Zook has fears about 15th-rated Cal, whose QB is looking strong
By JOHN SUPINIE
CHAMPAIGN - Illinois coach Ron Zook doesn't let himself sneak a peek ahead of time. It might be old fashioned, but Zook keeps his mind on each week's game. He doesn't look ahead. "A lot of coaches do that,'' Zook said. "They take a look at the next opponent. I get confused when I do that. I make sure I stay focused on the team we're playing.'' Zook's wait-and-see approach might have been a good thing, considering California needed a second game to answer questions at quarterback. Junior-college transfer Joe Ayoob, who started his first game for Cal, threw for 271 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-17 victory this weekend at Washington.
Illinois (2-0) goes to Berkeley, Calif., to face No. 15 Cal (2-0) at 4 p.m. Saturday. Zook took the first look at Cal tape later Sunday afternoon. By defeating San Jose State 40-19 Saturday, Illinois won its first two games for the first time in four years. "We're not ready to face Cal yet,'' Zook said. "We have to make as much improvement this week as last week. They're an awfully good football team. We're going to go out there and see what happens.'' Ayoob grabbed some bench after he threw 10 incompletions in a row after he replaced injured starter Nate Longshore in the Bears' season-opening, 41-3 victory Sept. 3 over Sacramento State. Steve Levy, who played fullback last season after he arrived at Cal as a QB, finished the opener.
Longshore, a redshirt freshman who won the starting job in preseason drills, is likely out for the season with a broken leg. Ayoob threw an interception on his first attempt against Washington but bounced back to throw four TDs in the first half - when Cal coach Jeff Tedford decided against short passes to build Ayoob's confidence. "Forget that,'' Tedford told reporters after the game. "We're going deep.'' Illinois punter Steve Weatherford (ankle) and receiver Kendrick Jones (foot) are expected to play against Cal. Illinois safety Brian Brosnan, a special-teams mainstay, likely suffered a torn anterior-cruciate ligament in his knee. Cal running back Marshawn Lynch, a freshman All-American last season, left the game against Washington with a finger injury. Afterward, Lynch told reporters the finger was dislocated. Tedford said it was broken. Lynch's status for Illinois is unknown. "We made an awful lot of improvement, as we should defensively,'' Zook said. "There were extremely large number of times that we had four, five, six, seven guys at the ball. That means we're showing up with a lot of energy.''
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