Illini hope bye can help break losing streak
Illinois is mired in a three-game losing streak. It leads the Big Ten with 19 turnovers and penalties have become a recurring problem, too.
At least the Illini are off this week.
Coach Ron Zook is hoping the bye will help his team get back on track after the Illini's slide eroded much of the momentum from a perfect start.
"I hope so," he said Tuesday. "I think once again it's important to these guys to win, particularly starting off the season like we did."
The Illini (6-3, 2-3) used a relatively soft early schedule that included five consecutive home games to bolt to a 6-0 start, a spot in the Top 25 and a share of the lead in the Big Ten's Leaders Division.
Now, following Saturday's 10-7 loss at Penn State, they're looking ahead to a schedule that doesn't offer anything close to a sure win.
Illinois hosts No. 13 Michigan (7-1, 3-1) on Nov. 12 and No. 19 Wisconsin (6-2, 2-2) on Nov. 19 before finishing the regular season at Minnesota (2-6, 1-3). The Gophers are having a rough year, but they have won seven of their last 10 meetings with the Illini, including two of the last three.
Zook said Tuesday he's giving his players the first part of this week off — "They need to get away from it now," he said — before spending the second half of the week working on fundamentals.
He sounded almost like a coach starting from scratch, talking about working on "the little things" — blocking, tackling and protecting the ball.
That's because Illinois' problems haven't been confined to any one area.
"I think it's just kind of been a combination of things," he said. "I think it's different areas at different times."
The offense has been the most glaring problem. The Illini haven't scored in the first half in four weeks, and had 28 points in their three losses — that's nine a game and, even with the defense giving up just 16 a game over that stretch, not enough to win.
Illinois has moved the ball during its losing streak. But penalties and turnovers have been costly.
A penalty at Penn State cost the Illini a second-quarter touchdown, and they botched the resulting field goal attempt.
"We got it down there and we scored a touchdown, an easy walk-in touchdown, and get a penalty for motion," frustrated offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said after the game. "We kill ourselves with penalties, and that's just stuff we can't do."
Illinois also has hurt itself with turnovers. The Illini lost the ball four times at Penn State — two fumbles, two interceptions — and they have 19 overall this season.
The defense has forced 16 turnovers, but the offense's generosity leaves Illinois with the next-to-worst turnover ratio in the Big Ten. Only the Gophers are worse.
With Michigan up next, the defense gets a reminder of a nightmare from last season.
The Wolverines won 67-65 in three overtimes last season, putting up some of the biggest stats the Illini have allowed in years — 33 first downs, 257 rushing yards, 419 through the air, five passing touchdowns.
Zook just hopes time off and the extra work on the basics will do his team some good.
"I've talked to a lot of people about what you do, what you don't do," he said. "All we can do is regroup and work on some fundamentals and get ready for Michigan next week."