April 9, 2003
The University of Illinois football team returned to spring workouts, Monday afternoon for a two-hour session under the sunny skies at Memorial Stadium. The practice included over 40 minutes of team work in full pads.
RAISING MONEY FOR A GOOD CAUSE: A cause very close to the heart of head coach Ron Turner is the plight of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Turner lost his mother to MS and recently his sister was also diagnosed with the debilitating disease. Last Sunday, Turner formed a team of over 100 friends and community members to join in the annual MS Walk. "Turner's Friends Against MS" and over 250 in the Champaign-Urbana area raised $25,000. That number could still change with more donations accepted until May 6. Turner has also been very instrumental in raising money for the MS Society through the "Scoring Against MS" program where dollars are pledged for every point the Illinois football team scores in a season. The seven-year program has totaled over $600,000 for suffers of the disease.
SCRIMMAGE SET FOR SATURDAY: After a very successful scrimmage last weekend, the Illinois squad will once again put on the pads and battle it out during this Saturday's session. The Illini will take to the Memorial Stadium turf at 9:45 a.m. and begin 11-on-11 work at approximately 10:25 a.m. The practice is open to the public.
SCOUTING THE QUARTERBACKS: Head Coach Ron Turner searched for consistency from the quarterback position for most of the season and found it with the late-season surge of Jon Beutjer. Beutjer, who led the Big Ten with 228.3 yards per game through the air, settled into the starting role the final three games of the season and helped make the Illinois offense one of the more potent in school history (5,300 yards).
In his seven starts, Beutjer averaged better than 300 yards a game passing while connecting on 21 touchdown passes. His completion rating in those starts were also an astounding 62 percent. Beutjer also enjoyed three 300+ yard-passing days, including 305 yards against eventual national champion Ohio State and 426 yards against Arkansas State. The 426-yard performance was the fourth best passing day in Illinois history and broke the Memorial Stadium record.
Illinois also boasts a capable backup in Dustin Ward. Ward started five games in 2001 including the season-opener vs. Missouri and led Illinois to Big Ten wins over Purdue and Indiana. Ward showed impressive moxy in the come-from-behind win over the Boilers by hitting 6-of-9 passes for 58 yards in the game's final drive to knot the game at 31-31. Ward also won the game in overtime with a seven-yard strike to Greg Lewis.
Also gaining valuable experience this spring are redshirt-freshmen Chris Pazan and Tim Brasic. Both have been getting reps with in Turner's pro-style offense and worked in the first scrimmage of the spring season with the second-team offense.
