Can Illinois finally break bad habits?

The recruiting rankings, the game tapes and the high-spirited practices don't lie.

Illinois has proven it possesses the talent and the experience necessary to earn its third winning season in 13 years and its first bowl berth since 2001.

But, as there always seems to be with the Illini, there are a few catches.

Until they can figure out how to win turnover battles and special-teams wars, Ron Zook's team can't maximize its potential.

As Illinois heads into today's unusually appealing Big Ten opener at Indiana, here are the cold facts:

The last time Illinois forced more turnovers than it committed in a game, sophomore quarterback Juice Williams was still at Chicago Vocational.

That's an ongoing 17-game streak that began after the 40-2 shellacking the Illini took at Ohio State on Nov. 5, 2005, when they somehow didn't commit any miscues aside from being completely unable to move the ball.

And when it comes to giving up touchdowns on special teams, nobody beats the Illini.

When Missouri's Jeremy Maclin returned a punt 69 yards for a score in Illinois' opening-day loss, it marked the fourth special-teams touchdown allowed in a 12-game stretch.

That run included perhaps the most damaging touchdown of that skein: Marcus Thigpen's 98-yard kickoff return to start the second half of Indiana's 34-32 win at Champaign last October.

Illinois built a 25-7 lead in the first half, but Indiana battled to get within 25-21 by halftime. Thigpen's return gave the Hoosiers the lead and even more momentum.

The nation's kickoff return champion has come back to defend his title, but Indiana's first three opponents found ways to keep the ball out of his hands despite the offseason rule changes that make returns more likely.

Can Illinois bottle up Thigpen the same way? The game could ride on that.

"You say, 'Do you kick it to him?' Well, you can't kick it out of bounds," said Zook, referring to the new rule that allows the receiving team to accept a 5-yard penalty and a re-kick. "You don't want to kick to him, so you've got to try to come up with some other things.

"As a coach, you don't want to make him hot. You don't want to give him the opportunity to be hot. He can take it back against anybody."

In the meantime Zook, as the special teams coach, spends a good portion of his time trying to spark his own kick-return unit.

Illinois ranks last in the Big Ten and 107th in the nation with 16.8 yards per return, which doesn't take into account two lost fumbles and a lost onside kick.

True freshman running back Troy Pollard made his debut at kick returner last week against Syracuse, but it could be time for his most celebrated classmate to get back there.

Might Arrelious Benn, the preseason choice to return kicks and punts, finally get into the broken field where he's at his best?

Zook smiled at the suggestion.

"That's a possibility," he said.

Illinois (2-1, 0-0) at Indiana (3-0, 0-0)

When: 11 a.m. at Memorial Stadium

TV: Big Ten Network. Radio: WIND 560-AM

Series: Illinois leads 41-20-3.

Coaches: Ron Zook (6-20, third year at Illinois; 29-34 overall); Bill Lynch (3-0 at Indiana, 40-43 in 9 FCS years).

Players to watch: Illinois junior running back Rashard Mendenhall (322 yards, 6 TDs) looks more unstoppable each week. Look for the Illini to start by trying to find out how much the Mendenhall/Juice Williams option attack might work, especially now that ace blocker Russ Weil is back at fullback.

Indiana has firepower to spare with its spread offense. Soph QB Kellen Lewis averages a team-high 105.7 rushing yards per game, but still finds time to throw for 214.3 yards and 3 touchdowns per game. Many of those scoring tosses go in 6-foot-8 James Hardy's direction. He has 10 catches, with 5 for scores.

The skinny: Illinois seeks to win its first Big Ten opener since 1993. This game figures to be one explosion play after another, so it's up to the Illini to keep some of those from blowing up in their faces. In other words, don't miss a tackle or blow a coverage on one of Indiana's inevitable 25-yard gains and allow it to become a 50-yard score.

- Lindsey Willhite