Big Ten's bottom 2 teams looking for first conference win

Something has to give. \nSaturday, IU will play host to Illinois in a game between the Big Ten's two bottom dwellers, each in search of its first conference win. IU, loser of six straight, hasn't won a conference game since October of last year.\nDespite being eliminated from bowl contention and facing the final games of a disappointing season, senior safety and captain Joe Gonzalez said there is no shortage of fight in the IU squad.\n"Obviously, we didn't attain the goals we set out for at the beginning of the season, but there's always something to play for," he said. "I'm a fifth-year senior, and I'm not going to go to a bowl game, but there's always something to play for. I play for my teammates, I play for the school, I play for all the guys on this team -- I love every one of them. You play for pride."\nThe Hoosiers will also be playing to avoid last place in the conference. With a loss Saturday, IU would have to win its remaining two games to avoid at least a share of last place for the second year in a row. \nThe Illini enter Saturday's game with only one win (49-22 over Illinois State), and have lost eight in a row since then. The team has been blown out in each of its Big Ten games, the closest being a 38-20 loss to Wisconsin. Still, IU players said they aren't preparing any differently for this game. \n"You look forward to every game, not just because it's Illinois," defensive lineman Jodie Clemons said. "We just want to come out, win a game and get better as a team." \nThe Hoosiers are coming off of a lopsided 55-7 loss at Minnesota in which the Gophers rushed for 435 yards and six touchdowns. But stopping the Illini may be an easier task. The Illini are last in the conference in rushing, with only 102.8 yards per game.\n"As a whole, we have to improve on stopping the run," Clemons said. "We didn't stop the run (against Minnesota). They barely threw the ball. We have to improve on that against Illinois."\nThe Hoosiers will have the benefit of a healthier team than last week. Junior quarterback Matt LoVecchio, who was kept out of the Minnesota game at the last minute with a concussion, practiced all week. Gonzalez and junior offensive lineman Chris Jahnke, who were carted off the field against the Gophers, and junior linebacker Josh Moore, who has missed the last two games, are all healthy and expected to play. However, IU will likely be without senior running back Brian Lewis.\nIn his weekly Big Ten press conference, IU coach Gerry DiNardo said he thinks this year's team is better than last year's, despite the worse record. He singled out the improved facilities and the performance of first and second-year players and called the upcoming class of recruits the best of his three years. \n"There's a lot of good things," DiNardo said. "The most difficult thing obviously is going into a late season game and only having one win, being out of bowl contention, keeping a team focused on this year and not next year and all those psychological things that occur to a team that has not won for nine years. Once you get past that, there really are a lot of positives."\nFor Gonzalez, there needs to be at least one more: a win Saturday.\n"Our backs are against the wall," he said. "Our record is not what we'd like, but you can find peace of mind in the fact that all you can do is fight. To me, that's exciting, that's an opportunity, that's what I play the game of football for."\n-- Contact staff reporter Gavin Lesnick at glesnick@indiana.edu.