Aug. 16, 2003
The University of Illinois football squad took to Rantoul High School's field under the lights, Saturday night, in front of a crowd of 2,000 loyal fans at the annual mid-training camp scrimmage. The offense put up five scores, including three touchdowns in the effort, while the defense was successful in stops on eight different drives. Newcomers Kelvin Hayden and Marcus Mason top the 100-yard mark for receiving and rushing, respectively.
"I see some thing I like," head coach Ron Turner said. "I think we are flying around, hitting, very aggressive, but we can't give up the big plays. We have to make plays. I think after a week we are right where we need to be. I see a lot of good things as I knew would be the case. There are a lot of things we need to work on. I know these guys will come in tomorrow determined to work on those things and we will show a lot of improvement from now till the next two weeks."
The first-team offense got the scoring going early on with a 50-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jon Beutjer to junior receiver Kelvin Hayden. The play was the sixth of the drive that went 80 yards for the score. Beutjer finished up the day 9-of-13 for 134 yards and one touchdown. Hayden led all receivers with 112 yards on four catches.
Senior backup Dustin Ward also led the offense downfield in 16 plays, but after a sack by linebacker Josh Tischer, kicker John Gockman missed a 41-yard field goal. During the drive, Ward connected with sophomore fullback Jason Davis for a 20-yard catch and 15 yards rushing.
In the next series, Beutjer set up a 28-yard Gockman field goal with 4-of-5 passing, including catches of 16 and 26 yards by true-freshman Lonnie Hurst. The defense got stops on each of the next two drives, staying on the field for seven total plays.
Back up quarterback Chris Pazan led a scoring drive highlighted by a stunning 46-yard run by true-freshman running back Marcus Mason. True-freshman E.B. Halsey took the next play two-yards for the touchdown. Mason rushed for 106 yards on nine carries in his debut.
After another defense three-and-out, Gockman kicked a 42-yard field goal in a 10 play drive led by freshman Tim Brasic. The defense buckled down with three more stops, including a forced fumble by defensive tackle Bryan Truttling. It wasn't until the final drive of the scrimmage that the offense got on the board again with a three-yard run by true-freshman Pierre Thomas.
Defensively it was the linebackers as sophomore Antonio Mason recorded a scrimmage-high nine tackles with a forced fumble. Senior Winston Taylor had six tackles and two sacks, while Tischer racked up six with a sack of his own.
The Illini return to action on Mon., Aug. 18 for two practices at 8:40 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. in Rantoul.
CAMP RANTOUL SCRIMMAGE STATISTICS
Scoring Summary
Drive - Scoring Drive (Plays-Yds)
1st - Hayden 50 yard rec. from Beutjer (Gockman good) 6-80
3rd - Gockman 28 yard FG, 11-69
6th - Halsey 2 yard run (Gockman good) 5-70
8th - Gockman 40 yard FG, 10-50
13th - Thomas 3 yard run (Tubbs good) 11-65
** Halsey 14 yard run in two-minute drill
Rushing
Player (No. -Yds. -TD -Long)
Mason (9 -106 -0 -46)
Halsey (11 -32 -1 -6)
Thomas (8 -60 -1 -18)
Virgil (6 -20 -0 -5)
J. Davis (4- 41 -0 -25)
Grzelakowski (4 -18 -0 -5)
C. Davis (3 -7 -0 -9)
Passing
Player Att. Comp. Yds TD INT Long
Beutjer (13 -9 -134 -1 -0 -50)
Ward (9 -4 -36- 0 -0 -20)
Pazan (3 -2 -38 -0 -0 -21)
Brasic (11 -7 -55 -0 -0 -14)
Receiving
Player No. Yds. TD Long
Hayden (4 -112 -1 -50)
Hurst (2 -42 -0 -26)
Splant (2 -16 -0 -9)
Bryant (1 -14 -0 -14)
Adeyemo (1 -21 -0 -21)
Payne (1 -17 -0 -17)
J. Davis (1 -12 -0 -12)
Jones (1 -8 -0 -8)
Grzelakowski (1 -14 -0 -14)
Boyter (1 -6 -0 -6)
Kornfeld (1 -3 -0 -3)
Lenti (1 -6 -0 -6)
Halsey (1 -3 -0 -3)
Virgil (1 -1 -0 -1)
Defense
Player Tackles
Antonio Mason - 9 (1FF)
Winston Taylor - 6 (2 Sacks)
Josh Tischer - 6 (1 Sack)
Alan Ball - 6 (2 PBU)
Kyle Kleckner - 5
Brian Brosnan - 5
Mike Imeokparia - 5
Travis Williams - 5
