CHICAGO – As Illini football’s charter bus caravan pulled into Chicago’s South Side, freshman receiver Chris James felt a wave of d‚j… vu. St. Rita High School, where the team scrimmaged Saturday, was less than five miles from James’ alma mater, Morgan Park.

“A lot of the guys said they were going to drop me off back at school,” James said after the practice. “I’m right at home, so it really doesn’t matter.”

James caught two passes for 32 yards as the Illini held their second true scrimmage of the spring at St. Rita’s Pat Cronin Field on Saturday, braving 23 mph gusts and temperatures that topped out in the mid-40s. But the team – and a crowd of family, fans and potential recruits – stuck it out through nearly three hours of drills and scrimmages.

For many of the 2,000 people in attendance, the road trip offered a rare chance to see the team in the spring and without at least two hours of travel. Illini alumni like Luke Butkus and Kenny Battle, former high school teammates like current Notre Dame quarterback Demitrius Jones and future college cohorts like Martez Wilson all withstood the weather to watch the Illini scrimmage.

“It is wonderful to see him here. He inspires me to do what I do,” said Khaliah James, one of Chris James’ 14-year-old twin sisters. “We do come from a harsh background. Just to see the great things he does, not letting anything stop him, that really helps me. When I see my brother out there, it helps me when I get on the court.”

The team scrimmaged as offense against defense, devising a scoring system that rewarded defensive stops and turnovers in addition to offensive playmaking.

After a sloppy performance in Champaign on April 7, the offense shone in Chicago, led by running back Rashard Mendenhall and backup quarterback Eddie McGee. Mendenhall rushed 10 times for 76 yards, including a 36-yard haul.

“The offense was having a little bit of success; we were executing,” Mendenhall said. “The defense kind of gave it to us on Wednesday, so we wanted to come out here, let them know that was a fluke.”

McGee spent his second weekend as the only quarterback in blue, meaning he could be tackled. After struggling seven days earlier, McGee – a non-Chicago native from Washington, D.C. – completed 10 of 17 pass attempts for 84 yards and rushed four times for 27 yards. He also scored one of three touchdowns, a six-yard run on the fifth drive of the day.

“We progressed a little bit. But we’ve still got some things to clean up.

I think I’ve made a lot of progress since last year, the beginning of the spring, but I’ve still got a long way to go. As far as technique, I’ve cleaned up some of my missed assignments, things like that.”

The Illini have three practices left before the spring game on Saturday. Zook said while he is happy with the improvements he’s seen during the past three weeks, the team has a long way to go before the season begins Sept. 1.

“The defense, last scrimmage they had their way with the offense,” Zook said. “They did a lot of good things on both sides, but defensively we cannot give up the big plays and offensively we’ve got to be a little bit more consistent.”

Injury update:

Wide receiver Joe Morgan and defensive tackle Sirod Williams both suffered ankle injuries during Saturday’s scrimmage.

Senior linebacker J Leman, running back Walter Mendenhall and left tackle Akim Millington all missed the scrimmage, standing on the sidelines in their letterman jackets. Leman and Millington both underwent surgery during the offseason.