E.B. Halsey made it a point to find fellow Illinois sophomore running back Pierre Thomas after he strained his MCL in the second quarter of Saturday’s game against Michigan State.

Halsey wanted to personally hand Thomas the reigns as Illinois’ running back.

“(E.B.) yelled my name, ‘Pierre, it’s your turn,’ and I knew I had to go out there and play for him because he was down and hurt,” Thomas said.

Thomas took the exchange from Halsey cleanly and kept running. He ran so much he ended the game with a career-high 189 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas actually executed – something the Illini struggled to do throughout the season, keeping them from a win for the last three weeks. And that execution almost carried the Illini to a win in a 38-25 loss to Michigan State.

He has the talent to be a starting running back in the Big Ten. He just happens to have another top-notch running back on his team.

So Thomas splits time with Halsey – not to mention junior fullback Jason Davis – and spends more time on the bench than a player of his caliber should.

But what can he – or Ron Turner – do? There are only so many plays and so many running backs.

So Thomas makes the most of the time he gets.

Saturday, before Halsey was injured, Thomas scored a 23-yard touchdown after stiff-arming a defender and tiptoeing down the sidelines for the last five yards. That run should be his audition to test out of – or at least earn an easy-A in – an Illinois dance class.

But what did it earn him?

Nothing.

He still split time at tailback with Halsey for the rest of the half.

But the second half was a different story. Halsey was out.

It was Thomas’ time to shine.

Thomas had his number called again, and again, and again and churned out 150 second-half yards.

In the first series of the second half, with Illinois needing something to get them going, Thomas took a handoff on a dive play and at the line of scrimmage simply shrugged off two Michigan State defenders who were ready to celebrate a tackle they thought they made.

Thomas then used another Spartan as a low-hurdle, then cut across the field and ran for 69-yards before being taken down.

On the next play, Thomas scored an easy three-yard touchdown.

No hurdling this time.

So what was Thomas thinking when he bounced off the Spartans like a human pinball?

“I got to keep fighting,” Thomas said. “I got to keep moving my legs. We’re down by a couple of points, so I got to keep fighting for yardage and getting a touchdown.”

Fighting.

Thomas used fight in almost every answer to post-game questions.

For Thomas, it’s fitting.

Everything about Thomas on the field is a fight.

Thomas’ stiff-arms pack the power of a boxer’s jab.

He had to claw his way into the lineup to get playing time with Halsey.

Defenders hold on for dear life when Thomas churns his legs and chugs for that one extra yard.

It may only be for one yard, but it’s the stuff that earns respect from teammates, fans and opponents.

“It fires you up as an offensive lineman knowing that if we can’t take out everybody, that he will,” said redshirt freshman offensive lineman Martin O’Donnell.

Or he’ll just jump over them.

Bobby La Gesse is a senior in communications. He can be reached at [email protected].