Juice gets squeezed after Illini's poor start

With the Illini offense a dud in the first two games against major-college competition and Illinois riding a five-game losing streak against Division I-A teams, the fingers are pointed at Williams number almost as much as they are aimed at coach Ron Zook. Upset over the program's direction, the critics see Williams as Exhibit A when it comes to a lack of improvement by the Illini.

"It's tough,'' said Williams. "Any time you get a lot of blame for things, it's tough for any human. That's the nature of the beast. When you sign up to play quarterback or to coach, that's what you deal with. I didn't understand that four years ago as a freshman.

"It's tough to deal with, but it's nothing I can't handle.''

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