Illinois didn’t have a ton of bright spots in 2014, but freshmen wide receiver Mike Dudek gave them something to get excited about going into spring practice.
The freshmen led the Illini in receptions (76) and receiving yardage (1,038) in 2014; both freshmen records. Unfortunately Dudek was recently bitten by the injury bug when he tore his ACL during spring practice.
Illinois’ leading receiver, Mike Dudek, suffered a torn ACL during practice on Wednesday morning.
“This is very disappointing for Mikey, his family and our football program,” said Illinois coach Tim Beckman in a release. “He’ll have the knee surgically repaired as soon as possible and the doctors feel like he could return to the field in October. Knowing how hard Mikey works, our biggest challenge will be to keep him on pace and not let him push it too hard and too fast.”
If the timetable of an October return proves accurate, it would be very good news for the Illini in 2015.
This is unfortunate for Illinois. I got a chance to watch Dudek play during the bowl game against Louisiana Tech and he was one of the best players on the field as a freshmen. With Dudek out for the foreseeable future they will have to have some guys step up and find a way to replace his production.