Big plays ignite Illini; Kittner, Lloyd befuddle Bears.

Byline: Gary Reinmuth

BERKELEY, Calif._In case you were wondering, Brandon Lloyd is back. For the moment so is Illinois' football swagger.

At least if Lloyd has anything to say about it.

"I was so excited just to be out there," said Lloyd. "I think I was more anxious than nervous. I think that's why I had a good game."

Good?

In his first action since sitting out last season with a broken leg, the speedy sophomore game-breaker caught eight passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns as Illinois clobbered California, 44-17, in its season opener Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Cal's defensive game plan was as basic as they come: Stack the line of scrimmage and stop the run.

Bad idea, Lloyd said.

"I mean they put eight, nine players in the box_like a running game is all we had," he added. "We got the impression they didn't respect our passing game. They played me one-on-one all day and I was very surprised. You've got to at least put two guys on me. "

Illinois' rebuilt offensive line gave senior quarterback Kurt Kittner all the time he needed. Well, for the first 30 minutes it did.

"I knew Kittner was a very good quarterback but we didn't get any heat on him," Cal coach Tom Holmoe said. "That's been our trademark. But he had a lot of time and our coverage was just not there. They were just making wide-open catches."

With Kittner completing 13 of his first 21 passes for 237 yards and touchdowns of 49 and 9 yards to Lloyd, the Illini roared to an 38-7 lead at the break. Things didn't go as smoothly after that but Kittner wound up 18 for 34 for 297 yards.

"I got hit a couple of times in the second half," Kittner said. "But that's part of the game. In the second half Cal put a lot of pressure on but I thought overall the line did a good job of protecting me."

Kittner felt in command from the first series.

"I've been around four years and I've seen a lot of things," he said. "I feel like I really prepared well this week and over the summer."

Illinois didn't even try to camouflage its strategy. Kittner threw early and often and the Golden Bears didn't look ready for what hit them. Three of the Illini's first four plays were passes from Kittner to Lloyd.

Illinois' No. 1 pitch-catch combo connected for seven yards on the first play, 28 on the second and an apparent 46-yard touchdown on the third play that was nullified because of a holding call.

"We knew we'd have to throw to move the ball and (Kittner) hit some things early and he put it right on the money," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "He's a very smart, mature football player and I thought he played a great game."

Cal did slow Illinois' running game, holding tailback Antoineo Harris to 65 yards and Rocky Harvey to 11, but Harris still had a career-high three touchdowns on first-half runs of 1, 7 and 2 yards.

Illinois new attacking defense had a pretty good day too in the stat department and an even better day in the big-play department. Cal totaled 167 yards on the ground and 214 through the air and tailback Joe Igber rushed for 116 yards in 21 carries, but the Illini came up with five turnovers: three fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

Including a blocked punt by Dwayne Smith, Illinois converted those turnovers into 24 points (three touchdowns and a field goal).

"Five turnovers is big," said senior safety Bobby Jackson. "Winning the turnover battle is always our No. 1 goal and we achieved that today."

Illinois, however, may have achieved something even bigger. By dominating a Cal team that went in as a slight favorite the Illini appeared to regain some of the swagger they lost during last year's disappointing 5-6 season.

"I think we all have a little bit of a chip on our shoulders after last year," Turner said.

"This entire team has the attitude that we have something to prove; that we're a better team than people expect."

___

(c) 2001, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicago.tribune.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.