CHAMPAIGN — No need for any fake beards at Friday's Illini Quarterback Club luncheon. The guy with the real one was the featured speaker.
Fake beards will given out at today's game as an ode to the third-year coach. Lovie Smith saw his players wearing them earlier in the week.
He laughed. Anything, he said, to bring smiles to their faces.
Smith, athletic director Josh Whitman and senior offensive lineman Nick Allegretti talked to a group of 200 at Champaign's Hawthorn Suites.
The Quarterback Club members saw the fruits of their fundraising efforts. The group bought sports jackets for players and Allegretti wore his.