Ron Zook was admittedly nervous every time an Illinois player was slow to get up during Monday night’s scrimmage at Rantoul High. This was the site of last year’s scrimmage disaster when Arrelious Benn suffered a shoulder injury that hampered him all season and Chris James was lost for the season.

So when left tackle Xavier Fulton had to be helped off the field, Zook probably feared the worst. But it was only minutes  later that he walked under his own power back to the opposite sideline, allowing Zook to exhale.

The first person to greet Fulton was quarterback Juice Williams, whose blindside is protected by the converted defensive lineman. Fulton sat the remainder of the night but Zook was told he would  be fine and felt better when he saw him walking around after the scrimmage. 

The Illini went through an array of situational drills, making the statistics difficult to analyze. For instance, sacks were handed out when defenders came close to touching a quarterback, so the defense was credited with 14 sacks and Williams had only four yards on eight carries.

Believe me, Williams and Eddie McGee, who faced the first-team defense, would have eluded the sack in most instances. But the Illini clearly have a pass rush to fear as McGee can attest after being credited with negative 41 yards rushing on 12 carries.

The Illini had three defensive ends in the game simultaneously at times.

“We’re going to have some guys that can rush the passer and some guys that can come off the ball,” Zook said. “You want to be able to put your four best guys out there and we have a lot of depth at defensive end position, not as much at defensive tackle.”

Williams came under less pressure from the second-team defense. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 150 yards and didn’t throw an interception. Most notable among the receivers on this night was Marques Wilkins, who had five catches for 48 yards.

He was not afraid to go high for a pass in traffic and held onto a ball despite a big hit by a defensive back. Tight end Michael Hoomanawanui also showed signs of becoming a bigger part of the offense with a pair of catches for 31 yards.

There weren’t any surprises in the first units on each side. With two openings at safety, Travon Bellamy and Bo Flowers currently hold starting jobs, and Josh Brent stepped in for injured Sirod Williams at defensive tackle.

The first three receivers were Benn, James and Jeff Cumberland but they did little on the night. The running back battle was interesting to watch as freshman Jason Ford impressed with his combination of moves and power. He was difficult to bring down and moved the pile for extra yards several times.

Clay Nure was credited with 3 1/2 sacks and Will Davis had three. Martez Wilson was also active from his linebacker spot and tied safety Nate Bussey for the team led with eight tackles.