Sophomore defensive end turning into key piece for Illini

Photo by: Stephen Haas/The News-GazetteCHAMPAIGN — The list of Big Ten leaders for pass breakups is topped by Nebraska's breakout lockdown cornerback — and fantastically named —Dicaprio Bootle.

It also includes familiar names like Michigan State's Justin Layne, Northwestern's Montre Hartage and the latest in a long line of standout Penn State defensive backs in Amani Oruwariye.

That top 10, though, also has an outlier. Illinois' Bobby Roundtree is tied for ninth in the Big Ten in pass breakups.

As a defensive end.

His seven pass breakups, in fact, rank the Illini sophomore first among defensive linemen in that statistical category heading into Saturday's 2:30 p.m. kickoff against Iowa at…