Koenning trying to give Illinois confidence before Texas Bowl

"I'll admit we've been doing more things to help our guys instead of completely worrying about Baylor," Koenning said. "We needed to work on their confidence. The ultimate goal is to win. You have no chance if you don't build up their confidence."

The slide by the defense disappointed coach Ron Zook, a former defensive coordinator who has been meeting with Koenning about the defense following the regular season.

"He obviously hasn't been happy with the way we have played, and I'm not either," Koenning said. "And as I told him, I still don't know what we do best. He asked me, 'What do we do that we can hang our hat on?' And I don't know that answer. As soon as I get a feel for it, it changes."

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