Dudek suffers knee injury in Illini practice

After a standout freshman season, Illini wide receiver Mike Dudek of Naperville will miss the start of the 2015 season and have knee surgery to repair a torn ACL.

Dudek, a Neuqua Valley grad who earned freshman All-American honors last season, suffered the injury during a non-contact drill at practice Wednesday morning, Illini officials announced.

"This is very disappointing for Mikey, his family and our football program," said Illinois head football coach Tim Beckman. "He'll have the knee surgically repaired as soon as possible and the doctors feel like he could return to the field in October. Knowing how hard Mikey works, our biggest challenge will be to keep him on pace and not let him push it too hard and too fast."

Dudek, a 5-foot-11 and 185-pound wideout, broke school freshman records with 76 catches for 1,038 yards in his inaugural campaign, totals that rank fifth and seventh, respectively, on the Fighting Illini single-season lists. He also tied with College Football Hall of Famer David Williams for the UI freshman receiving touchdowns record with six.

Dudek was the Big Ten's top receiver during conference play, posting 50 catches for 716 yards (89.5 yards per game) and three TDs in eight league games.