running back Mikel Leshoure and redshirt freshman defensive back Ashante Williams have been suspended for Saturday's game after violating unspecified team rules.

Leshoure looked like Illinois' best weapon against Missouri as he rushed for 38 yards, caught 3 passes for 41 yards and scored the lone touchdown.

Hoops injury: In the wake of Illinois' disappointing effort against Missouri, lots of Illini fans have to be saying, "When's basketball start?"

Illini Madness happens on Oct. 16, but freshman guard Joseph Bertrand likely must wait longer. Coach Bruce Weber announced Tuesday that Bertrand will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Friday to fix his right knee.

Bertrand suffered the injury during a workout on Monday. Illinois' medical staff isn't certain what the injury is, though they've ruled out a torn ligament.

"This is an unfortunate setback for Joseph, but on the bright side it happened now and not during the middle of the season," Weber said. "We look forward to him returning to practice once he has made a full recovery."