Ron Zook-Ohio Week
Opening statement: "OK,
obviously each game gets bigger and bigger as the season - as we go
through the schedule like this and we're able to be where we are. As I
told our football team, this is a team that's very, very dangerous.
First of all, it's a very, very talented team, it's a very well-coached
team, it's a team that's got their back against the wall and we'll see
everything that they've got. I think it's going to be imperative that
we continue to have the same - like we talked about - kind of have the
same kind of practice we've had the last few weeks. Today was good;
yesterday morning was good. They understand that they're going to get
everything that Ohio State has. Health-wise, I think we're in good
shape. (Receiver) Darius (Millines), he did a little bit out there
today, not so much running, but on the bike and so forth. If he doesn't
practice tomorrow, it'll probably, probably, be tough to get him out
there. (Offensive tackle) Corey (Lewis), Corey was out there, Corey was
in 9-on-7, was in team and, you know, so I mean there's a chance we'll
get - get him in there. So I think health-wise we're probably about as
good as we can be, but this will be a physical, physical football team.
I think there's - if there's one word you sum up in this kind of game,
it's going to be a physical game. And our guys are going to need to
have their big-boy pads on and ready to play, and I think we will be."
On the scheduled return of Ohio State RB Dan Herron: "You
know, is he on? Is he? They're trying to get their starting lineup;
it's going to probably be the first series because, you know, I think
he'll probably be back. And I'm sure, you know, I mean, he's been
practicing, so I mean, it's - you know - he just hasn't played. And
he's probably biting at - chomping at the bit to get going. But I mean
the other guy that's been in there, too, is pretty good, now. He `s a
pretty strong runner; he ran pretty well last week and he's been
running pretty well. So, you know, whoever that's out there, we're
going to have to play against. And, you know, I don't think there's any
question, you know, you're going to see Braxton (Miller), at least
that's what the word is and we've just got to be ready to play whoever.
I don't know that their offense is going to change an awful lot.
They're going to, you know - as I said, this will be a physical game.
They're going to line up and pound you."
On OSU's first-half success against Nebraska: "Well,
they - Braxton just - you know, they were playing fast and things were
- I mean they were on fire until I don't know what, it's just
something. When he fumbled there and then he got hurt, I think they've
probably got a lot of confidence in him and, you know, when he fumbled
and he got hurt, it might have taken a little air out of their sails. I
think the crowd got into it and, you know, I'm - it's going to be
exciting that we get - you know our crowd's got to be cranked up. I'm
glad that we're doing stuff, striping the stadium and all those things
because it's - I told our football team, we've got to light them on
fire, we've got to light them and they've got to carry it on for us.
It's going to be important."
On special teams, does the system need to be changed? "It's
not the system, I mean the system's no different from anybody else.
It's the guys running down, it's the guy kicking the ball, it's the
guys running down there making the tackle. You know, there's three guys
here that weren't where they were supposed to be and that's the result
when that happens - on the (opening) kickoff (against Indiana), I'm
talking about. There will be some people changes."
On the Illini not getting ahead of themselves despite the 6-0 start: "You
know, I haven't noticed that and hopefully you guys don't put it in
their heads. You know, our deal is just we got one game at a time. We
don't look ahead, we don't look behind; they've done a pretty good job
of that, in my opinion. We kind of equate it, like I said last week, to
a game. And everyone's heard this, you know, you don't - you worry
about the play and don't worry about the next play and don't worry
about the last play. It's kind of the way we've approached the
schedule. They understand that, you know, if we're not prepared and
ready to play to the best of our ability, then, you know, everything
we've done to now is for naught. And, you know, as I told them again
this morning, you've got a team that's a very, very dangerous team.
Because number one: they're a very talented; number two: they're very
well-coached, and number three: we're going to get their best - we'll
get everything they've got. And it's going to be important that we play
the same way."
On the importance of getting a win against OSU at home: "Well,
I think it's imperative. I mean, well, not imperative, but it's awful
important. Every game is important. You know, nowadays every game is
important, it doesn't matter who you're playing. And obviously this is
a, you know, historic program and trust me, they're not - they may be
down a little bit, but they sure aren't out. And everybody - anytime
you play anybody in the Big Ten, I think that's the thing you, you
know, you have to preach all along is that you've got to be ready to
play because anybody can beat anybody. And that's a perfect example, we
were fortunate enough to go over there in '07 and - they were the No. 1
team in the nation, you know - threw caution to the wind and played."
On thoughts about OSU's situation with compliance issues: "Well,
I mean, I think it's bad for college football when that stuff happens
and I think it's bad for, you know, obviously the Big Ten. But, you
know, I think all of us when we were at our meetings, I think, you
know, we understand that there are a lot of things out there that we
all have to be very, very careful of. You know you try to learn from
other people's mistakes and, you know, hope and pray that, you know,
your guys make the right decisions."
On DE Whitney Mercilus' national recognition: "Players
are going to mature at their own level. And, you know, I've said this
numerous times, at the end of the year - I thought the last five, six
games - he was our best defensive end and he just keeps getting better,
just like you'd want him to. He's getting experience; he's getting
better and better and maybe he had a little further to go than some,
but you know, I think the athleticism that he has, the acceleration
that he has, the work that he's put in will...Whitney's a prime example
of a guy that - we talk about how you live your life off the field is
how are you going to live your life on the field. He's, you know, he's
never really been an issue off the field in terms of class and doing
the things that he's supposed to do and, you know, he gets better and
better and the coaches are doing a great job of getting him in the
position to make plays."
On the keys to success for the Illini defense: "Well,
I think the thing is we talk about, when the play is there, be in, you
know, do what you do. Instead of going out and trying to make plays - a
lot of times guys will go out and try to make plays and they'll get
themselves out of position and end up hurting the defense, getting out
of their gap or getting, you know, just trying to take chances. You
know our guys are doing what they're coached to do; the coaches are
doing a great job of putting them in position and then when the plays
are there, they make them and that's what - that's team defense right
there."
On WR A.J. Jenkins' improvements this year: "Well, I
said this all along, too. I think what you're seeing is a perfect
example of what happens when you've got a quarterback that makes the
receivers be out there throwing and you've got a guy that - guys - that
have worked as hard as they've worked in the offseason. You know, I
said it at the end of spring, the type of football team that we're
going to be was going to depend on how hard or whether we got better
from spring ball to August and they were going to have to do it on
their own. And I think you can see that they've done that and a lot of
that, that's what hard work and so forth, you know, does. And I think
everyone knew that A.J. is a very talented guy, you know, he can do a
lot of things and Coach (Paul) Petrino - just, you know, we got to make
him play even better. And he can play better, I mean he dropped a
couple balls Saturday that, you know, would have probably put him over
200 yards, you know, and those are things that, you know, we want him
to be perfect on. Is he going to be perfect? Probably not, but you're
going to get him to a level that I think everyone will be happy with."
On worrying less about this year's Illini football team off the field: "I
don't know that you worry any less. Anybody's vulnerable to it, there's
a lot of (things) - particularly when you're having some success. You
know, people tell them how good they are, patting them on the back, and
you know all those things. But that's part of the - that's part of
college football, you know, and this is not the NFL, this is college
football and hopefully they're going to learn the lessons that are
going to help them throughout their life."
On comparing this years team to the 2007 team: "If
there is a comparison, to me, it's that these guys are allowing the
coaches to coach them and I think they're coaching them hard and
demanding and pushing and, you know, that's one of the big reasons that
we're having success. They're not getting their feelings on their
sleeve and, you know, pouting. And they're going out there and trying
to do what their coaches are asking them to do."
|