It may have ultimately been a win, but the Illini’s overall performance against Louisiana-Lafayette last week isn’t sitting well. Fortunately, there will be an extra week to forget about it.

Before Big Ten play opens on the road against Penn State on Sept. 27, Illinois has an open week in the schedule, something that has not happened since the 1996 season. Ron Zook said he has lobbied for a bye week since becoming head coach.

“It’s not only necessary in my opinion, it’s smart,” Zook said. “These guys are under academic pressure, they’re under athletic pressure. You’re seeing more and more freshmen playing and that’s harder and harder for them, and they need a little break.”

This week’s practice, however, is anything but a breather after the events of last weekend. What was expected to be little more than a confidence building matchup turned into a three-point nail biter. The Illini mustered only one offensive touchdown against the Ragin’ Cajuns, and a late field goal from Matt Eller was necessary to avert disaster.

Some questioned the Illini’s apparent lack of emotion in a game widely considered to be a throwaway. To keep his players focused, Zook promised to “turn the wick up” during the off-week.

“We’ve turned it up, and they’ve responded extremely well,” Zook said. “We’ll come out in full pads, knock each other around a little bit and get better.”

Even early in the week, linebacker Martez Wilson said he could see a difference in the team’s attitude and how the coaches were running practice. Wilson had six total tackles and one sack last week.

“It was a lot more aggressive. We were moving faster, the offense came out ready and defensively, we were running to the ball, so the tempo was there. We’ve just got to have that every practice,” Wilson said.

While Illinois has yet to record a high-profile win this season, the Illini remain in the top 25 of both major polls and can climb the standings with a win over the Nittany Lions. Last year, a win over Penn State started the biggest single-season turnaround in college football.

Making sure history repeats itself this season rests heavily on the team’s intensity level, Zook said.

“I don’t know how good we can be. I think we’re a better team, but I don’t know what that means,” Zook said. “If we don’t go out there and play hard, if we don’t go out there and fly around, play with emotion, it doesn’t make any difference. It’ll be a long year.”