Tate: Fullbacks at Illinois? Count two of them

Justin Hardee post practice Aug. 6, 2016» moreOut of a clear, blue sky, No. 39 caught the Illini defense off guard in practice last week. Taking a quick handoff, he rambled into the heart of the secondary.

Whoa there, coach, what was the fullback doing with the ball under his arm? Or, rather, why was a fullback on the field in the first place?

The answer in 2016 is that Lovie Smith and his coordinator, Garrick McGee, want to run the football. And it helps to have a 240-pound lead blocker in there, a junior like Nathan Echard who can catch the defense by surprise with a burst up the middle.

Jay Prosch was the last Illini with pure fullback qualifications. The hard-blocking Alabaman carved the…