Upon Further Review: This is getting ridiculous

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Staff writer Marcus Jackson's take on Saturday's game:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

– He's not the running threat that Juice Williams is, but Jacob Charest held his own in his first collegiate action Saturday. The redshirt freshman was successful in the intermediate passing game, hitting tight ends Michael Hoomanawanui and Hubie Graham on three of his four completions. That has to make fans happy.

– News flash: College football is a 60-minute game. It's understandable they're looking for positives in a season gone wrong. But the Illini – like they were after Michigan State – were boasting about how well they played in the second half of a loss. True, they limited the Boilers to 49 yards rushing in the second half, but what about the 171 they allowed in the first half? Got to get it going from the start.

– After almost every game this year Ron Zook has stated they're going to play new people and keep making changes. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces on the field Saturday. Eddie McGee got his first extended action at receiver. Terry Hawthorne had plenty of reps at cornerback, Nate Bussey started at linebacker, Tyler Sands at left guard, Whitney Mercilus played a lot and Zach Becker had a pass thrown to him. Charest wasn't the only change the Illini staff made and look for more as the season with no hope for a bowl game continues.

SECOND GUESSING

– Still trying to figure out why Charest was pulled after leading the Illini to the 2-yard line. Zook said it was because they wanted to utilize the run game. But can't Charest hand the ball off? Williams didn't run the ball and threw an errant pass out of the end zone in a drive that ended in a missed field goal.

– There was talk early in the season there would be situations where McGee and Williams were on the field together. We saw it could work Saturday when McGee completed a pass from his receiver position. It's a dangerous weapon to have and gives teams something to think about. Too bad it didn't come earlier in the season when it still mattered.

– Williams declined to talk to the media afterward. Understandably this season has been tough on everybody, but the leader of the team needs to make himself available and speak for his team. It's an uncharacteristic move by Williams, who has been media friendly throughout his time at Illinois.

THIRD DEGREE

– The next win looks like it could come at Minnesota for Illinois, although it's hard to imagine the Illini beating anyone at this point. A week after being shut out by Penn State, it took the Gophers until the fourth quarter to get on the board in a 38-7 loss to Ohio State. It could be argued the Gophers have the advantage against Illinois when they meet Nov. 7 – they at least scored against the Buckeyes.

– The Illini will have nothing to play for, but the eyes of the college football world might be fixated in their game at Cincinnati the day after Thanksgiving. The Bearcats, with their Heisman Trophy-contending quarterback on the bench, continued their winning ways against Louisville on Saturday. No. 5 Cincinnati might be playing for a shot at a national championship that day.

– Couldn't imagine having to deal with what the Connecticut players did this week, having to play a game less than a week after having a teammate slain. The Huskies didn't win on the scoreboard, 28-24 at West Virginia, but they're winners in the eyes of anyone who follows college football.

FOURTH ESTATE

The big question at Purdue leading up to the Illinois game was whether there would be a hangover after last week's upset of then-No. 7 Ohio State at Ross-Ade Stadium.

"There's a lot of enthusiasm now but the one thing you have to worry about with this team is a letdown," said Mike Carmin, who covers the Boilermakers for the Lafayette (Ind.) Journal & Courier. "They came back from Oregon and people were patting them on the back even though they lost and then had a big letdown against Northern Illinois. I think they probably learned their lesson from that."

Entering the game at 2-5, Purdue had no room to overlook the Illini.

"They view Illinois like they view themselves going into that Ohio State game," Carmin said. "They're a team desperate for a win, needed a win and will do everything they can to get that win. They see a lot of themselves in Illinois, a team that's struggled and needing to find a game to turn it around.

"They still have hopes for a bowl, but they basically have to win out to make it to one. They want to make this 2009 season special and that means a winning season and going to a bowl and they're still holding on to that until they're eliminated from it."

IN THE STADIUM

Longtime Purdue announcer Joe McConnell is retiring after this season.

"My wife thinks I've been retired for 10 years," McConnell said. "There's no question I'll miss it. It's been my whole life. As I tell everybody, 'I knew when I was 10 years old what I wanted to do. I set out to do it and was lucky enough to be able to do it for a life.' I feel real fortunate."

McConnell said he has "seen a lot of interesting games, been to a lot of interesting places and met a lot of interesting people."

"There comes a time when your better days are behind," McConnell said. "I don't want to wind up being in a situation where I might embarrass myself later on. I have some physical limitations because of my health, so I felt this was the time to do it."

McConnell has called the games of Drew Brees and Kyle Orton, who are both undefeated NFL quarterbacks this season. Earlier in his career, he was on the Purdue sports information staff when Bob Griese and Mike Phipps played quarterback.

"I'm not following any NFL team, I'm following a couple of guys this year," McConnell said. "They are both terrific kids. They don't come any better than Drew. And outside of the fact that he's a liberal, I like Kyle."

IN THE (PURDUE) LOCKER ROOM

Purdue didn't commit a turnover Saturday for the first time this season. That was a point of conversation after the 10-point victory against Illinois.

"We shouldn't have turned the ball over last week and we came through this week and made sure we didn't turn it over," quarterback Joey Elliott said. "We managed our mistakes well today."

"I don't know if we played great today, but you don't have to when you hold on to the ball," Purdue coach Danny Hope said. "If we do that, we have a good team and we can compete every Saturday."

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