Last year, Illinois was Rashard Mendenhall’s team. The soft-spoken tailback’s 1,681 yards was tops in the Big Ten last season, and the single biggest reason the Illini surprised the conference with a 9-4, second-place finish that landed them i
Last year, Illinois was Rashard Mendenhall’s team.
The soft-spoken tailback’s 1,681 yards was tops in the Big Ten last season, and the single biggest reason the Illini surprised the conference with a 9-4, second-place finish that landed them in the Rose Bowl.
“Thank God for Rashard Mendenhall; he would carry this team a lot last year,” junior quarterback Juice Williams said. “But now he’s gone.”
When Mendenhall decided to skip his senior season for an NFL pay day, he left the Illini in Williams’ hands.
And fourth-year head coach Ron Zook, the man who talked Williams into coming to Champaign, believes his quarterback is ready.
“He understands now, we kept a lot of pressure off him the last two years,” Zook said. “But a couple weeks ago, I said ‘Juice, it’s time for you to take it over’.
“It is his team, and it is his offense.”
Last year, Williams’ contribution to that offense was an impressive 755 yards rushing– second on the team and tops among Big Ten quarterbacks–but an anemic 1,743 yards through the air, 134,1 a game.
And that was usually enough, as long as the Illini had the reliable Mendenhall chipping in his steady 130-or-so a game.
Now, whether his absence means the Illini will throw the ball more remains to be seen.
Williams says he’s preparing to throw the ball 40 times a game if need be, double last season’s average. And his top receiver, Arrelious Benn, joked with reporters before the start of preseason training that Illinois will be a passing team.
But offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, the architect of Illinois’ run-oriented spread offense, thinks otherwise, sort of.
“Who we’ve been the last two years and three years, I don’t see us changing,” he said.
Then again, when defenses shut down Illinois outside running game the way USC did in its 49-17 Rose Bowl win, “We need to throw the ball and not have to always force or find runs to try to create, to try to move the chains.”
Benn may be Illinois’ most dangerous weapon. Just a sophomore, he was voted the Big Ten’s top freshman last year after catching 54 balls for 676 yards and two touchdowns. He also returned 10 kicks, including one for a touchdown, and Zook says he’ll return more this year.
He’ll be joined by four or even five other receivers who play regularly, Locksley has said. The pecking order behind Benn is still to be determined but will certainly include 6’5, 251-pound Jeff Cumberland. The junior moved to receiver from tight end in the middle of last season and had a 131-yard game against Northwestern.
Illinois isn’t likely to have one dominant back this season, if for no other reason than Locksley says he’d like to play two regularly.
The No. 1 back is Daniel Dufrene, a 5’11, 201-pound junior who rushed for 294 yards on 47 carries last season. Close behind him are redshirt freshman Troy Pollard, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, and true freshmen Mikel LeShoure and Jason Ford.
Three lineman who started all 13 games for Illinois are back: right guard Jon Asamoah, a 6’5, 309-pound junior; center Ryan McDonald, a 6’5, 296-pound senior; and left tackle Xavier Fulton, who moved to offense from defense before last season.
Fulton was a second-team All Big Ten selection last year after missing all of 2006 with a knee injury. His move to offense was a project, but Zook says the 6’5, 300-pound Fulton turned it into a success.
“Xavier’s a smart guy,” Zook said. “He’s done everything from the weight gain to the strength gain we’ve asked him to do… He’ll be better this year than he was last year.”
Illinois lost several key pieces of a defense that gave up 376 yards a game last fall, middle of the pack in the Big Ten. Chief among the losses were linebacker J Leman, the team tackles leader, and safeties Kevin Mitchell and Justin Harrison.
Junior cornerback Vontae Davis, who had four interceptions last fall, anchors the secondary now.
He started strong last season, then struggled late in the year, and again during spring practice. And he heard about it from Zook.
“He just wants me to like approach everyday like it’s actually a game situation – practice or anything,” said Davis.
AP
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