The News-Gazette: Illini football just can’t lose these guys
Last year’s Illini football team couldn’t afford the loss of Mikey Dudek.
Based on his freshman season — 76 catches for 1,038 yards — he was the difference between a 5-7 team and one that probably would have reached postseason.
But while the Illini’s erratic wide receivers dropped what might be a record in 61 passes, Dudek watched from the sideline. He would have turned some of those drops into 20-yard gains. He would have made the Illini more dangerous in their oft-rejected red-zone sorties.