Halsey strikes again

Not only has freshman E.B. Halsey made a mark for himself with his running game, but this week he proved he could catch the ball as well.

In the Illini's 38-20 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday, Halsey caught, ran and scored touchdowns for his team. The only thing he couldn't do was lead his team to victory.

Halsey led the Illini in rushing yards with 44 yards on 10 carries. He also picked up 57 yards receiving on seven catches.

Going into the game, Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez knew the that Halsey would be a threat.

"Halsey's a very nifty runner, and presents a lot of problems out in the open," Alvarez said.

The freshman set a career high in all-purpose yards with 271. All-purpose yards include rushing, passing and kick returns. This marked Halsey's third time this season that he has surpassed the 200-yard mark in all purpose yards.

Halsey also picked up his first rushing touchdown of his career. His two touchdowns matched his career-high performance from last week's loss to Cal.

Freshman Kelvin Hayden didn't let Halsey enjoy all the limelight. He too has played an important roll in the Illinois offense.

Hayden led the Illini in receiving, grabbing nine catches for a total of 97 yards receiving. His performance marked the second consecutive game he has led the Illini in both receptions and yards.

While the Illini couldn't catch Wisconsin's 307 yards rushing, the Illini, with 64 yards rushing, don't see it as an issue with their offense.

"I don't think we have a problem with the running game," senior fullback Carey Davis said. "I think most of the time we're passing the ball because we're behind.

"When you have a lead, then it's easier to have a better running game. But when you're behind you're going to pass the ball to catch back up. We just have to keep doing what we're doing and put points on the board early."

Davis returns

Senior Carey Davis returned to play this weekend after missing the last four games with a staph infection in his knee.

Davis rushed for 23 yards on two carries and grabbed two receptions for seven yards.

The one thing Davis says he needs to catch up on?

"My conditioning, I got a little bit tired, not a lot," he said. "But pretty much I was 100 percent with my knee."

Beutjer climbs, but falls

Illini quarterback Jon Beutjer climbed up the Illinois record charts into seventh place all-time in career passing completions. His 23 passing completions gives him a total of 324 for his career. Beutjer's 41 attempts moves him into eighth on the career attempts list with 534 in his career.

Despite this being his seventh consecutive game with over 200 yards passing, Beutjer's performance of 207 yards passing did make this his worst game this season.