Williams exits with injury but should be ready for WIU
ST. LOUIS -- Though he termed Juice Williams as "day to day," Ron Zook expects the sophomore quarterback to be healthy for Saturday's home opener against Western Illinois.
Williams left Illinois' 40-34 loss to Missouri for good with 10:15 left in the second quarter.
While running a keeper to the right, Williams was hit high from behind in the helmet by linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and then almost immediately in the helmet from the front by cornerback Hardy Ricks.
Williams stayed down for a few minutes and appeared to have a concussion, but Zook didn't believe that to be the case.
"Actually, what happened was his helmet came down and hit (above) his (right) eye in there," Zook said. "It may be more of a bad bruise and then his eye kind of swelled up a little bit and he was having some vision problems. It's all cleared up now."
Williams completed 6 of 9 passes for 59 yards and rushed six times for 11 yards before he suffered his first game-ending injury as a collegian.
Redshirt freshman Eddie McGee played the rest of the way and hit 17 of 31 passes for 257 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.
Rejus and Co.: True freshman Arrelious Benn led the Illini in receiving with 5 catches for 74 yards. That included a spectacular leaping grab in which he had to outfight defensive backs Darnell Terrell and Pig Brown for the ball.
Benn had to sit out a few plays after that due to hamstring cramps. Teammates Kevin Mitchell and Vontae Davis were among the other Illini who missed action due to cramps.
"I didn't really have any other problems," Benn said. "I just need to get more fluids before the game."
Eight other true freshmen made the trip to the Edward Jones Dome, but slot receiver Brian Gamble (4 catches, 48 yards), dime back Bo Flowers, special-teamer Martez Wilson (1 tackle) and special-teamer Nate Bussey (2 tackles) were the only ones who played.
Punting game: During pregame warmups, Wauconda's Anthony Santella learned that he earned the nod to be Illinois' punter.
The redshirt freshman walk-on, who transferred from Utah before the spring semester, delivered 6 punts for a 37.7-yard average. Two wound up inside the 20-yard line as he finished with a 36.3-yard net average.
Sophomore incumbent Kyle Yelton punted once in the third quarter. Jeremy Maclin returned his dying 39-yard punt for a 66-yard touchdown.
Why did Zook switch punters on that singular occasion?
"As I've said all along, there's not one guy that has taken the job," he said. "Until I look at it on tape, I still don't feel like one guy has taken the job.
"The one thing I was a little concerned (about) was they may try to come after it. I want to make sure we get the ball off and that's one thing Kyle's good at. He has the better get-off time."