Illinois lists Jeff Kinney as its starting quarterback Saturday against Ohio State. Kinney replaced Jason Verduzco after three series in Illinois`
18-17 loss to Minnesota last weekend.
”At this point, it appears Jeff Kinney will start,” coach Lou Tepper said Monday. ”Jason Verduzco did not perform well at Houston, in practice or in the first few series against Minnesota, so we decided to give Jeff a chance to play. I thought Jeff performed adequately against Minnesota, but I expect a lot of competition in practice this week.”
Both quarterbacks are seniors. Appearing in his third game, Kinney completed 7 of 15 passes for 108 yards. For the season, Kinney is 9 of 19 for 137 yards, while Verduzco has completed 54 of 93 for 525 yards.
Volleyballers dominate: Illinois` volleyball team gave up one fewer point than the football team did this weekend-and the volleyball team played two matches. In back-to-back victories in Champaign, the Illini whipped Iowa 15-6, 15-2 and 15-1 and walloped Minnesota 15-2, 15-0 and 15-6. The matches drew 5,800 fans to Huff Hall, boosting Illinois` national-best attendance average to 2,595 per match.
Streamwood`s Sue Nucci led the romp over Iowa with seven kills and a .778 hitting average.
Kristin Henriksen is third in the nation in hitting with a .437 average and leads the team with 66 blocks.
The Illini are 3-1 in the Big 10 and 12-3 overall.