Steve Weatherford is listed on Illinois’ roster as a punter. And he’s done a good enough job at that position to earn Big Ten special teams player of the week honors and become a semifinalist for the Ray Guy award.

But Saturday, Weatherford showed that he can do more than just kick a football.

On a fourth down in the first quarter, Weatherford rushed for 12 yards on a fake punt play that had been developing in practice last week. The first-down conversion revitalized the Illini, who were sinking fast with the Hoosiers up 19-0.

“I think the biggest momentum-turner was probably the fake punt, when Steve went running down that sideline,” said senior offensive lineman Bucky Babcock. “I’m sitting in my chair wondering what everybody’s cheering about, and I look up on the Jumbotron and he’s running down the field.”

Weatherford credits the special teams players for making the play run smoothly.

“It was easy. I’m not taking anything away from Indiana, but they took a lot of pressure off of me making that hole that big and huge,” Weatherford said. “I was kind of nervous going out there, I don’t really get nervous but that’s something that I don’t do. I don’t get nervous punting because it’s something I do it enough, but running the ball, that’s not something that’s my thing.”

In the fourth quarter Weatherford switched roles again, getting a tackle in the same play he had a 62-yard kickoff. It was his fourth solo tackle of the season.

“He was supposed to kick the ball out of the end zone; he’d been kicking it out of the end zone all day. (Special teams coach Greg McMahon) said you want to squib it or kick it out, and I said let’s kick it out, give them the ball on the 20. No doubt in my mind he’d kick it out of the end zone; it’s a good thing he made that tackle.”

Weatherford tallied 368 yards on eight punts, six inside the 20-yard line and six unreturnable. He moved up to ninth in career punting yardage for the Illini.

Weatherford is averaging 45.6 yards per punt, 1.1 yards better than the Illinois record he set last year.

Michigan State sophomore Brandon Fields is the only other Big Ten punter on the Ray Guy award semifinal list.

DOUBLE RECORDS

Indiana quarterback Matt LoVecchio’s 80-yard pass to Jahkeen Gilmore on the first play of the game was the Hoosiers’ longest scoring play of the season.

“We thought we had it set up pretty well from what we had seen and how we thought they would defend that formation and that action,” said Indiana head coach Gerry DiNardo. “It was a play-action pass.”

Illinois recorded its longest pass play of the season in the first quarter, as redshirt freshman quarterback Brad Bower connected with junior receiver Kendrick Jones on a 56-yard touchdown pass.

SENIOR SUPERLATIVE

On Saturday, Illinois senior defensive back Taman Jordan made one interception – the first of his career – in the fourth quarter of his final game at Memorial Stadium.

DAMAGED DIGIT

Freshman defensive back Justin Harrison broke his thumb Saturday but was able to return to the game and should play in the final game against Northwestern Nov. 20, Turner said.

QUOTE OF THE GAME

“We got in the locker room and Duke Preston was saying he wanted us young guys to remember this, this winning feeling, because obviously the last two years we haven’t won that many games. Just to get that feeling, what it feels like to win, and make us hungry for it every time we go out there.

“Everybody was hugging each other, telling, “Great job,” then we had the water going, it was great to see everybody pumped like that.”

– freshman quarterback Brad Bower, on the atmosphere in the locker room after the game.