H&R Executive Sports Editor

EVANSTON - It's pretty simple, really.

Win today at Northwestern and Illinois' chances at a football bowl game will look very favorable, although without benefit of a guarantee.

Lose today and Illinois has a 100 percent guarantee: No bowl game this season.

There's very little wiggle room for an Illini team whose season has been marked by some exciting highs and a maddening amount of lows brought on by recurring inconsistencies.

"This game is very, very important to us," Illini coach Ron Zook said. "So it's going to be important for us to play well."

For the Illini, that generally starts with quarterback Juice Williams, who has embodied the ups and downs of the entire team with his own performance.

Some big offensive numbers have at times been overshadowed by turnovers, including a career-high 15 interceptions. But even though Zook put Williams on the bench for part of last week's game against Ohio State, he remains confident in his junior quarterback.

"I've said this many times, but he wants to win as bad as the rest of us," Zook said. "He does press a little when he tries to make things happen. But things have happened that are out of his control.

"The ball bounces funny at times and it won't always bounce the way you want it to."

Williams himself said he looks forward to today's game, especially with bowl implications on the line. And he's anxious to perform with so much riding on his play.

Speaking about costly turnovers, Williams said all he can do is be persistent and smart.

"There are a lot of things that come into play," he said. "Sometimes it's an inaccurate throw. Sometimes you fire it in there and some (responsibilities) can be placed on someone else's part, but I would never do that. I take full responsibility for each interception I have thrown this year.

"I don't think of any loss as mine. I don't put it all on my (shoulders), but turnovers have an impact on those losses. I'm trying to avoid those situations at all costs. It's something we have struggled with the last couple weeks but I think it's something we can get fixed."

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald Williams' ability to pass and run creates major headaches.

"He's very comfortable in that offense," Fitzgerald said. "You can see the teaching (offensive coordinator) Mike Locksley has done with Juice and he's becoming a very dynamic football player.

"Initially, he made a lot of plays athletically and continued to play outside the framework of the offense. Now you see him going through his progressions, making plays in the design of the offense and he still has that dual-threat ability to keep plays alive.

"It makes you so frustrated as a defensive coach because you can have great coverage and he'll make one or two or three guys miss to prolong the play. He has grown exponentially."

With 420 yards today, Illinois will break the school's single-season record for total offense per game. Illinois is currently averaging 448.3 yards per game. The previous season best is 446.3 from the 2002 season.

That type of production has to make Illinois wonder about the status of Locksley. He is one of four candidates to have interviewed for the head coaching job at Clemson. Former Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables and Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster have also interviewed for the job.

Clemson Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips reportedly flew to Detroit to interview Locksley on Dec. 7, while Illinois was in town to play Western Michigan

Fitzgerald also singled out the play of Illini middle linebacker Brit Miller, who leads the Big Ten in tackles and who is playing in his final regular-seaosn game.

"I like watching the way Brit Miller plays football," Fitzgerald said. "He plays with great passion and is a great player.

"He plays the game the way you want guys to. I've gotten to watch their show ("The Journey") on the Big Ten Network a little bit and you can tell he's a great leader. He wears his heart on his sleeve.

"He's got a great sense of when to slip blocks and when to be physical and take on blocks. He's very good in the passing game. He has a knack for rushing the passer and he's definitely a young who, if he's on the All-Big Ten ballot, I'm going to vote for him."

That praise flattered Miller, who knows Fitzgerald as a former All-American linebacker and College Football Hall of Fame inductee.

"That makes you feel great," Miller said. "Coming from coach Fitzgerald, he embodies linebacker play in the Big Ten. He can from an era when they wore neck braces and short jerseys. I've watched film of him.

"He played with great passion and he's honored at the College Football Hall of Fame.

"He is probably the only coach in the Big Ten who can beat up coach Zook."

mtupper@herald-review.com or at 421-7983.