Last week Oklahoma State ran all over UCLA – literally.

The Bruins allowed 426 rushing yards to Oklahoma State en route to the team’s 31-20 loss.

And that’s a good thing for the Illini who came off their first win of the season, out-rushing Florida A&M; 296 to 71 yards on the ground.

This week, Illinois hopes to have the same advantage, and the Bruins know Illinois has a good running game led by sophomore running backs EB Halsey and Pierre Thomas.

But, as much as UCLA is worried about Illinois’ running game, it is equally aware of quarterback Jon Beutjer.

“They have a very balanced offense and they ran the ball very effectively last week in their opener, and they can throw the ball as well as anyone too,” said UCLA coach Karl Dorrell. “It’s a bigger challenge for us because this is a team that has an experienced quarterback that’s a talented player and can move the football in the air. And they have a very good run game that can generate the offense from that point too. So that’s going to be a great challenge for our defense this week.”

UCLA returns 13 starters from the 6-6 team last season, including eight on offense and five on defense. Despite the five returnees on defense, the Bruins are suffering the loss of four starting defensive linemen in Dave Ball, unanimous All-American end, Mat Ball, Ryan Boschetti and Rodney Leisle. The team also lost linebacker Brandon Chillar – the Pac 10’s leading tackler – and a three-year starter, cornerback Matt Ware.

“I think we have some inexperience in our defensive line … but we are going to improve and our experience will get better and better as the season continues,” Dorrell said. “We all have to be on the same page with what we are doing and make the adjustments that are needed.

“Sometimes you do get beat. Sometimes they execute and plays happen and it’s a positive game for the offense. We need to restrict that as much as we can. We are going to work on the issues that we can control, which is for us to play better and to play more sound and to understand what we are trying to do defensively. We know we are going to have improvement from last week.”

UCLA’s downfall against Oklahoma State wasn’t just the inexperienced defensive line. The offense gave up four turnovers, including two in the red zone. Junior quarterback Drew Olson completed 16-of-36 passes for 252 yards but had two interceptions in the fourth quarter on tipped passes. His 57-yard pass play to Maurice Drew in the fourth quarter was the longest of his career.

Coach Darrell saw the Illinois game and was impressed with the team on offense and defense.

“It seemed like they were playing very much inspired and played hard,” Darrell said. “I was impressed with the offense and how efficient the quarterback was. He’s a great player; he’s a guy that makes great decisions and generates the offense to move forward. Defensively, they shut down a team that is kind of a wide-open team. They did a great job with the coverages and mixing up blitzing and confusing the quarterback and not giving up any big plays. This will be a great challenge for our guys this week.”