Chicago Sun Times Discusses Illinois - Cal Game

Zook wary of Brasic's running game

September 5, 2005

In a bit of frosting on the cake, Illinois suffered no significant injuries Saturday in its dramatic 33-30 overtime victory against Rutgers.  But a major setback for No. 19 California -- the Illini's toughest nonconference opponent -- underlined the importance of keeping players healthy, especially the quarterback.  Illinois coach Ron Zook acknowledged Sunday that he might not want mobile quarterback Tim Brasic, who carried 18 times for 77 yards against the Scarlet Knights, to run that often.

"Brasic's OK, but he looks like he's been in a bar-room fight,'' Zook said. "He took some hits, probably more than we want him to. That's something we have to look at and address.'' After facing San Jose State at home Saturday (1 p.m., 560-AM), Illinois will visit Cal on Sept. 17. The Golden Bears lost their new quarterback, redshirt freshman Nate Longshore, for the season with a broken leg in their 41-3 victory Saturday over Division I-AA Sacramento State.

"It's really unfortunate. Nate was playing really well,'' said Cal coach Jeff Tedford, who saw a big fall-off without Longshore. When backup Joe Ayoob threw 10 straight incompletions, Tedford turned to third-stringer Steve Levy, who played fullback last year. Levy was intercepted on his first play from scrimmage.  Aside from Brasic's obvious talent as a runner, the junior from Riverside-Brookfield was given some option run plays to help him settle down in his first college start. Zook was borrowing a page from his old boss, Steve Spurrier.  "When a quarterback was struggling, coach Spurrier would throw in a little shovel-pass completion to get him going,'' said Zook, adding that offensive coordinator Mike Locksley suggested running plays to loosen up Brasic.

They did the trick. After making three first-half turnovers, Brasic bounced back and led the Illini's 20-point comeback, which equaled the largest rally in school history.  "We hadn't planned to run the option as much as we did,'' Zook said. "But Mike knows those guys. The more [Brasic] ran, the more the butterflies began to leave. He began to settle down and do the things we know he can do.''  Still, Zook and Locksley want to make sure they don't overexpose Brasic. Herb Gould

Depth at wide receiver was thought to be a strength for Northwestern this season, and that certainly appeared to be the case Saturday in an opening 38-14 victory over Ohio.  Nine players, including six wideouts, combined for 28 catches and 356 yards, and two of them set career highs. Shaun Herbert's seven catches and two touchdowns were single-game bests for the 6-1, 200-pound junior, and sophomore Kim Thompson had a career-high five receptions for a team-high 99 yards.

"Shaun's been one of those guys who's kind of been undervalued in our program the last couple of years,'' NU coach Randy Walker said. "To see him step up is not a surprise to me. He shows up every week, plays hard and doesn't get a lot of credit some of the other guys get. But [he has] just been a real steady, week-in, week-out performer.''  The 6-4, 195-pound Thompson had only 11 receptions in 12 games as a redshirt freshman in 2004.

"Kim needs to step up this year,'' Walker said. "I thought Kim would make greater strides last year. He needs to be a factor because he has great speed and some tools to work with. So it would be really good for Kim to step up, have a great year and give us the deep-threat speed I think he has.'' 

SS Smith likely out for NU game

Northern Illinois expects to be without strong safety Ray Smith, the Huskies' leading returning tackler from 2004, for its game Saturday at Northwestern (3 p.m., ESPN Classic, 670-AM, 850-AM).  Smith, whose 114 tackles last season included 83 solo stops, suffered a hip pointer Saturday in a 33-17 loss at No. 4 Michigan. He left with only three solo tackles and one assist.  "Fortunately, he's the only one we have to be concerned with,'' coach Joe Novak said. "He's going to be hurting for a while.''  Cornerback Adriel Hansbro feels the team pain.

"Ray being out is huge,'' Hansbro said. "He's one of those players that, no matter where he is -- to the left of you or the right of you or behind you -- he's got you covered. We're comfortable with him back there.'' Fellow safety Dustin Utsching led the Huskies on Saturday with 13 tackles. Hansbro was second with eight.