Four Illini Headed to Senior All-Star Games
Smoot & Phillips headed to Senior Bowl, Lunt to Shrine Game, and NIckerson to NFLPA Collegiate Bowl
December 19, 2016
Four Illinois football players have accepted invitations to senior all-star games – DE Carroll Phillips and DE Dawuane Smoot to the Reese's Senior Bowl, QB Wes Lunt to the East West Shrine Game and LB Hardy Nickerson to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl – to be played in late January. The games, and workouts leading up to them, are used as a scouting tool for NFL teams and other professional football leagues.
REESE'S SENIOR BOWL | WEBSITE
Mobile, Ala. // Ladd-Peebles Stadium
Jan. 28, 2017 // 1:30 p.m. CT // NFL Network
Phillips and Smoot accepted invitations to the Reese's Senior Bowl on Dec. 19. Practices begin on Jan. 24, with the game scheduled for Jan. 28, 2017 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. Two Illini played in last year's senior bowl – DL Jihad Ward (currently with the Raiders) and WR Geronimo Allison (currently with the Packers).
DE/LB Carroll Phillips » Phillips, measuring 6-3, 240, had a monster senior season, earning first team All-Big Ten honors, the first Illini to do so since 2011, after racking up 56 tackles, 20.0 TFLs, 9.0 sacks, 3 QB hurries, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery. He ranked fifth in FBS in TFLs per game (1.7) and his 20.0 TFLs tied for the fifth-most in a season in Illinois history.
DE/LB Dawuane Smoot » Smoot, a 6-3, 255-pound defensive end for the Illini, posted 56 tackles, 15.0 TFLs, 5.0 sacks, 10 QB hurries, one PBU, two forced fumbles in 2016 to earn third-team All-Big Ten honors. He finished his UI career ranked sixth in program history in career TFLs (38.5) and eighth in career sacks (16.5).
EAST WEST SHRINE GAME | WEBSITE
St. Petersburg, Fla. // Tropicana Field
Jan. 21, 2017 // 2 p.m. CT // NFL Network
Lunt will represent the Fighting Illini in the 92nd edition of the East West Shrine Game. The game will be played on Saturday, January 21, 2017, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Last year's game included five Fighting Illini, including four that ended up on NFL rosters – WR Geronimo Allison (Packers), S Clayton Fejedelem (Bengals), RB Josh Ferguson (Colts), and OL Ted Karras (Patriots),
QB Wes Lunt » The 6-5, 225-pound signal-caller ended his three-year Illinois career with 36 TDs against just 12 INTs, ranking seventh in career passing yards (5,900), seventh in career completions (550) and eighth in career TD passes (36) in Illinois history. In 2016, he played in eight games and threw for 1,376 yards, eight TDs and three INTs, including a 377-yard, two TD performance in his final game Nov. 26 at Northwestern.
NFLPA COLLEGIATE BOWL | WEBSITE
Carson, Calif. // Stubhub Center
Jan. 21, 2017 // 3 p.m. CT // Fox Sports 1
Nickerson will represent the Fighting Illini in the 2017 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. Mike Martz and Jim Zorn will coach the teams at StubHub Center on the campus of California State University Dominguez Hills. The Jan. 21 game will be broadcast by Fox Sports on FS1 with kickoff slated for 1 p.m. PST/4 p.m. EST.
LB Hardy Nickerson » The 6-0, 230-pound linebacker led Illinois in tackles with 107 to earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. He ranked fourth in the Big Ten in tackles per game (8.9). The graduate transfer from Cal, whose father is the Illinois defensive coordinator and former All-Pro linebacker of the same name, finished his career with 353 career tackles, ranking sixth among active players and second among active FBS tacklers.
