Headlinin': Zook loses the locals

• Death rattles. The Champaign News-Gazette is still running a fun "Whack-a-Hoosier" ad today, although sponsor Village Inn Pizza would surely do a lot better if it ran a "Whack-a-Zook" ad instead after Illinois' 27-14 loss at Indiana dropped Illinois to 1-5, 0-4 in the Big Ten and, with Purdue's upset over Ohio State, left the Illini as the sole occupants of the conference cellar. In lieu of incendiary ads, longtime News-Gazette columnist Loren Tate landed his own haymaker on the head coach for Illini fans everywhere: It's broke. And coach Ron Zook has no idea how to fix it. A team with ample returnees from 2008, when the Illini ripped Indiana 55-13, is floundering in Zook's briar patch. They've been outscored 116-45 in four conference losses, and most UI points came after the games were decided. [...] It is only the middle in the season, but we've reached the jumping-off point. And so, as athletic director Ron Guenther motored home ...