Mikey Dudek is sidelined again this season; is Illinois better suited to handle his absence this time around?
Will Illinois' wide receivers let Mikey Dudek's injury be the defining moment of their season? Even with just a freshman campaign, in which opposing defenses were surprised by and had little film on the breakout receiver, on the books, Dudek had assumed a vital role in Illinois' offense, putting the face of a leader on a receiving corps that had drifted a few years without a cornerstone player. His loss will be hard to contextualize, given the transformation of the offensive personnel and philosophy since Dudek last suited up.