It's not exactly the most covered quarterback controversy in the country, in fact most didn't even realize there was one, but the Illini had a question to answer this week. After Juice Williams was knocked out of Illinois' season opening loss to Missouri, his backup Eddie McGee came in and played pretty well. Nearly leading the Illini to victory in the fourth quarter.McGee's performance had many Illinois fans wondering if maybe Juice Williams was the right man for the job. McGee appeared to be more accurate, and could move just as well as Juice. The problem was McGee's Grossman-like tendency to commit turnovers at the worst times.
He had one fumble at the goal line that Missouri safety Pig Lewis returned 100 yards for a touchdown. Then, in the fourth quarter, as the Illini were driving to take the lead McGee threw a game ending interception.
All of which means that Juice Williams isn't going to lose his job.
"Juice got his eye dinged up, but he's fine,'' Zook said. "He had as good a practice (Monday) as he has all summer. There's no problem there.''However, that doesn't mean that this possible controversy has been squashed.
Zook said Williams will play Saturday against Western Illinois despite a solid effort by backup Eddie McGee against Missouri.
