Terry Hawthorne lines up as he always does across from the opponent’s best receiver, right leg back, left leg forward. He peeks to the Illini sideline and waits for the play, a run that is stopped by freshman linebacker Mason Monheim.

Hawthorne is taken across the field by his receiver but hustles toward Monheim, extends his hand to help his teammate off the ground and offers a chest bump that Monheim fails to realize is coming, leaving all 6 feet, 190 pounds of Hawthorne to awkwardly jump on the freshman.

When his fellow cornerback Justin Green breaks up a pass, again Hawthorne is one of the first players to congratulate his teammate.

Every time his teammates make a play on defense, Hawthorne goes out of his way to offer congratulations, high fives and better-executed chest bumps.

His coaches have praised the way he’s become a vocal leader for the Illinois football team.

It’s a little unusual at first glance. He seems quiet and reserved. Hawthorne often fields questions from reporters with his head held high, hands behind his back, answering with “no sir” and “yes sir” values he was taught despite growing up in a rough East St. Louis, Ill., neighborhood.

He’s not a yeller or a screamer. In fact, Hawthorne can be quiet, but he’s always brutally honest. He’s pulled freshman defensive back V’Angelo Bentley to the side before and told him exactly what he’s doing wrong, but he’ll also tell him how to fix it.

And he wasn’t about to let anyone quit, even when Illinois was officially eliminated from postseason play after losing to Ohio State on Nov 3.

“He’s a guy that has a presence,” Bentley said. “Whatever he does, he does it with pride. So you kind of pick up on things like that just as a big-brother figure.”

***

After a stop on third down by the Illini, Hawthorne claps his hands and jogs back to await a punt.

He was installed as Illinois’ return man after the former returner, Tommy Davis, proved ineffective and prone to fumble the ball. Hawthorne crosses his heart and points up to the sky before the kick. But most of the time the ball’s just fair-caught, or he gets out the way completely.

When he has returned the ball, especially on kickoffs, he’s provided the spark Illinois has needed to get some points on the board. He returned six kicks for 158 yards against Ohio State.

His speed and size make him a playmaker. Before the season, Hawthorne was supposed to start to get more reps on offense as well. He finally got a chance last week against Minnesota and can likely expect to see more action against Purdue on Saturday. He began the year with an ankle injury that hindered his performance, so Illinois didn’t want him to worry about playing multiple positions.

On Oct. 6 at Wisconsin, Hawthorne was involved in one of the most frightening moments of the year for Illinois. Going for a tackle, he lowered his shoulder, and his head collided with Badgers fullback Derek Watt.

Hawthorne couldn’t get up.

He had to be taken off the field in an ambulance but gave the fans a thumbs-up before leaving and would make the trip home with the team. Concussion symptoms would keep him out of the Michigan game.

It’s been that kind of year for the Hawthorne.

He doesn’t have any interceptions, or big or flashy plays like he’s had in the past. During his freshman year, in what he’s called his favorite play during his time at Illinois, he ran the length of the field to tackle a Michigan receiver at the 1-yard line.

But most importantly to him, Illinois has lost seven straight. Through all that, he’s still one of the loudest voices, encouraging players to stay positive and to fight until the end of the season.

“To come back and be one of those guys who says, ‘I’m going to come back my senior year,’ and to have the outcomes that we’ve had, that’s hard and difficult for him,” cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale said. “I feel for him … but I’m all about solutions, and Terry is as well.”

***

Hawthorne didn’t have to come back for his final season at Illinois; he would’ve been drafted. But he still has scouts coming to football games to watch him this season.

But leaving was never really an option for him.

“No, sir,” Hawthorne said.

Education is too important. He will finish classes in December and spend the spring semester interning before he graduates in May, a moment he and his family have been waiting for.

“Honestly, it’ll probably be a little bit emotional,” Hawthorne said. “Not too many guys that have come from East St. Louis and athletes that have graduated and went on to the next level with their lives.”

Hawthorne lives with his single mother, older brother and older sister. He admits that it was hard growing up but doesn’t use it as an excuse. When things get hard for him, in high school and this season, he had his uncle Isaac as a role model. Every day in high school, Hawthorne remembers his uncle in his ear, trying to keep him focused on his goal.

It worked because that’s the way Hawthorne is now. He says he doesn’t party, and outside of football, he doesn’t really do much. He’s focused on achieving his goals, and he’s now the person in the ears of his younger teammates.

When Illini players miss a class, they have to run, but Bentley joked that they also have to answer to Hawthorne.

Bentley has developed a friendship with Hawthorne during the past year. It started when the freshman came to Illinois for his official visit in January, and although Ralph Cooper was Bentley’s guide, Hawthorne took the liberty of meeting him and helping him out. He’s told Bentley what places to stay away from to keep himself out of trouble.

Hawthorne has done many of the same things for the younger players that his uncle did for him.

Bentley referrs to Hawthorne as a big brother. The two spend time on the sidelines talking in between series as Hawthorne rides his exercise bike.

“He’s setting a path for us,” Bentley said. “On and off the field.”

***

On Saturday, Hawthorne will run out onto the Memorial Stadium fieldfor the final time in his college career. He’ll hear the band, which he’s said gets him hyped to play in front of the home crowd.

He admits that his four years have flown by, but he hasn’t allowed himself to focus on the past. He’s got two more games to play.

Back in January, when Clinkscale first met Hawthorne, the cornerback set two goals. The first was to win the Big Ten Championship. It was more important to him than any of the accolades he’d received or his NFL draft stock.

As he walks out on the field for the pregame ceremony with his family, he’ll see a video back from Camp Rantoul, when he gave a speech to the team. In his speech, he spoke about coming out and playing like a champion and being a champion, not just on the field but off it.

Hawthorne can no longer achieve that goal of a Big Ten Championship, but his second goal — to become a leader for Illinois — is more in his control.

Jamal can be reached at [email protected] and @JamalCollier.