The Wiz of Odds

Meyer Wasn't Taking a Shot at Zook, Was He?*

*Updated: Meyer now says he never intended to criticize Zook.

Urban Meyer has had little to complain about since becoming Florida's coach in 2005. He has won two Bowl Championship Series titles, including one with a roster stacked with veteran players recruited by his predecessor, Ron Zook.

But on Friday, Meyer — without mentioning Zook by name — appeared to take a shot at the Illinois coach.

David Jones of Florida Today writes that Meyer was asked a question about how he handles players having arguments on the field and in the locker room.

"When we first got here five years ago, they had freshmen in a separate locker room and it was a bunch of tin lockers over there and they weren't allowed to walk [into the regular locker room]. Think about this for a minute: this is a big-time college football program and we had some fights because they treat their freshman like they were non-people," Meyer said.

" 'Don't walk through here, we'll kick your tail, we'll shave your eyebrows.' It took us awhile to break that great culture we had here. That was tremendous. You don't win many games, but you beat up freshmen and shave eyebrows. Absolutely unbelievable."

Illinois

Illinois is coming off a surprising 9-4 season that included a trip to the Rose Bowl, but can the Zooker keep it rolling? Consider that the Fighting Illini, who lost running back Rashard Mendenhall, haven't put together back-to-back winning seasons since 1989-90. Defenses will be loading up to stop quarterback Juice Williams, who will have to develop a passing touch. Illinois opens Aug. 30 against Missouri in the Arch Rivalry game in St. Louis. Thanks to Victor.