ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

Here's the second half of my interview with Illinois senior quarterback Juice Williams. For Part I, click here.

Did you sense anything had changed last week in practice leading up to the big win?

Juice Williams: There haven't been any changes. Guys are still doing the same thing. We're still working hard, still coming to practice with the mindset of going out there and dominating a game. Coach [Ron] Zook didn't change anything. He didn't make all these unnecessary adjustments. We continued to prepare the way we usually do and came out Saturday ready to go. All season long, we've been practicing very well, but something about these Saturdays, we haven't been able to perform. We put everything together finally against Michigan and we came out on top.

It seemed like from the beginning of the season, things didn't fall your way. To have something go your way finally, does it allow guys to be more relaxed? Can you build off of it?

JW: Absolutely. In college football, momentum is huge. That's something I've learned over the last few years. Any time you get things going in the right direction, when the ball tends to bounce your way a little more often, guys tend to make more plays. Hopefully, that momentum that we have right now translates to another win this weekend.

At the beginning of the season, coach Zook said that he wanted you to enjoy your senior season. Is that possible at this point? Are you still able to enjoy yourself?

JW: Absolutely. Even if we go out there and score zero points for the last few games, I'm going to try my best to go out there and have fun, smile, and enjoy the last few days I'm going to have with my friends. College has been a very fun experience. There have been some ups and some downs, but this season has been fun. It could have been better with more wins, but it's been great. I've had a great time playing college football at the University of Illinois, and hopefully I'll be able to finish that on a good note.

You've had such a unique career. Are there one or two lessons that you take away from this whole experience?

JW: The one thing that jumps out to me the most is you've got to be very appreciative in this sport. Everyone's not given the opportunity to go out there and play football on this level, on national TV, playing for a BCS conference. So I've learned to be very appreciative, no matter if you're winning every game or losing every game. Take advantage of the sport, take advantage of the opportunity that you have and just make the most of it, regardless of what's going on around you. And getting a college degree. That's always good to have.