Huskies' Kill deflects queries about his health

CHAMPAIGN - Less than 48 hours after being released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Jerry Kill handled his usual coaching duties on Northern Illinois' sideline.

Judging by some of his actions Saturday, such as when he spiked a water cup on the turf to protest an uncalled pass-interference penalty to close out the first half, Kill was as feisty as ever.

But after the Huskies came up short 28-22 at Memorial Stadium, Kill appeared to have less energy than normal.

He also had a cut or a sore on the top of his mostly shaved head, though that seemed to be unrelated to the reason he spent four nights in the hospital last week.

He demurred when asked to detail his illness as well as his surgery two weeks before.

"The game is about the kids," Kill said. "There wasn't any decision to be made. I wasn't going to miss any ballgame. I have been coaching ball for 27-28 years.

"Everyone gave me the opportunity to get out on Thursday night and coach a great game which I love. If something is going to happen, it is going to be on the field."

NIU's go-for-broke mentality against the state's flagship school came out after its initial touchdown eight minutes into the game.

On the extra point, the Huskies sent six players wide right and three players (including kicker Mathew Sims) wide left.

Quarterback/holder Chandler Harnish took a shotgun snap and threw a pass to Sims, but it was too high and went incomplete. Had it worked, the Huskies had three players to Illinois' two on that side.

"We didn't come here to lay up," Kill said. "First of all, we had the thing ... if we had done the right thing, we would have scored on the darn thing."

Injuries galore: Northern Illinois played without veteran cornerback Chris Smith, who injured his hand in practice.

In the second quarter, junior safety Tracy Wilson went out with a left leg injury and didn't return. He's generally regarded as the Huskies' most NFL-ready player.

Illinois lost weak-side guard Hugh Thornton with 5:41 to go in the third when he and NIU defensive end Jake Coffman went helmet to helmet on a short running play.

Thornton's face was pointed toward the ground upon contact and he lay prone on the turf. After being strapped to a board, Thornton gave the thumbs-up to the crowd as he was wheeled off.

Illini coach Ron Zook reported after the game that Thornton had movement in all of his extremities and underwent a CT scan for precautionary reasons.

The Leshoure rules: Illinois junior running back Mikel Leshoure used a career-high 24 carries to go 180 yards Saturday.

The 230-pound Leshoure earned his fourth consecutive 100-yard game, which made him the first Illini back to put together such a string since all-time rushing leader Robert Holcombe in 1997.

He delivered the big runs on Illinois' last drive. Not only did he convert a fourth-and-1 on the team's own 46-yard line, he dashed 29 yards for the clinching score with 1:43 to go.

"I love the playcalling," Leshoure said, "and how (offensive coordinator Paul) Petrino counts on me to get the job done and be the workhorse."

Leshoure packs so much power on his 230-pound frame, NIU defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys devised a special plan to deal with him.

Though conventional wisdom requires a defensive end to hold the edge on zone option running plays - in order to keep the quarterback in check should he keep the ball - Claeys wanted his defensive linemen focused on Leshoure and the linebackers and secondary dealing with slender quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase.

"You have that big a back, I don't want the linebackers for us pounding on him," Claeys said. "Otherwise, I felt like they'd just keep handing off and he'd keep running downhill and there wasn't a thing we could do about it."