IU football opens Big Ten play against Illinois

For weeks, IU coach Bill Lynch and his team dodged questions regarding the Big Ten. They played under the adages “we’re going to take it one game at a time,” and “we’re not going to look ahead.”\nThat time is over now, and the real season begins Saturday, when the 3-0 Hoosiers take on the Illinois Fighting Illini (2-1). To the team and the fans, this means one thing – Big Ten season is here.\n“Illinois is a really good football team that has made really good progress over the last three years,” Lynch said. “They’ve played very well, and we’re anxious to get going.”\nBut conference play won’t begin easy for Lynch and IU.\nIllinois is coming off a resounding 41-20 at Syracuse last week and will have extra motivation to beat the Hoosiers after losing in Champaign, Ill., last year as time expired. That game – a 34-32 win on Oct. 7, 2006 – turned around the season for IU, which won on a game-winning field goal by junior kicker Austin Starr.\nStarr said this year’s game will prove to be just as pivotal.\n“It’s huge,” Starr said. “This is a very important game, just like every week. Every week, that game on Saturday is important, but this is a big one. So throughout this week, we’re going to practice the way we know how to practice and we’re going to be well prepared and ready to play our best.”\nThe preparation that goes into playing a team such as Illinois is somewhat equivalent to studying the Hoosiers’ own game film. Fighting Illini sophomore quarterback Isiah “Juice” Williams is a dual threat who can make plays in the air as well as with his legs.\nLast week against Akron, the Hoosiers defended a similar quarterback in Carlton Jackson, not to mention their own sophomore quarterback Kellen Lewis, who is known for his ability to sprint downfield when the pocket collapses.\n“He looks like a big, strong kid,” senior cornerback Leslie Majors said. “When he tucks that ball, he’s like a running back, so that’s how I’m going to approach him.”\nOn the offensive side of the ball, the IU running attack will have to face its toughest opponent yet in linebacker Jeremy “J” Leman.\nAfter its first three games, the IU offense has averaged 258.7 rushing yards per game. Leman, who Lynch described as a prototypical Big Ten linebacker, is third in the nation with 39 tackles. He also has 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.\nThough either IU’s rushing attack or the Illini defense will have to give way this weekend, Lynch said one player doesn’t change the way the Hoosiers will run the ball.\n“You don’t want to all of a sudden change a lot of things for one game,” Lynch said. “Football is a game of repetitions, and the more reps that you get at anything, you’re going to get better at it.”\nIt’s been a while since the Hoosiers finished with a winning record in the Big Ten. They haven’t accomplished the feat since 1993. And because of that, Lynch’s squad is conscious of the importance of this game, as a win will bring momentum into Iowa next week.\n“It would be a huge emotional swing to go and get that first Big Ten win,” Majors said. “That confidence and everything, it carries on.”