Arrelious Benn never has been a touchdown-scoring machine for Illinois, but his consistency in reaching the end zone was on the rise during the first half of the 2008 season.

Benn scored his fifth touchdown last year in the Illini’s seventh game against Indiana. That gave him eight TDs in his first 20 college games. The drought that has ensued has corresponded with the demise of the Illinois offense.

The junior receiver has not scored in the last nine games. He has touched the ball 70 times — nine rushes, 35 catches, 26 returns — since he hauled in a 37-yard pass from Juice Williams in the second quarter of a 55-13 win over Indiana.

“These are things that come with sports,” Benn said of his lack of TDs. “You have to keep going. You can’t think about what I want to get. You have to think about the team. All I care about is Ws. But when my name is called, I’ll take advantage of it.”

When his touchdowns stopped, the offense began to sputter. Coincidence or correlation? Have defenses proved that if you take away Benn, Illinois doesn’t have enough other weapons to win?

Here are the numbers:

Benn averaged 6.3 catches and 99 yards per game in the first seven games of 2008.  He had four games with more than 100 receiving yards. The Illini averaged 36.1 points.

Benn has averaged 3.7 catches and 55.6 yards per game in the last nine contests (he missed all but four plays of the Missouri game this season) with one game of more than 100 yards. The Illini have averaged 18.0 points in that stretch.

Benn and quarterback Eddie McGee, who will start against Michigan State on Saturday, should spend some extra time working together this week. Benn failed to make a catch against Illinois State a few weeks back with McGee playing in place of Williams, who was injured on the game’s first offensive play.

“Eddie does go with the starters (in practice), so I do have a little chemistry with Eddie,” Benn said. “Maybe not as much as Juice. But we’ll build on it this week and maybe stay after practice and throw with him.”