Nov. 04--CHAMPAIGN -- Illinois tracks mistakes the coaches categorize as "major errors." They include pre-snap penalties, dropped passes and sacks.
The goal is to keep those errors at or below 12 percent, interim coach Bill Cubit said. That has happened only once this season, he said.
"Illini can't hurt Illini," he said.
Illinois must work to eliminate many of the errors before heading to Purdue on Saturday.
Illinois had three pre-snap penalties in last week's 39-0 loss at Penn State.
"Right now we're struggling," Cubit said. "We can't give up yards."
The Illini had five dropped passes by receivers against the Nittany Lions. Cubit counted six, he said, because he included one play on which a receiver could have easily kept his feet inbounds on a catch.
The Illini are up to 46 dropped passes on the season.
"It's a problem," he said. "It keeps cropping up."
Extra motivation: Illinois offensive guard Teddy Karras is motivated by more than the idea of winning the Cannon trophy on Saturday at Purdue in the Big Ten rivalry game. The Indianapolis native has another reason to get pumped.
"It's my home state against guys who didn't offer me (a scholarship), didn't look at me out of high school," he said. "Purdue shocked me in high school, not giving me a look."
sryan@tribpub.com
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