Things to Watch

Injury Update

Jake Stoneburner is still being looked at after suffering a high ankle sprain in the EMU game. Taking his place will be Reid Fragel at TE and OSU will not do dual TE sets because it appears they don't want to go to the third team TE. CB Travis Howard and LB Dorian Bell will return after missing the EMU game. The other player injured in the OU game, Nate Oliver, is still suffering from a hamstring pull and may not play this week. CB Chimdi Chekwa missed some minutes last week with back spasms, but he is expected to play this week. It was speculated that OL MIke Adams hurt his shoulder in the game last week, but the coaches have said he has been practicing and is fine.

 

Player to Watch

OSU faces its first real test with a true running back in Mikel Leshoure. As stated in an earlier post, he averages 132 yards/game and 6.9 yards/carry. OSU only allows teams to get 71 yards/game on the ground. Will the OSU D-Line continue to dominate opposing O-Lines? For what it is worth, he led the team with 25 yards in 4 carries against OSU last year, which was just under 1/3 of the teams rushing on the rainy day.

 

Pressure on Ron Zook

Zook is on the hotseat at Illinois, reaching a peak in 2007 with a victory in Columbus over #1 OSU and a trip to the Rose Bowl, and falling ever since. Fans were upset on how the offense struggled with a very experienced Juice Williams at QB in the last two seasons. One columnist in the Dispatch said that Juice Williams fermented, but not in a good way. Zook went out and grabbed Vic Koenning from Clemson as a defensive coordinator and Paul Petrino (brother of Bobby) for offense. Will the coaches make enough of a difference? Some have speculated that the university can't afford Zook's buyout and the hiring of a high profile coach, without some major financial assistance from the alumni. Regardless, Zook needs a big win or a good showing against OSU to keep the pressure off for a bit.