Illinois Football Begins Home Stretch Of Training Camp
August 21, 2002 | Football
Aug. 21, 2002
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois football team continued its preseason workouts with an afternoon practice at the Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Ill. Just three practices remain for the Illini at Camp Rantoul before they return to Champaign and begin preparation for the season-opening tilt vs. Missouri in St. Louis.
The Illinois running game was impressive during the workout thanks to the efforts of Antoineo Harris. The senior from Bolingbrook, Ill., made a series of nice runs including one in a short-yardage situation that saw him shed one tackler and break free for a long run to the endzone.
Today's Position Feature:
One of the strongest positions returning for Illinois this year should be at place kicker where Groza Award semifinalist and All-Big Ten selection Peter Christofilakos returns along with John Gockman and JJ Tubbs. While the starting position is still up for grabs among the three talented kickers, if the 2001 season was any indicator, the position will be in good hands this season.
Peter Christofilakos is Illinois' most potent threat within 40 yards. Last season, the Springfield, Ill., native was 12-of-13 on field goal attempts and made all-29 of his point-after tries. That field goal percentage of 92.3 percent is also tops among kickers all-time at Illinois.
The long field goal specialist last season was John Gockman. As a sophomore, Gockman connected on 5-of-7 attempts including two kicks over 50 yards. His 52-yard kick in the Big Ten Championship clincher vs. Northwestern was the sixth longest kick in school history.
One of the more versatile special teams performers is JJ Tubbs. Tubbs entered the 2001 season as the starting kicker and made 5-of-8 kicks in the first-three games. However, if Tubbs doesn't win the starting placekicking job, he will still be the team's starting holder on field goals and point-after attempts.
"These guys have all had great camps," assistant coach Greg McMahon said. "They each go out there everyday and push each other to make themselves better. It's a competitive situation just like with at quarterback and I feel comfortable that each of them could go out there and do the job well."
Tomorrow's Practices:
Illinois will have a pair of workouts on Thursday, with one being held at 8:30 a.m. and another scheduled for 3:30 p.m. As always, fans are welcome to attend both practices.
