Illinois Fighting Illini Tickets

Mackovic talks football (Rivals.com)
Former Illini head football coach John Mackovic appeared on WDWS radio in Champaign on Saturday morning to talk...

Illinois Team Report
When Illinois went to work at Camp Rantoul last fall, nobody dared to dream the season would end with a trip to the Rose Bowl. As the Illini got down to business at Camp Rantoul this year, head coach Ron Zook doesn't want anyone daring to assume this season will end with a trip to the Rose Bowl or any other BCS venue. "We're going to find out what kind of leaders that this senior class is," Zook said. "The reason I say that is, we've got two (recruiting) classes that think, 'I come to the University of Illinois and go to the Rose Bowl.' Well, that's not how it works. The seniors and the juniors, they're going to have to make sure those guys remember what they went through with the 2-10 and 2-9.

Tuesday stadium gallery (Rivals.com)
Construction continues along on Memorial Stadium as crews work towards finishing the west side of the stadium...

Illinois Team Report (Yahoo! Sports)
In the wake of the NFL draft, there are two ways to view the way the league's 32 teams all but ignored the available talent from Illinois' Rose Bowl squad. Running back Rashard Mendenhall, who went No. 23 overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers, was the only Illini who heard his name called. Considering 10 seniors started the Rose Bowl for Illinois—and Mendenhall was an early-entry junior—that suggests the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Year was far more important to the team than anyone can measure. That's one theory. The other? Illinois welcomes back quite a bit more talent than it's being given credit for having. Though fourth-year coach Ron Zook constantly expresses his gratitude to his players who have moved on, consider him firmly in the "quite a...

Illinois DT Sirod Williams out for season
Illinois defensive tackle Sirod Williams will miss the season with a knee injury. Williams faces surgery after hurting the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Saturday during preseason practice. Coach Ron Zook said Williams is expected to take a medical redshirt and return next season. The 6-foot, 292-pound Williams appeared in 12 of the Illini's 13 games last season.

Illinois Team Report
Illinois' defense featured three players making their first career starts and a fourth making his second start. But for much of the Illini's season-opening 52-42 loss to No. 6 Missouri on Saturday night, it seemed like Ron Zook's bunch had 11 new starters. Illinois couldn't get to the quarterback, couldn't fill the wide-open rushing lanes, couldn't cover receivers, struggled to make tackles in the open field and committed a handful of personal fouls. Aside from all those problems, the Illini did just fine. Missouri finished with 549 total yards, five touchdowns and one field goal against Illinois—all but 51 of the yards coming in the first three quarters as the Tigers built an insurmountable lead. Afterward, Illini coach Ron Zook expressed...