Alameda Times: Illinois coach Zook escapes Gators glare

By Dave Newhouse, STAFF WRITER 

BERKELEY — Florida is hot almost any time of year, but the heat generated by college football in the Sunshine State — specifically the big three of Florida, Florida State and Miami — is too hot to cool down.

Illinois coach Ron Zook, who was fired at Florida after last season, talked Tuesday about the main differences he sees between the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference.  "On the West Coast and other places, I'm sure, people have other things they do," he said. "In the South, it revolves around football and recruiting."  Illinois and Cal, both 2-0, play Saturday at Memorial Stadium. This isn't Florida vs. Florida State, but Zook doesn't seem to mind.

"I'm not sure how we match up," he said of Cal. "They're awfully talented and play with great intensity and great emotion, especially on defense. Offensively, they're big. They have a stable full of running backs and receivers.  "This is a top-15 opponent that knows how to win. It will be a great challenge. As coaches, we'll find out how far our program has to go."  Cal is ranked exactly 15th, placing it behind Florida (6th), Florida State (8th) and Miami (13th) in the new Associated Press poll.  "It's more fan-friendly (in the Big Ten)," Zook said. "They're pretty rabid in the South, though as a coach, you want people to be like that."  Except when those same people know only two things in life: football and spring football.

College football is probably most intense in Florida, because of the recruiting competition among the big three for, reputedly, the best gridiron talent of any state that waves Old Glory.  Zook was run off from Florida after a three-year, 23-14 record. That would have been fine at Central Florida, but not in Gainesville, where succeeding Steve Spurrier is like succeeding John Wooden at UCLA.  "I've been very fortunate," Zook said. "The people here at Illinois have been very supportive, so it has been an easy transition. It's tough to leave a place you love, but this is a godsend."  Zook's Illlini have victories over Rutgers, 33-30 in overtime, and San Jose State, 40-19, both in Champaign, Ill., where Cal hung on for a 31-24 win two years ago. Does this Illini group have that same capability?  "Yeah, I think so," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "They have the ability to be very explosive on offense. And, so far, they're fairly stubborn on defense. I don't know that they're going to give up a lot of big plays. You're going to have to earn everything you get against them."

This will be the second of three straight weeks that Cal faces schools with new coaches — Tyrone Willingham at Washington, Zook, and Hal Mumme at New Mexico State. Does this affect Tedford's preparation?

"It's difficult in the fact that you don't know exactly what they're going to do," he said. "So you have look at double the tape. You have to look at what (Illinois) did last year, and what they're doing this year. And we're looking at a lot of Florida tape from last year.  "You don't know what you're going to get, if their personnel matches what they did at Florida. From what we can tell, they're pretty similar to what they did in Florida, the same schemes. But you know there's more coming because they haven't done it all in the first two games."  Tedford added that Zook's offense involves Utah-like deception, spreading out the defense and using the shotgun, and that Cal's defense must be disciplined to anticipate the unexpected.

Defensively, the Illini use a zone pass defense, with lots of blitzes, and line movement designed to defeat blocking angles.  "They have some skill," Tedford said of the Illini. "They definitely can hurt you."

BEAR TRACKS: A crowd of 55,000 is expected Saturday, so tickets remain. ... Cal wide receiver Robert Jordan was named Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week after catching 11 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns at Washington. ... Cal kicking specialist Tom Schneider is in good hands with Allstate. The insurance company already was giving $300 for every Schneider field goal and $100 for every PAT at home games to Cal's general scholarship fund. Now Allstate also will donate $1,000 for every Schneider field goal, home or away, to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.