OSU mostly downplays rematch with Illinois

COLUMBUS - Last summer at the Big Ten's annual summer preview, Illinois quarterback Juice Williams talked about how his mother watched a tape of the Illini's stunning 28-21 upset of Ohio State every night before she went to bed.

If Ohio State's players are immersing themselves in that game as much as Williams' mom, they're not talking about it, heading into Saturday's rematch with Illinois.

For the most part, various degrees of collective amnesia seemed to be the favored approach when OSU coach Jim Tressel and several players talked with the media on Tuesday.

Tressel said, "The fact we didn't win it maybe gives you a shade more to think about."

Linebacker James Laurinaitis said, "It's over with, it's past, we've moved on."

Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins admitted a few more residual feelings than Laurinaitis and his coach.

"You never really forget things like that but it's not the main focus of what we're trying to do," he said.

Tight end Rory Nicol was more direct than the rest. "You've got kind of a bad taste in your mouth when you talk about Illinois," he said. "It was like they robbed us last year. If somebody breaks into your house, you're not going to be happy either."

No. 10 Ohio State (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) will face an Illinois team (5-5, 3-3 Big Ten) that has struggled this season at noon Saturday in Memorial Stadium.

A year ago, Ohio State was ranked No. 1 in the BCS standings when it was stunned by Illinois.

Williams, who came into that game as the lowest-rated passer among starting Big Ten quarterbacks, threw four touchdown passes.

Maybe more surprisingly, Illinois kept the ball for the last 8:09 of the game and allowed OSU only one possession in the fourth quarter.

This year, Williams leads the Big Ten in passing yards with 2,769. But Illinois' offense badly misses NFL first-round draft choice, tailback Rashard Mendenhall. And its defense has allowed 26 points a game.

Ohio State comes into Saturday's game after beating Northwestern 45-10. Illinois lost 23-17 to Western Michigan last Saturday.

Ohio State's offense gained 441 yards against the Wildcats, but Tressel wasn't ready to declare that everything was good with the offense.

"I thought we did some things better than we'd been doing them but not at the level that we're going to need to be at as we go forward," he said.

While most people noticed freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor's arm when he threw for 197 yards and three touchdown passes against Northwestern, it was Pryor's feet that Tressel wanted to talk about.

"His feet were much improved, which was our goal. Now, when you have good protection, it's a lot easier to have good feet. Where we though we needed his feet to be better was when he's in the pocket and he has to step forward. He was so used to having enough arm that he didn't have to have the feet," he said.

Other items Tressel discussed:

- Wide receiver Ray Small, who was suspended for the Northwestern game for violating unspecified team rules, will not be in action this Saturday.

Asked if Small could work his way back onto the field, Tressel said, "Yes, absolutely."

- He said the arrest for alleged drug trafficking of T.J. Downing, a starting offensive lineman on the 2006 national runner-up team, "hurt" him.

"I don't know what allegedly is the case or not the case, but anytime you hear of something as disappointing as that, even if it's alleged, that puts a knot in your stomach. I don't want to get on the pulpit, but there's a big difference between what you do and who you are," Tressel said.

- Offensive lineman Ben Person, who underwent an undisclosed surgical procedure, could return by the Buckeyes' bowl game. Originally, it was thought he was done for the season.

- Tressel said he and Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald have not spoken about Dan Herron's 16-yard touchdown run in the final seconds other than on the field after the game.

"I feel bad that the ball went in (the end zone) and never dreamed it would. We were getting three yards a carry and getting some young guys a chance to play and that stuff happens," Tressel said.