Juiced for a big finish

From the very beginning, Ron Zook has had lofty ambitions for Juice Williams.

''We told him this when we were recruiting him: We really felt he could be the face of the program,'' the coach said.

The question is, which face? The one that was all smiles when Juice led Illinois to a Rose Bowl in 2007 on the heels of a heroic four-touchdown performance against top-ranked Ohio State? Or the one with egg on it when Juice couldn't keep Illinois from getting stuck in the mud and going 5-7 last fall.

Williams led the Big Ten in passing and total offense in 2008, and set three stadium records for yardage -- in St. Louis, and at Michigan and Illinois. The problem was, …