Check out photos of former coach Mike White and his players here.

CHAMPAIGN – The receiver was open along the sideline but, firing hurriedly with a resistant southern wind gusting over 25 mph, Juice Williams overthrew him.

The running back curled out of the backfield, but Juice threw low.

Those misses will be repeated about 40 percent of the time. But if he improves last season's 57.5 completion rate just fractionally, and if he reduces those 16 interceptions – two huge, must-do ifs – Illinois football will be busy after Christmas.

Juice was the difference Saturday as coach Ron Zook divided the teams "equally" for the spring game at sun-kissed Memorial Stadium, the Blue squad dominating 20-0.

Unofficially, the 235-pound senior quarterback completed 13 of 26 passes for 150 yards, with nothing over 22 yards and one interception when redshirt linebacker Evan Frierson deflected a pass high in the air and caught it.

Williams is as much a "face of the program" as Dee Brown was for UI basketball and, lest you forget, Dee wasn't perfect either.

It is a well-kept secret, maintained by those taken in by his personality, that Dee never averaged more than 14.2 points in a season, and shot a sub-par 35.9 percent from the field as a senior. Simply put, Dee's shortcomings were never emphasized the way Juice's are.

Zook & Co. can live with the strikeouts as long as the home run production continues.

Passing and running, Williams reeled off 324 yards per game in 2008, placing him No. 7 nationally behind four Big 12 quarterbacks and two others. With his current receiving corps, Juice could top 4,000 yards if the Illini play 13 games (a 13th game would probably mean Juice met his goals)

No option

"I'll be honest," said Zook, "I saw a couple of passes that were the worst he has thrown all spring. But Juice is a humble guy and they know he is the leader. The maturity that he is developing is exciting."

Zook reminded that the quarterbacks ran no options Saturday – "Juice does that well; it's a big part of our package" – and, more than that, the quarterbacks on both sides never kept the ball on misdirection plays, and never threw a ball to the tight ends. With opening foe Missouri particularly interested, the Illini played it straight.

Flooded by reporters afterward, Williams said: "I've got to be more efficient. It was particularly hard throwing into the wind. The option and the zone read are 60 percent of our offense, and the defensive line knew I wouldn't carry so they attacked the running back."

It appeared that Juice's Blue team did a better job handling the blitz with sophomores Corey Lewis and Jeff Allen at the tackles, and Jon Asamoah and Graham Pocic at the guards. They scored on their third possession when Williams hit Zach Becker for 16 yards and A.J. Jenkins for 22 before Mikel Leshoure tallied on a 3-yard run. Gaining the wind at the quarter turn, Williams hit senior Chris Duvalt four times, the last for a 9-yard TD. Williams wasn't on the field when Daniel Dufrene fought his way into the end zone on the final play of an abbreviated game.

A good start

New offensive coordinator Mike Schultz seemed generally satisfied with what he saw. It has been a learning experience for him, since Zook kept offensive nomenclature the same and asked him to adjust.

"The other coaches are easing me through," said the veteran Texan.

Queried about the team's protection problems with blitzes – defenders came in flurries across the line – he reminded that "sometimes the threat of the option is as good as running it (which they didn't)." Schultz prefers a pass-run split, noting that "you can't be one-dimensional, but a 60-40 ratio either way is OK."

It must also be noted that dividing the offensive line into two groups affected the blocking coordination.

But, if excuses are legitimate for the offensive line, there was nothing positive about the punting. Regular Anthony Santella averaged 30.5 yards on four boots, and Kyle Yelton averaged 22.5 on six. This is becoming a toothache that won't go away. Several punts were simply flubbed.

"The punting was disappointing," Zook said. "I'm not worried about the (place) kicking because we have a guy (Matt Eller) who has done it. But we definitely have to look at the punting."

Based on Saturday, it's likely the staff will test anyone with a leg when the squad reports in the fall. But don't worry about the arm. When you see a wild one, just remember that Babe Ruth led the world in whiffs.

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.