Meet some of the lesser-known Illini

As Illinois football fans bask in the glory of an unexpected renaissance -- at least unexpected this soon into Ron Zook's tenure -- it's easy to look around Memorial Stadium and figure out their favorites.

As the Illini wrapped up Saturday's 31-26 upset of fifth-ranked Wisconsin, some fans celebrated by twirling their homemade "MENDENHALL 4 HEISMAN" T-shirts in the air.

Far more brandished their No. 7 jerseys that honor quarterback Juice Williams, similar to the way everyone in the Assembly Hall seemed to have a Dee Brown No. 11 jersey a few years back.

Fifth-year senior linebacker J Leman, a Butkus Award candidate and a Champaign native, is such a tour de force in the community that he probably knew half of the 57,000 fans in the stands by name.

And if there isn't a lucrative black market for this already, soon there will be one to exploit those who want a No. 9 jersey to emulate freshman hero Arrelious Benn.

But what about the lesser-known guys who have helped the 18th-ranked Illini to just their sixth 5-1 start in the last 50 years?

Check out some of the unsung Illini who make life for Rashard Mendenhall, Williams, Leman and Benn a whole lot easier.

Russ Weil: The senior fullback has touched the ball four times this year, which probably is more than anyone expected.

It's just not Weil's job to contribute the yards to the nation's No. 5 rushing offense.

No, aside from his spectacular 31-yard reception last week against Wisconsin when the Minooka native made a terrific correction to come back to catch Juice Williams' bomb, Weil's highlight tapes consists of crushing blocks that set Mendenhall free.

Remember Mendenhall's easy 32-yard touchdown sprint that started the scoring against the Badgers? That was Weil flying outside and throwing his body into linebacker Jonathan Casillas to make his option run easy.

Heck, Weil even jumped back to his feet and hit Casillas again just to make sure he didn't think about trying to catch Mendenhall.

"Russ is a beast, man, I can't even say enough," Mendenhall said. "Being a fullback, too many people don't realize and see what he does, but I don't think there are too many fullbacks who can do what he does."

Mike Ware: It's difficult to believe a guy who started his career at Division III Wheaton College has become a serious contributor on a nationally ranked team.

But Ware, a fifth-year senior from Naperville, has forced his way into the defensive-tackle rotation on sheer will.

In the last four games, as an increasingly important backup to starters Chris Norwell and David Lindquist, Ware has piled up 2 sacks and a tackle for loss.

"It's been my dream to play Division I football," said the long-haired Ware, who's as gregarious off the field as he is crazy on it. "I wanted to play Big Ten football."

Prior to this year, though, Ware saw just a few snaps against Eastern Illinois. His games came on the practice field, when he earned respect the hard way as a scout-teamer going against the first-string offensive line.

If there was a skirmish during practice, you could bet the 2003 Waubonsie Valley graduate known to the vets only as "New Guy" was involved.

"It'd be like me or me and another guy against three or four of them," Ware said with a big laugh. "There was one where my helmet got knocked off and it was me against four of them and I got hit in my head with my helmet.

"You probably don't want to put that one in there."

Dere Hicks: Illinois planned to have sophomore Travon Bellamy starting at the other cornerback opposite all-Big Ten candidate Vontae Davis.

In fact, the Illini didn't even think they needed Hicks at cornerback at all. He spent spring practice at receiver.

But Bellamy is out for the year after shoulder surgery, and Hicks, who requested to move back to defense over the summer, has been a revelation at cornerback.

The sophomore from Roanoke, Va., ranks sixth on the team in tackles (27) with 1 interception and 1 forced fumble. He racked up a career-high 7 stops, including 1½ tackles for loss, in the upset over Penn State.

"The thing I'm really impressed with Dere, he has really improved the last three weeks," Zook said. "He wants to be as good as he can possibly be."

Walter Mendenhall: As Rashard Mendenhall gains more national acclaim, including some Heisman Trophy mentions, everyone assumes the five-star prospect chose Illinois because of Ron Zook's recruiting ability.

Now, make no mistake. As soon as Zook learned he had the Illinois job, his first recruiting call went to the then-senior at Niles West.

But Mendenhall had been an Illinois lock for more than a year. Ever since older brother Walter committed to previous coach Ron Turner.

While Walter has yet to enjoy the career he thought he might -- he has shuttled between fullback and linebacker and running back -- he hasn't let any disappointment deter his little brother's path.

"They're very, very close," Zook said. "Walter and Rashard, very seldom do you see them apart. Particularly at the meals and things like that.

"I don't think there's any question they help each other and keep each other on an even keel."