April 14, 2001

University of Illinois senior quarterback Kurt Kittner threw three touchdown passes to lead the Blue Team over the Orange Team, 48-6, in front of a crowd of 8,100 at the annual Orange and Blue Spring game, Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

In his only half of play, Kittner connected on 16-of-19 (.842) passing for 232 yards which included touchdown passes to sophomores Brandon Lloyd, Dwayne Smith and Carey Davis. On the first play from scrimmage for the Blue Team, Kittner hit Lloyd for a 47-yard touchdown to give the squad a 7-0 lead. The Blue defense responded to its second test with a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown by sophomore cornerback Christian Morton. Smith caught an eight-yard touchdown from Kittner at 6:24 in the first quarter and fullback Davis ran for a 10-yard touchdown to round out the 28-point first quarter for the Blue Team.

The Illini's big-play defense showed signs of its explosiveness with three interceptions in the game. Following Morton's pick, senior free safety Muhammad Abdullah picked off quarterback Dustin Ward for a 14-yard return and senior strong safety intercepted Mark Kornfeld in the fourth quarter. Junior linebacker Jerry Schumacher led the Blue defense with seven tackles, one for loss, while Morton had six tackles and two passes broken up. Jackson recorded five tackles and a sack.

Sophomore placekickers JJ Tubbs and Peter Christofilakos got the Orange team on the board with a pair of field goals. Tubbs hit a 23 yard attempt with 9:56 in the second half and Christofilakos nailed a 41-yarder with time running out in the first half.

Lloyd led all receivers with 79 yards on four catches and a touchdown, followed by Smith with four catches for 65 yards and Greg Lewis with 59 yards. Junior running back Antoineo Harris rushed for 92 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns, while sophomore Brad Haywood led the Orange Team with 52 yards on 11 carries.

An annual tradition at the Illinois spring game, most improved players on offense, defense and special teams are honored with The Bresee Awards at halftime. The Bresee Award for offense went to wide receiver Dwayne Smith, defense went to defensive end Derrick Strong and special teams was awarded to placekicker Peter Christofilakos.

SCORING SUMMARY Team Q Time Scoring Play Score Blue 1 10:55 Lloyd 47 pass from Kittner (Tubbs good) 7-0 Blue 1 10:40 Morton 39 interception return (Christofilakos good) 14-0 Blue 1 6:24 Smith 8 pass from Kittner (Tubbs good) 21-0 Blue 1 2:23 Davis 10 run (Christofilakos good) 28-0 Orange 2 9:56 Tubbs 23 field goal 28-3 Blue 2 5:44 Harris 4 run (kick blocked) 34-3 Blue 2 0:17 Davis 1 pass from Kittner (Tubbs good) 41-3 Orange 2 0:00 Christofilakos 41 field goal 41-6 Blue 3 4:25 Harris 5 run (King kick good) 48-6

Blue Team Rushing No. Yds TD Long Harris 11 92 2 18 Davis 4 21 1 10

Passing Att. Comp Yds. TD INT Kittner 19 16 232 3 0 Ward 15 9 101 0 0

Receiving No. Yds TD Long Lloyd 4 79 1 31 Smith 4 65 1 48 Lewis 3 59 0 35 Harris 3 31 0 32 Davis 3 23 0 17 Hodges 2 16 0 11 Young 2 13 0 9

Defense Schumacher 7, 1 TFL-3 Morton 6, 2 PBU, 1 INT-39 (TD) B. Jackson 5, SACK-12, INT

Orange Team Rushing No. Yds TD Long Haywood 11 52 0 13 Mullen 4 9 0 3

Passing Att. Comp Yds. TD INT Ward 17 4 28 0 2 Kornfeld 11 6 33 0 1

Receiving No. Yds TD Long Moorehead 3 30 0 12 Haywood 3 13 0 7 Allan 1 6 0 6 Adeyemo 2 9 0 5 McClellan 1 3 0 3

Defense Piazza 10 Anderson 6 Clark 6, PBU Agyeman 5