SAN FRANCISCO – Since Oct. 9, the Illinois football team has lost six games, nearly its entire coaching staff and, most recently, academically ineligible Jason Ford and Jake Kumerow. On Saturday, the Illini look to finally pick up a win.

Illinois faces UCLA on Saturday in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl amid an odd mixing of uncertainty and potential for success.

Distractions abound for Illinois, beginning with a coaching transition marred by a rumored potential boycott by outgoing offensive assistant coaches reported by Sports Illustrated. Ford and Kumerow will not take the field, nor will Jay Prosch, out because of a staph infection. It’s been three months since Illinois (6-6) last won a game. Illinois’ opponent, UCLA (6-7), is under direction of an interim head coach (as is Illinois) and was granted an exception by the NCAA to even make its bowl appearance.

Yet Illinois also has the chance to make history in winning the program’s first consecutive bowl games. It can match last season’s 7-6 record that bred optimism following two losing seasons. It can send the seniors out on a high note. And it can do it all on a baseball field in San Francisco.

After a few days of sightseeing, including a trip to Alcatraz and pep rally on Union Square, Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase said the team is ready to focus on the game, Illinois’ last of the season.

“Once you know who you’re gonna play against, you know, we kind of just have to focus in and worry about that, which has been nice,” he said.

Illinois’ offense enters Saturday’s game hoping to erase the bad taste resulting from its struggles during its last six games of the season, when it produced just 17 first-half points.

Senior wide receiver A.J. Jenkins said to expect increased energy on the offensive side of the ball Saturday.

“A lot of big plays early,” he predicted. “Expect a lot of throwing the ball, a lot of not just me, but like a lot of our receivers making plays down the field.”

Since 2002, (when it started as the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl) the scoring record in the Fight Hunger Bowl is 44, set in 2006. UCLA has allowed more points than that six times this season. Illinois’ offense, however, averaged just 11 points in its last six games.

Keeping Illinois close all season has been its seventh-ranked defense. Saturday marks the final game of the season for defensive coordinator and interim head coach Vic Koenning, who accepted a job at North Carolina. It also may be the final game for consensus All-American Whitney Mercilus, who won this year’s Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s top defensive end and may be headed to the NFL.

Mercilus leads the nation in sacks (14.5), sacks per game (1.21) and forced fumbles. He is one forced fumble shy of tying the FBS record of 10, and needs 1.5 more sacks to tie Illinois’ single-season record.

At Friday’s pep rally in front of a few hundred Illini supporters, Mercilus predicted a shutout by the Illini defense against UCLA.

After what started with a promising 6-0 start but ended with a loss to Big Ten bottom-feeder Minnesota, Scheelhaase said Saturday’s game will be dedicated to fired head coach Ron Zook, who recruited Illinois’ current roster.

“I miss him and I know that what happens in this game is definitely going to be a tribute to him and all the success he had with us,” Scheelhaase said.

Possibly advantageous to Illinois will be the location: AT&T Park, home to the San Francisco Giants. Last season, Illinois defeated Northwestern, 48-27, at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Although both teams will once again line up on the same sideline, differing from Illinois’ game in Chicago is that both endzones are open for the taking.

“Hopefully we can be 2-0 on the baseball field,” Scheelhaase said.

_Click on the link for a “photo gallery”:https://www.dailyillini.com/index.php/gallery/battle_of_the_bands_illinois_ucla_marching_bands_perform_at_a_pep_rally_in_union_square_san_francisco of the action leading up to the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl._