Illinois coach Ron Zook certainly did not go into Saturday night’s home opener against Western Illinois expecting to unearth many great truths about his team.
In the wake of last weekend’s Appalachian State upset of Michigan, surviving with a victory over the Leathernecks, ranked No. 23 in Division I-AA, would do just fine.
And that’s what the Illini (1-1) did, sending the orange-clad crowd of 48,301 home happy with a run-of-the-mill 21-0 victory.
The Illini generated little in the passing game, which isn’t a good sign. But the running game was able to pick up enough of the slack to win.
Rashard Mendenhall’s 16-yard touchdown run with 11 minutes 4 seconds left in the game boosted his rushing total to 139 yards on 23 carries and lifted the Illini to a 21-0 lead. Daniel Dufrene, Mendenhall’s backup, scored on a 32-yard run to open the scoring in the second quarter.
Quarterback Juice Williams didn’t make any big plays in the passing game, but he did with his legs, scrambling 9 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. He showed no ill-effects from the eye injury he suffered in last week’s loss to Missouri.
It was left to the Illinois defense to take care of business for much of the evening, especially early in the second half. Walter Mendenhall, Rashard’s brother, fumbled the opening kickoff, setting up the Leathernecks on the Illinois 36.
On fourth-and-1 at the 27, linebacker J Leman stopped Western Illinois’ Herb Donaldson for a 2-yard loss to kill the drive.
The play proved to be a turning point.
The Illini drove 71 yards on nine plays to take a 14-0 lead on Williams’ 9-yard scramble, after he couldn’t find an open receiver on third-and-5.
The Illini defense yielded little, but Donaldson lived up to his billing, running hard and at least giving the Leathernecks (1-1) a chance. Their passing game, like the Illini’s, was uninspiring.
Williams threw for just 64 yards in the first half, completing 7 of 14. Through three quarters, Williams was 9 of 20 for 90 yards. He finished 12 of 24 for 123.
Williams got the Illini moving on their first possession, hitting Jacob Willis for a 20-yard gain. But the offense showed some rust. The rarely seen holding penalty on a running play and a sack killed the drive.
Williams showed no fear of running despite being knocked out of the Missouri game with a blow to the helmet. He held on to the ball on keepers, which left him exposed to a few good hits.
Meanwhile, Rashard Mendenhall stepped it up a gear, gaining 67 yards in the first half alone.
Freshman receiver Arrelious Benn touched the ball for the first time in the second quarter — on a handoff. He took the ball 18 yards for a first down at the Leathernecks’ 35, but the Illini wound up punting. In the fourth quarter, with Illinois leading 14-0, he hauled in a 28-yard pass from Williams to set up Mendenhall’s TD.
The Illini maintained their field-position advantage with the help of special teams. Kyle Hudson’s 33-yard punt return set up the Illini at the Western 32. And on the next play, Dufrene went around left end, broke a tackle and scored to give Illinois a 7-0 lead.
———–
tabannon@tribune.com
