At 1-8, the Illinois football team uses every motivation it can get to finish its final three games strong — having fun, spoiling other teams' seasons, getting to sing its fight song when the Illini finally get another win.

This week's motivation? All of the above — and all while being surrounded by pink.

The Illini travel to Iowa City on Saturday to take on the No. 13 Hawkeyes (11 a.m. ESPN-Plus) and their pink visitors locker room in Kinnick Stadium.

"It's kind of hard not to notice. It's all around you," said Illini quarterback Dustin Ward. "It does kind of set the tone that they're not quite respecting you because it's a pink locker room, so it gets you ready to go from the start there."

Ward saw the locker room as a true freshman in 1999, but for many of the young players starting on the injury-ridden Illini squad this week, it will be their first experience with the room. Illinois has not played Iowa since 2000.

"I guess they painted it pink because pink makes people more docile. I don't know how much truth is in that, but I guess we'll find out," said junior center Duke Preston, who makes his first trip to Iowa City. "We're pretty jacked up to get going against those guys anyway, so I guess if a pink locker room can give us a little extra, why not?"

And the Illini might need all the "extra" they can get as they prepare to face a tough Iowa defense with an offensive corps of second and third-stringers as the starters this week.

Here's a look at this week's obstacles, the Hawkeyes:

Look out for...

The possibility of another low-scoring game on Illinois' end.

While the Hawkeyes lost a number of offensive starters from last year's Big Ten Championship team, including quarterback Brad Banks, their defense has allowed them to stay in games this year.

Iowa is second in the Big Ten in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 14.1 points a game — a good match for Illinois, which has scored 17.7 points a game.

The Hawkeyes, which boast the fifth-best rushing defense and ninth-best overall defense in the nation, held Penn State to 38 rushing yards last weekend. It was their sixth opponent in a row to gain less than 75 yards on the ground.

"Defensively, they're really, really good," Illinois head coach Ron Turner said. "Their defense has allowed them to come along offensively and win some games early ... The defense has made the transition (to this year) easier, getting a lot of three-and-outs and getting the ball back."

All of that could spell a rough outing for the Illini, who will likely be without the services of starting running backs E.B. Halsey and Pierre Thomas and starting receivers Lonnie Hurst and Kelvin Hayden.

Rough conference road

Iowa sits in the middle of the Big Ten at 2-2 in conference, but records can be deceiving. The Hawkeyes have arguably one of the toughest schedules in the Big Ten, with road games at the homes of leaders Michigan State (L, 10-20), Ohio State (L, 10-19), Purdue (Nov. 8) and Wisconsin (Nov. 22). And the only two teams Iowa doesn't have to face are bottom-of-the-barrel Indiana and Northwestern.

Luckily for the Hawkeyes, an undefeated non-conference season has kept them bowl-eligible at 6-2 — though their post-season plans likely won't match last year's Orange Bowl berth.

On the flip side

The last time Illinois and Iowa stared each other down at the line of scrimmage, Jon Beutjer was taking the snaps — for the Hawkeyes.

In Iowa's 31-0 loss to the Illini in 2000, Beutjer completed 17 of 32 passes for 173 yards and recorded his first two career interceptions at Memorial Stadium. Illini quarterback Kurt Kittner threw for a career-high 221 yards in the first half.

One year later, Beutjer transferred to Illinois to become Kittner's successor.

The Illini have not played the Hawkeyes in two years, and much to the disappointment of the Iowa fans, Beutjer will miss his first chance to face his former team. He will instead spend the rematch this weekend at home after having back surgery on Wednesday.

Senior Dustin Ward, who provided a small spark in Illinois' loss to Minnesota last week, will likely start in Beutjer's place, and redshirt freshman Chris Pazan could also see time as a backup, Turner said this week.

"It definitely is something we would really like to do for Jon," Ward said. "He's had a tough season, and he was really looking forward to it — his parents had a lot of tickets. You really want to do well for him."

Series standings

Saturday's game will be the 64th meeting of the two schools, with Illinois holding a 37-24-2 all-time advantage. The Illini won the last two matchups in 1999 and 2000.