UFR: What was Zook thinking?

Trailing 21-0 in the third quarter and facing fourth and 3 from the Purdue 38, Illinois coach Ron Zook elected to punt. The coach's decision was questioned by some very vocal Illinois fans as he exited the field Saturday and it was brought up during the postgame media session. Zook got a bit animated in defending his decision. "A lot of thought went into it, but if you don't (get it) there's a lot of time left," Zook said. "Everybody can second-guess it. Everybody's got to second-guess, second-guess, second-guess. If I thought there was a pretty good chance we were gonna get it, then we would have gone for it. I don't think you can be careless. (The game) came down to an onside kick. It's easy to go for it. Once again, if you're being careless, if you're being reckless, you go for it. I didn't feel at that time that it was the right time to do it."

Marcus Jackson