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No looking back for Juice, Illini
Recent losses hurt, but frosh QB learning, keeping eye on future
October 19, 2006
BY
HERB GOULD Staff Reporter
CHAMPAIGN -- In the gloom of another lost Illinois season, Juice Williams allows himself to daydream about a time when the Illini will find happiness on Saturdays. But only briefly.
''Every day I look ahead and imagine what it can be in a couple of years,'' said the true freshman quarterback, who's toiling under an uncertain spotlight. ''But right now, I figure that wouldn't be fair to the seniors. You can't base your career on what you plan on happening. You want the results right now.''
Coming off losses at home to Indiana and Ohio by a combined five points -- and with a seemingly insurmountable three-game stretch coming up against Penn State, No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 1 Ohio State -- Illinois (2-5) seems destined for more disappointment.
But Williams is hanging in there.
''He may get down for a hot second, but he regroups real fast,'' junior wide receiver DaJuan Warren said. ''We'll tell him to keep his head up, and he'll tell us to keep our heads up. He's our leader.''
The whirlwind from Chicago Vocational even is looking forward to being thrown to the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley and learning in the cauldron of Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium the next two weeks.
''Both places are tough to play,'' Williams said. ''There's the noise level, the people saying hateful things. It's going to be extremely difficult to go in there as a freshman quarterback.
''I basically want to get it done, get it under my belt, so I know what to expect the next time. I want to keep learning about going into different environments. I just want to keep learning.''
For a freshman who keeps getting back up after being knocked down, there's no better mantra.
''That's one of his biggest strengths, that he has a lot of confidence in himself,'' offensive coordinator Mike Locksley said. ''That's where youth serves you well. He doesn't know how to react other than to come back [and say], 'I made a mistake, I'm going to come back and try to make a play.'''
Williams has a bunch to learn.
Illinois' stumbles haven't helped. Entering the season, the Illini's best chances to win shaped up against nonconference opponents Eastern Illinois, Syracuse and Ohio, plus Big Ten rival Indiana.
Instead of going 4-0 against that group, Illinois went 1-3. Looking back, the 23-20 upset victory at Michigan State made the other losses even tougher to swallow.
''We thought the big win against Michigan State would give us momentum,'' Locksley said. ''With these young guys we're playing, every game is a new game. Every Monday, it's like starting from scratch. It's painful. ... We just have to work through it.''
For Williams, the challenge is to master the offense and get away from broken plays. Playground stuff looks great when it works, but it will be tough to make it work at Penn State and Wisconsin.
''Isiah [Williams] is making a lot of plays out of things that aren't there,'' Locksley said. ''Things are breaking down, and he's using his feet and his arm strength to make some plays.
''We have to find a way to get him to make plays within the scheme of our offense. That's when we'll be able to have the success we'd like to have offensively. That takes everybody surrounding him to play up to their ability.''
That might be a longer way off for the supporting cast than for the gifted Williams.
