Illinois RB Dufrene takes leave of absence

Big Ten Blog

October, 30, 2008

Oct 30

8:17

PM ET

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By Adam Rittenberg

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

Illinois junior running back Daniel Dufrene has taken a leave of absence from the team, head coach Ron Zook said following Thursday's practice. Dufrene, who has started seven games for the Illini and leads the team with 539 rushing yards on 97 carries, wasn't with the team this week in practice.

He still could play Saturday against Iowa (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET).

"I'm worried about Daniel right now," Zook said. "He'll be fine. We've just got to work through this thing."

Dufrene has recently seen his carries total decrease in favor of freshman Jason Ford, so the timing of the leave is somewhat interesting. Ford likely will start if Dufrene doesn't play Saturday.

Tags:

Illinois Fighting Illini, Illinois Fighting Illini, Ron Zook, Iowa Hawkeyes, Jason Ford, Daniel Dufrene

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