April 14, 2004
Illinois' football team wrapped up its second to last practice before Saturday's spring game with a 37-play scrimmage today at Memorial Stadium. In the scrimmage, the Illini defense forced two turnovers, an interception by redshirt freshman linebacker J Leman and a fumble recovery by defensive lineman Arthur Boyd, while the offense scored once, on a four-yard pass from Jon Beutjer to wide receiver Kendrick Jones. On the day, Beutjer was 8-of-14 for 127 yards and the touchdown.
REUNITED: Illinois' 1953 Big Ten title winning team, which went 7-1-1, will be holding a reunion this weekend and will be recognized prior to the start of the spring game. Star halfback J.C. Caroline, who will be an honorary coach Saturday, rushed for 1,285 yards and led the nation en route to finishing seventh in the Heisman voting. He will represent the team, which tied for the Big Ten title with Michigan State, and ran off a six-game win streak.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD: With the graduation of John Gockman and JJ Tubbs, the Illinois special team will be looking for a replacement placekicker. If sophomore punter/kicker Steve Weatherford gets awarded duties, as he has been handling throughout the spring, he will be joining a group of five Illini who have combined for an NCAA-long 189 extra point streak. This spring he has connected on 7-of-8 extra point attempts and a 32-yard field goal.
"Steve has been doing a very good job this spring," head coach Ron Turner. "He is an athlete and will do anything he can to help this football team."
SCRIMMGE STATISTICS
Scoring Summary:
5th drive: Kendrick Jones four-yard pass from Jon Beutjer (Steve Weatherford kick good)
Passing (Comp.-Att.-Yards-TD's-INT's)
Jon Beutjer (8-14-127-1-0)
Tim Brasic (2-3-14-0-0)
Chris Pazan (1-2-7-0-1)
Rushing (Att.-Yards)
E.B. Halsey (5-16)
Brock Bolen (3-8)
Jason Davis (2-8)
Pierre Thomas (2-6)
Brian Grzelakowski (1-(-2))
Receiving (Rec.-Yards-TD's)
Pierre Thomas (3-38-0)
Brian Grzelakowski (2-12-0)
Ade Adeyemo (1-42-0)
Lonnie Hurst (1-28-0)
Franklin Payne (1-10-0)
E.B. Halsey (1-7-0)
Kendrick Jones (1-4-1)
Defense- Tackles-Misc.
J Leman -5, INT
Matt Sinclair -5
Sharriff Abdullah -4, TFL
Mike Gawelek -4
Kyle Kleckner -2, PBU
Morris Virgil -2, PBU
Alan Ball -2
Bryan Truttling -2
Kelvin Hayden -2
Arthur Boyd -FR
