ESPN College Football

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	Illinois wideout Arrelious Benn is looking to build on his strong freshman campaign.

The term "freshman" is attached to Arrelious Benn's top honor as a college player, but the Illinois star neither looks nor acts the part.

Benn was anything but a novice last fall, as he sizzled as a wide receiver, kickoff returner and occasional backfield ball-carrier, racking up 1,114 all-purpose yards. The rare player who immediately lived up to his recruiting hype, Benn helped Illinois complete the nation's biggest one-year turnaround and reach the Rose Bowl.

He's the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, but if you saw him without pads, you'd peg him for an NFL veteran or an assistant coach. I even spotted some gray in his goatee when we talked this spring. The guy looks 30. At least.

"I hear it all the time," Benn said last week of his adult appearance.

Does he ever have to convince his fellow students that he's one of them?

"Nah," Benn said, laughing. "A lot of people on campus know my face."

If the rest of the Big Ten doesn't already know his face, they soon will. At least they'll know the back of his helmet.

As Illinois goes out to prove that last season's Rose Bowl run was no fluke, Benn takes the field with his own lofty goals.

"My potential is to have a 1,000 yards (receiving) and at least 500 yards rushing," he said.

Why shouldn't he think big? Benn finished last season with 54 receptions and 676 receiving yards -- both Illinois freshman records -- to go along with a 28-yard average on kickoff returns. And he did it all with a right shoulder that spent more time out of its socket than in it. He first dislocated the shoulder during a preseason intrasquad scrimmage and reinjured it several times during the season.

Benn underwent shoulder surgery in January and sat out spring practice, participating only in agility drills and catching passes with the JUGS machine. Though the injury kept him off the field, the 6-2, 214-pound wideout still found ways to stand out.

"The first day I was in the weight room, I threw up some crazy numbers," said Benn, who often draws comparisons to the Arizona Cardinals' Anquan Boldin because of his size. "I couldn't rep stuff like I could at first. I had to build my endurance back up, but I still could lift the heavy weight that I did -- and more. I'm stronger than I ever was before."

Benn expects to shoulder a greater burden this fall as Illinois starts life without running back Rashard Mendenhall, the 2007 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. Spring practice produced few answers at running back, and the Illini need a viable threat for an offense that utilizes a lot of read-option from the shotgun. A reliable backfield presence will help junior Juice Williams, whom Benn reiterates is "a quarterback, not a running back."

Benn has someone in mind for the job.

"The coaches, as far as giving me the ball, they took it a little bit away from me because of the bum shoulder," said Benn, who had 32 carries for 158 yards last year. "I'm still a receiver, but they're taking a notice of what I can do out of the backfield. Any way to just get the ball in my hands, that's what it's all about."

Stabilizing the ground game is critical, but with Williams evolving as a passer, Illinois likely will go to the air more this fall.

That means more of the spotlight for the man everyone calls "Rejus." Benn doesn't know where the nickname came from, but it has stuck ever since he was little. Even his mom, Denise, uses it most of the time.

"She calls me Arrelious when she's mad," Benn said.

Opposing teams might come up with their own handle for Benn if he continues to burn them.

First up is Missouri, the team many wanted to see in a BCS bowl game instead of Illinois. The Tigers edged the Illinois 40-34 last season, and the teams' annual meeting Aug. 30 in St. Louis will have much more than Braggin' Rights on the line.

"They're top 5, we're top 20," Benn said. "We just want to go out and play. After what we did last year, we want to keep rolling. We're taking it from the bottom to the top."