The Fighting Illini football team was dealt with a huge loss this week from spring practice. Stud sophomore receiver Mikey Dudek suffered a torn ACL in his knee. The drill where Dudek suffered the injury was a non-contact drill. This past season Dudek was the Illini’s leading receiver. He caught a team-high 76 passes for a team-high 1,038 yards. He also led the team in touchdown receptions with six. Dudek was a first-team freshman All- American as well as first-team freshman all-conference. The Illini receiver was able to do this with shaky quarterback play. Injuries caused three different signal-callers to take meaningful snaps at quarterback for the Illini. If junior quarterback Wes Lunt could stay healthy, Dudek was going to further improve his production from last year. The injury, however, takes on average six to eight months to heal. This puts Dudek eligible to return in October, missing at least the first month of the season, if not more. The Illini are finishing up spring practices and have their spring game scheduled for Saturday, April, 18. Hopefully Illinois can get through the rest of the spring with no more injuries, and Dudek recovers in time to get back onto the field his sophomore year to help lead the Illini to their second straight bowl appearance.