CHAMPAIGN — A constant on the offensive line at Illinois, Joe Spencer can pick up on any cues from Wes Lunt.
That goes with snapping the ball to the Illinois quarterback the past two seasons.
“We’re pretty comfortable with each other,” said Spencer, the Illini center entering his third season as a starter. “I don’t think there’s many surprises, although I can tell when he’s having a bad day.”
Wednesday wasn’t a bad day for Spencer. He joined Lunt, the Illini’s quarterback, along with another teammate, defensive end Dawuane Smoot, in garnering more preseason recognition.
A day after Lunt was named to the Maxwell Award watch list for the game’s top player and Smoot to the Bednarik Award watch list for the best defensive player, Spencer found himself among 62 centers named to the Rimington Trophy watch list, the award handed out to the premier center in college football each season.