Award-winning camp nearly complete for Illini
RANTOUL — You get the feeling Ron Zook doesn’t shed tears often, but the last day of Camp Rantoul might serve as one of his exceptions.
After spending two weeks in blissful football-filled isolation 16 miles north of Memorial Stadium — a place several players refer to as “Rantucky” — Zook and the Illini drive back to campus after a 10 a.m. scrimmage Saturday.
“School. Girls,” Zook said Friday, listing some of the distractions awaiting in Champaign.
Fortunately, from Zook’s perspective, there have been few females and no classes on the former Chanute Air Force Base for the last fortnight.
“We got an awful lot of work done,” Zook said. “We got as much accomplished as we possibly could.”
Though Saturday’s scrimmage certainly matters, what with just two more weeks until the Arkansas State opener, it’s not too soon to hand out some Camp Rantoul awards.
Using the expertise of our impromptu voting panel (offensive coordinator Paul Petrino, defensive coordinator Vic Koenning, senior middle linebacker Ian Thomas and sophomore QB Nathan Scheelhaase), here we go:
Most Dedicated, Offense: Scheelhaase
“He’s always out here,” Petrino said. “He’s always giving everything he’s got. (Senior tackle) Jeff Allen and (senior guard) Jack Cornell have been right there with him, but Nathan would probably nudge them out by a little bit.”
Most Improved, Offense: Sophomore WR Darius Millines
“He didn’t get a chance to go through spring with a foot injury and has come out in camp and made a lot of big plays for us,” Scheelhaase said. “I would kind of go with him and (sophomore WR) Spencer (Harris). They’ve made big play after big play. Made catches when they needed to. Haven’t had many drops. Haven’t had many missed assignments. It’s been great to have that.”
Most Consistent, Defense: Senior cornerback Tavon Wilson. Thomas termed him a shutdown guy. Wilson, who started at safety last year, shifts to the nickel in passing downs.
Most Surprising, Defense: Freshman LB Henry Dickinson. He’s so surprising, Thomas didn’t even know his name even as he nominated his potential backup at MLB for the award.
“No. 48,” Thomas said. “He has shown a lot.”
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound rookie from Memphis started camp at weak-side linebacker, but moved into the middle within the last week after sophomore Brandon Denmark didn’t play consistently.
Dickinson and fellow freshman Ralph Cooper are battling to be Thomas’ backup, which is no small thing because Thomas has missed some practices due to chronic injuries and new dings.
Most Important, Team: The offensive line
Allen, Cornell, junior center Graham Pocic and junior guard Hugh Thornton are four quality starters — with Allen and Pocic boasting all-Big Ten potential.
Redshirt freshman Michael Heitz seems like he’ll be the opening-day starter at strong tackle.
“The group that has looked the strongest on offense (or) defense has been the offensive line,” Scheelhaase said. “They came out and battled every day. It’s been really exciting to see their performance. It makes you feel confident as a quarterback when you have an offensive line that’s working like that.”
Scheelhaase made a point after Friday’s practice to tell the linemen the Illini will go as the line goes this season.
Most Impressive Spin, Individual: Scheelhaase on SI.com’s Stewart Mandel pegging Illinois for a 1-7 record and last place in the Leaders Division:
“I heard that the other day and it is what it is. That ranking is probably a little higher than what people ranked us last year, so maybe we’re getting a little more respect.”