Ron Zook begs Illinois fans to cheer

October 8, 5:48 PMCollege Sports ExaminerJacob Osterhout

Previous Next

23 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the College Sports Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Who was cheering when Zook went bare-footing?

Illinois football coach Ron Zook has been in a lot of tough situations, but he's never had to beg.

Before he arrived in Champaign, Zook coached the Florida Gators and was moderately successful, compiling a 23-14 record, but hated from day one by Gator fans.

Yet even in Gainesville, where he was public enemy numero uno, Zook never had to exhort the crowd to cheer for his team as he has done in the week before Illinois' upcoming showdown against Minnesota.

"I am making a plea to our fans," Zook told reporters. "We need them hollering and yelling and waving those towels."

The Illini are coming off two big road games against Penn State and Michigan, both of which play in stadiums that seat over 100,000 fans. Zook worries that Saturday's game against Minnesota will seem like a letdown to his players in Illinois' (relatively) small Memorial Stadium - capacity 62,872 - despite the fact that it is homecoming.

"We're going to need everyone we can get into that stadium Saturday," Zook said. "We are going to need the 12th man. We're going to need all the energy we can from our fans."

One gets the feeling that Zook senses an upset in the making and is trying to head it off at the pass. But does begging your fans to cheer for the home team really send the right message to your players? Or does it just make a proud program look desperate for support?

(For a more pro-Illini view check out this piece by Dan O'Brien.)