CHAMPAIGN - It was no picnic trying to cover Missouri's many receivers in Saturday's 52-42 loss in St. Louis.

But coach Ron Zook's voice rose considerably when he zeroed in Illinois' main downfall on the road to defeat.

"It had nothing to do with the spread offense and throwing the ball," Zook said, growing louder by the syllable. "They ran for 220 yards, and I don't care if you're coaching high school, college or in the NFL. If you don't stop the run, you will not win.

"This was an almost identical game to the one we played last year. Go back and look at the stats. The difference is that we didn't stop the run. If we had stopped the run, I think we would have had a pretty good chance."

When Illinois lost a 40-34 decision to Missouri one year ago, the Tigers carried 33 times for 70 yards. Last Saturday, Missouri carried 37 times for 226 yards.

"I always say stop the run first," Zook said. "Everyone I have worked under has instilled that in me. There's no question you have to do that in this league.

"The (poor) tackling is one part of it. They are a good football team. Their offensive line did a great job. Their running back (Derrick Washington) will make people forget about the other guy (Tony Temple) they had last year.

"But we'd have been better off just lining up and doing what we do instead of trying to check into some things we weren't ready to do.

"Tackling is 99 percent emotion. If you're thinking too much, you're not flying around and you have to get past that thinking stage. We'd have been better off just flying around rather than making every adjustment possible.

"There will come a point in time when we get into a big game like that where we have to make something happen instead of sitting around waiting for something to happen.

"We have to coach better, we have to play better and I have no doubt in my mind we will get that done."

Zook said he'll have a little more depth on the defensive line this week with the return of Bloomington's Josh Brent, who did not play against Missouri.

Zook said Brent had an unspecified illness and doctors advised against playing him.

"Flu-like symptoms," one Illini official said.

Zook also said wide receiver Jeff Cumberland will miss another game as he bounces back from a stress fracture.

"He wants to play," Zook said. "He was dancing last night. But the doctors don't want him to go yet."

Also, backup tailback Troy Pollard is ready to play and will see action against Eastern Illinois.

Zook said Matt Eller remains his place kicker despite having an extra point blocked against Missouri. A blocking breakdown by Jon Asamoah contributed to the botched kick, although Zook said Eller's boot was a little low.

mtupper@herald-review.com|421-7983