Illinois WR Mike Dudek suffers torn ACL
Illinois’ top playmaker on offense will be out until at least October.
Head coach Tim Beckman announced Wednesday that sophomore wide receiver Mike Dudek suffered a torn ACL “during a non-contact drill” during Wednesday morning’s practice. He’ll undergo surgery on the knee “as soon as possible,” the program said in a release.
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Dudek, a freshman All-American in 2014, caught 76 passes for 1,038 yards (both program records for a freshman) and six touchdowns for the Fighting Illini last season.
“This is very disappointing for Mikey, his family and our football program,” Beckman said in a statement. “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.”
Dudek, a native of Naperville, Ill., made an immediate impact for the Illini in 2014, leading the team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
With Dudek likely to miss a significant portion of the season, Illinois’ leading returning receiver is 6-foot-3, 185-pound Geronimo Allison, who had 41 catches for 598 yards and five touchdowns. Running back Josh Ferguson was second on the team with 50 catches for 427 yards and two scores.
The Illini went 6-7 in 2014, but made it to a bowl game (a 35-18 loss to Louisiana Tech in the Heart of Dallas Bowl) for the first time in Beckman’s tenure.
For more Illinois news, visit OrangeandBlueNews.com.
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