Five reasons why Illini are riding high

Daily Herald readers are quite familiar with the story of Illinois junior defensive lineman Whitney Mercilus, who tried to help a teammate last April who was losing control of 405 pounds he was attempting to squat.

Mercilus ended up getting his hand caught beneath the falling weights and lost the tip of his left index finger in the accident.

“It was unfortunate for me,” Mercilus told sports writer Lindsey Willhite. “Actually, I didn't feel anything when it happened. Anything. But when I saw it, I freaked out. ‘Yo, this is not normal to look at.'”

Eventually, Mercilus came to grips with how much worse things could have been if his entire hand had been crushed. A slightly-shortened index finger hasn't kept him off the football field.

Is the fact that Mercilus lost a finger, then became the national leader in quarterback sacks a perfect analogy for Illinois' surprising start to the season? Probably not. It was just a strange accident.

But Mercilus is one of many surprising achievers on this Illini team. Before this season, the Akron, Ohio, native had started two games and collected two sacks for the No. 16 Illini. Now he has 8.5 sacks in six games.

Already off to its best start in 50 years, Illinois will try to improve to 7-0 when it hosts Ohio State on Saturday (2:30 p.m., Ch. 7). With a victory, the Illini can keep pace with Wisconsin and Penn State for the Leaders Division lead and drop the Buckeyes to 0-3 in the Big Ten.

Preseason expectations were tepid at best for the Illini, so let's examine why things have gone so well. Here are five reasons:

1. Quarterback developmentIn his first year as a starter, Nathan Scheelhaase did a decent job of handing the ball off to Mikel Leshoure and also ran for 868 yards, a school record for quarterbacks.Scheelhaase was certainly a promising athlete. His father is Nate Creer, a former Iowa defensive back who started on the Hawkeyes' 1985 Rose Bowl team.This season, Scheelhaase has made passing his most dangerous weapon. The sophomore from Kansas City ranks fifth in the country in passing efficiency. His 10.3 yards per attempt trails only Wisconsin's Russell Wilson and Baylor's Robert Griffin III.#8220;I think it starts with the quarterback and his confidence level, his ability to run and throw,#8221; Ohio State coach Luke Fickell said. #8220;He's playing as well as anybody I've seen on tape this year.#8221;2. Merciless pass rushIllinois leads the nation in quarterback sacks with 22, though a few schools have averaged more per game.Mercilus has done most of the damage, but 6-foot-6 Michael Buchanan ranks second in the Big Ten with 4.5 sacks. Buchanan, from Homewood-Flossmoor High School, is another player who wasn't a full-time starter last year.#8220;Players are going to mature at their own level,#8221; Illinois coach Ron Zook said. #8220;At the end of the year #8212; I thought the last five, six games #8212; (Mercilus) was our best defensive end and he just keeps getting better, just like you'd want him to.#8221;Mercilus said ex-Ohio State coach Jim Tressel paid a recruiting visit to his Akron high school, but never offered a scholarship. Some coaches may have felt Mercilus was undersized, though he's listed at 6-4 and 265 pounds. Now he's on pace to break Simeon Rice's school sack record of 16.#8220;If I do that, I might cry,#8221; Mercilus said.3. Big-play potentialScheelhaase and Mercilus are far from the only breakout stars. A.J. Jenkins not only leads the Big Ten in receptions and receiving yards per game, he just produced the most receiving yards (450) over a two-game span in conference history.Zook credited offseason work for the improved passing game, saying Scheelhaase and the receivers often bugged him on snowy Saturdays in the winter to open the indoor practice facility.#8220;They know each other so well,#8221; Zook said. #8220;A.J. has always been talented. He's always been a guy who could catch the football and run and do all those things. But I just think the extra work that those guys did on their own is paying off.#8221;Another big-play guy is 5-foot-8 running back Troy Pollard, the team's leading rusher despite averaging just 6 carries per game. Pollard has the team lead by logging 9.8 yards per attempt.4. Good coordinationIllinois' offense finished last season by shredding Northwestern at Wrigley Field, then beating Baylor 38-14 in the Texas Bowl. Coupled with this season's improvement, maybe that's a credit to second-year offensive coordinator Paul Petrino.After following his brother Bobby around from Louisville and the Atlanta Falcons to Arkansas, Paul seemed ready to shine on his own. Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning is also in his second season. Besides the sack attack, the Illini rank second in the Big Ten in rush defense.5. The scheduleThis helped create the 6-0 record, but it's also a question mark.Illinois beat Arizona State, which was ranked No. 22 at the time, but Indiana, Northwestern, Arkansas State and South Dakota State aren't exactly proving-ground material. The Illini edged Western Michigan by just 3 points.There are other flaws #8212; lack of a consistent running game, shaky pass defense and poor special teams outside of place-kicker Derek Dimke.Struggling Ohio State could still give Illinois a tough test, but the biggest challenges will come later #8212; Penn State on the road, then Michigan and Wisconsin at home over three straight weeks starting Oct. 29.FBC,T2521092965Illinois wide receiver A.J. Jenkins not only leads the Big Ten in receptions and receiving yards per game, he recently produced the most receiving yards (450) over a two-game span in conference history.Associated PressFBC,T25