This much, at least, can be said about Illinois: The Illini have progressed to the point that they can pummel teams that others are pummeling.
“We came into the game thinking and knowing we’d be able to run the football,” running back Rashard Mendenhall said. “With the way it was going, we kept running.”
The Illini (2-1) might still be running if they hadn’t had to fly home after routing Syracuse by the it-wasn’t-that-close final score of 41-20 before an early-departing Carrier Dome crowd of 34,188.
In truth, the least of the Big East didn’t put up as much of a fight as Division I-AA Western Illinois did in last week’s 21-0 Illini victory in Champaign.
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In most years a victory at Syracuse — alma mater of Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Donovan McNabb — would be a better barometer. But the Orangemen are 0-3 and have been outscored 97-53, and it’s not just because of their ugly new all-orange uniforms.
The Illinois lead peaked at 41-10 early in the fourth quarter after Mendenhall’s third touchdown, a 1-yarder.
The Illini ran for 378 yards with three players at 90 yards or better. Mendenhall carried 16 times for 150 yards, including a 50-yard TD run. Freshman Troy Pollard moved into the No. 2 running back spot when an ankle injury knocked out Daniel Dufrene, gaining 92 yards. Quarterback Juice Williams sprinted for 90.
Offensive coordinator Mike Locksley “put together a package that opened the doors for this game,” Williams said. “There were a few lanes and we had the opportunity. We saw things on the tapes [of Syracuse’s first two opponents].”
Mendenhall, who has run for six touchdowns this season, passed the credit to his blockers.
“Our offensive line did a great job,” said Mendenhall, adding that fullback Russ Weil’s return from an ankle injury “helps us a lot. He’s a lot of the reason for those seams. He’s the glue to our running game. Russ did a great job.”
If Illinois can sustain its running attack all season, it will make things easier on Williams. That’s what happened Saturday.
The Illini actually came out throwing, with Williams completing two quick confidence-building passes. He made it look easy in that first possession, driving the Illini 70 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead on his 22-yard rollout pass to tight end Jeff Cumberland.
“I wanted to get it to Jeff down the middle,” Williams said. “Then I was late on my read to [Arrelious Benn], and Jeff came open.”
It was Williams’ first touchdown pass of the season.
“I was beginning to wonder when it was going to come,” said Williams, who completed all four attempts for 41 yards in the drive.
Williams was 13 of 18 for 97 yards thanks to a playbook stacked high with short passes. He wasn’t sacked or intercepted, and he contributed a picture-perfect block on a reverse.
“Before the game I told [Locksley that Williams] was different, he was focused,” coach Ron Zook said. “He wants to please. He wants the Illini people to be proud of him and this football team.”
Winning more than two Big Ten games will require more than the Illini had to produce Saturday. But they’ve matched their victory totals for each of Zook’s first two seasons already. They open Big Ten play Saturday at Indiana.
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