BY: HERB GOULD (SunTimes.com) —
Illinois hasn’t won as many games as it would like this year, but it hasn’t lost the belief that it can surprise No. 10 Ohio State on Saturday and revive a fading season.

For all of their troubles, the Illini — coming off a disappointing loss to Western Michigan — have not lost two games in a row. And they pulled off a major upset when they handed the top-ranked Buckeyes their first loss last November in Columbus.

”Like I told our guys, it’s not unlike a year ago, when there was not one person in the world who gave us the opportunity to win the game,” coach Ron Zook said. ”That doesn’t mean we’re going to win this week. But I think our guys will come out and play the way that we all want them to play.”

The Buckeyes come to Champaign with an impressive 14-game winning streak in Big Ten road games that goes back more than three years. Ohio State’s last conference road loss came at Penn State, 17-10, on Oct. 8, 2005.

• • A big key to the success of Ohio State freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor is the way his coaches are keeping things simple, Zook said.

”I’m very surprised at how accurate he is throwing the football,” Zook said, ”but the other thing is what they’ve done as a coaching staff. They’re not asking him to win the game. They’re just letting him play, and he has enough of a supporting cast that he’s able to do that.

”They have a great offensive line and they have great receivers. And Beanie [Wells] is one of the better backs I’ve seen in the last few years. [Pryor] is able to use his God-given ability and make things happen. That’s why he doesn’t throw interceptions, he doesn’t make mistakes, and that’s a great job of coaching on their part.”

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