CHAMPAIGN - Until Saturday, weeks of talk about going to a bowl game was just that - a lot of talk.

But after Rashard Mendenhall and Juice Williams led an potent running attack that helped post a 28-17 homecoming victory over Ball State, when Illinois talks about its bowl plans now, it can do so with an air of accomplishment.

It's true, Illinois is not yet 100 percent assured of an invitation. The bowl lineup won't be made official until the first weekend in December, and the Big Ten could have as many as nine bowl-eligible teams. That's more teams than the league's seven bowl partnerships could accommodate. But the conference has a dependable history of finding homes for its bowl-eligible teams. An Illini team that hasn't been bowling since 2001 and a school with a reputation for having fans who travel to bowl sites makes Illinois' participation a pretty good bet.

Illinois became bowl-eligible Saturday when it picked up its sixth victory of the season. With three more games to go, coach Ron Zook's team can now take aim on even higher objectives, as linebacker Antonio Steele pointed out.

"Getting to a bowl game was our main goal this season," Steele said. "But now we're trying to get to the best bowl possible. We're just one step closer.

"Going to a bowl game is great. Going to a great bowl game would be even greater."

It's much too early to say which bowl game might await an Illini team that is 6-3 with games remaining at Minnesota, at Ohio State and at home against Northwestern. Zook hopes the team adds to its victory total and wins its way into an upper-tier game.

"It's important that we've won a sixth game, but there is a long way to go here," Zook said. "Our guys have to understand there's a lot of football to be played. We have three games left, and we have an opportunity to have a special year. Let's not stop here."

Illinois leaned on Mendenhall, Williams and Rejus Benn to produce the offense needed to turn aside Ball State (5-4). Mendenhall carried 28 times for 189 times and scored two touchdowns. He surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, and his current total of 1,113 yards ranks eighth-best all-time.

If Mendenhall continues on his current pace (123.6 yards per game), he will finish the season with 1,484 yards, breaking the record of 1,330 yards set in 2002 by Antoineo Harris.

"I told Rashard in the third quarter, 'Take this team and put it on your back,' " Zook said.

Sure enough, Mendenhall ripped off a 30-yard touchdown run that gave Illinois a 21-10 lead and after Ball State closed in on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Nate Davis to Darius Hill, Illinois padded the lead again with a 3-yard TD run by Williams.

Williams also ran into the Illini record books.

The sophomore quarterback carried 17 times for 99 yards and surpassed the 1,000-yard career rushing mark. Already the school's all-time leading rusher at quarterback, Williams has 1,014 yards in his career, and Saturday marked the third time this season he has rushed for more than 90 yards.

And Williams picked up 145 yards through the air - 97 of it going to freshman Rejus Benn, who now owns the school's freshman receiving record with 556 yards thus far. The previous record-holder was Brandon Lloyd, who had 511 yards in 1999.

It was not a victory loaded with style points, as Zook pointed out. But it's a victory Zook felt Illinois would not have managed in either of the past two seasons, when it was learning a lot more about losing than winning.

"You have to grind out some games, and we ground out this one," Zook said. "It was one of those games where, as a coach, your stomach is in your throat the whole time. There was not a time when you could relax. It was a hard game."

A 2-yard touchdown run by Mendenhall helped stake Illinois to a 7-3 halftime lead and a game many predicted might turn into a shootout had bogged down.

But Illinois did a good job dealing with adversity in the second half and that, along with the running of Mendenhall and Williams, delivered the victory.

Early in the third quarter, Williams tried to throw a swing pass to Mendenhall. The pass was high and it bounced off Mendenhall's hands, directly into the hands of linebacker Mike Dorulla, who went 36 yards for a touchdown that put Ball State on top, 10-7.

"I could have caught it," Mendenhall said, "but I tried to make a cut before I had it."

That might have served as a wakeup call for the Illini. After falling behind, Illinois went 65 yards in seven plays to recapture the lead, 14-10. The drive began with a short pass to Benn, who turned it into a 25-yard gain. And it ended when Williams kept the ball on the option and lunged into the end zone from 10 yards out.

After a Ball State punt, the Illini offense went to work again, this time covering 58 yards in three plays for another touchdown.

Williams' 22-yard scramble gave Illinois a first down on the Ball State 30. From there, Mendenhall ran clear for a 30-yard touchdown.

"It was a wide-open hole," Mendenhall said. "I just had to make one cut and (the defender) got a little bit of me and I started to stumble. But I wouldn't let myself go down. You don't get many chances like that."

Ball State kept the pressure on when Davis threw a touchdown pass to Hill, bringing the Cardinals to within 21-17. But Illinois stayed in quick-strike mode, going 80 yards in five plays for a fourth-quarter touchdown that made it 28-17.

The key play on the drive was a pass from Williams to Benn, who blazed down the field, stiff-armed a defender and covered 56 yards to the Ball State 4-yard line. From there, Williams faked a handoff to Mendenhall and kept it himself for the score.

So now it's on to Minnesota, where Illinois will have a chance to impress the bowl scouts with victory No. 7.

"Getting to a bowl game is important to us seniors," Bloomington safety Justin Harrison said. "But I wouldn't say it's more important than it is for the younger guys. We know there's a legacy we want to pass along, so they know this is what's expected of them. This is what our program is supposed to accomplish every year, not just one year every so often."

Mark Tupper can be reached at mtupper@herald-review.com or 421-7983.