Illinois' season is only a few days old, but already it feels like the wheels are coming off: The Illini were blown off the field by underdog Missouri Saturday, and lost their best player in the process; Arrelious Benn is "day-to-day" with a dreaded high ankle sprain, and admitted Tuesday he wouldn't be able to play if the Illini were lining up this afternoon. Ron Zook suspended a pair of players, Mikel LeShoure and Ashante Williams, for the proverbial "violation of team rules." At least three starters are being outright replaced or taking "reduced roles," effective immediately. With relatively high expectations already teetering on the edge of a cliff again off Zook's third losing season in four years, alumni are not happy.

Among that number is one Dick Butkus, two-time All-American and Heisman Trophy finalist as a center/linebacker, who took a break from lecturing kids on steroids and crushing bricks with his bare hands as stress relief to send a rhetorical schlobberknocker back to his old killing grounds:

Speaking of kids, your alma mater Illinois didn't look so hot this past Saturday. Are you still satisfied with the direction the program is going in?

DB: Do I have to answer that question? I have to admit, I was forced to turn the darn [game] off. ... I was very disappointed. Very disappointed in their effort, not whether they were overmatched or whatever, but their effort left me … I don't understand it. I really don't. Their effort was abysmal.

You would know better than anyone that lack of effort leads back to coaching, does it not?

DB: Well, it could be. It could be. ... I was very disappointed with [Illinois'] effort. Now if you want to equate that to their coaching, fine. I'm three times seven, I'll take the heat for that, but you can't tell me these kids can't get up and try to play hard, even if they're out-manned. I don't get it. Illinois shouldn't be that way.

Discerning fans agree: Illinois shouldn't be that way, and the rapid-fire changes indicate Zook understands how large the would-be gimme with Illinois State looms for his and his team's immediate future: After the Redbirds, Illinois has back-to-back-to-back dates with Big Ten favorites Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State, which from the vantage point of last Saturday's flop and Benn's sketchy status looks like a 1-4 start. If the effort was missing for the opener, even a new Red Grange statue won't save the swoon in morale that would accompany a complete nosedive by mid-October, with Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern and Cincinnati still on tap.

Zook has one winnable game and an off week to patch up whatever was missing in St. Louis, or his over-the-top optimism is in for a lot of cold, silent stares, and not just from Hall-of-Famers and local statues.