Illini hope for rebirth
By Ryan Rodriguez
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It’s been quite an off-season for Illinois football.
With all of the white noise and media fanfare that has come along for the ride since allegations of head coach Tim Beckman’s abuse of players earlier in his time at Illinois were made public, a lot of attention has focused on Illinois, and for good reason.
Should these allegations have some truth to them, it could dramatically alter the way the NCAA handles coach-player relationships in football for years to come. At Big Ten media days in July, it was virtually all Beckman was asked about.
And though he tried to steer the conversation toward it, Beckman was not asked nearly as much about the state of his football team, a program which has hovered between mediocre and embarrassing for the past four years.
Charges or no charges, remedying these on-field woes of the past few seasons is still at the top of his mind.
“You know, we’re focused right now on a 2015 football team,” Beckman said. “We took off from last year after a great end of the year. And we’ve been focused since January on becoming a better football program. The philosophy that we continue to use is what these football players believe in football.”
A strong passing game will likely form the bread and butter of the Illini offense, as junior QB Wes Lunt will try to build on a successful but injury-riddled sophomore season in which he threw 14 touchdowns and three picks.
In fact, Lunt could be a real bright spot on a team that was near the bottom of every statistical category in the Big Ten last season with the exception of passing offense — the Illini ranked second behind only Michigan State.
A rejuvenated offensive line that returns three starters, including guard Teddy Karras, will be key to giving Lunt enough time to make decisions through the air.
“We really put our nose down and probably had the best summer since I’ve been here,” Karras said. “I feel we’ve underachieved, and we all want to win games for Illinois and for Coach Beckman.”
A clean bill of health will be a huge factor for Illinois, as it is with every team, especially with receiver Mike Dudek still rehabbing an ACL injury he sustained in the off-season.
“We have the best depth we have had since I have been here, and I believe we have the best talent we have had,” Beckman said. “We have several key guys working through injuries, and getting them back will be important to our football team, but we are better-equipped to deal with what we face than we have been.‘’
Injuries have been a problem for the Illini for a few years now, with key member of the offense seemingly always banged up.
“At the end of the day, there are always going to be injuries in football, and we understand that,” running back Josh Ferguson said. “Guys just have to step up. All we can do is play football and go to school.”
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