Blue chips UI's focus for future

It only took a half of football Friday night, and the light began to shine brighter on Ron Turner's efforts to bring in a genuinely mobile, strong-armed quarterback and an elusive, full-sized receiver.

In St. Louis, 6-foot-3 Chris Morton fired five touchdown passes on a 15-for-17 spree and returned a punt 48 yards to score before sitting out the second half of Riverview Gardens' 45-6 rout of Ritenour.

In Urbana, 6-3 speedster Dwayne Smith scored Rantoul's four first-half TDs on a 35-yard pass play, a 53-yard punt return and runs of 2 and 33 yards.

Morton and Smith have made verbal commitments to Turner and the Illini ... that is, Morton is coming as long as he is considered a quarterback and not a cornerback or receiver.

"Chris is a quarterback," emphasized his coach, Darren Sunkett.

"If they decide otherwise, we'll pull him out and look elsewhere. He's a 4.3 guy in the 40, a dropback passer who can scramble. He is a game breaker, and he's off to a great start. Chris threw 19 touchdown passes last year, and he'd like to double that."

Tom Lemming's Prep Report, which rates Morton the No. 1 quarterback in the Missouri, Kansas and southern Illinois sector, calls him a team leader "who can scare a defense to death with both his arm and his legs."

So even as Kurt Kittner, the sturdy UI freshman from Schaumburg, is regarded the Illini's quarterback of the future, Morton offers an element that only a few UI signal callers have provided over the years: speed.

That's the element that sets the nation's superior teams apart. How many broken plays has your TV screen flashed in which a mobile quarterback ran or passed for plus yardage? How many times did it happen in the Tennessee-Syracuse game alone? It always has been advantageous for the guy handling the ball on every play to be faster than the guys chasing him.

Rough going in Chicagoland

One of the advantages Ron Guenther saw in hiring Turner was his Chicago background as offensive coordinator for the Bears. But based on Lemming's report, the Illini again are bucking heavy odds in trying to successfully recruit Chicago. Only a stunning turnaround will prevent the cream from being skimmed by rival camps.

Following are Lemming's leaders and their school considerations.

– Tony Pape, 6-7, 300, Hinsdale South: One of the nation's best offensive linemen, Pape favors Michigan, UCLA and Ohio State along with Kentucky, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Illinois.

– Rich McNutt, 6-0, 160, Rich East: Highly recruited, this 23-foot long jumper is coach Bob Lombardi's "most versatile player in 38 years." The state's top defensive back, McNutt apparently has narrowed his choice to Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, Nebraska or Notre Dame.

– Tim Olmstead, 6-5, 245, Kankakee McNamara: Rated one of the Midwest's top two linebackers, Olmstead is considering Notre Dame, Purdue, Kentucky and Illinois, among others.

– Nick Setta, 6-0, 165, Lockport: Called the nation's premier place-kicker, Setta puts UCLA and Notre Dame at the top of a list that includes Illinois, Michigan, Georgia Tech and Florida.

– Jarrett Payton, 6-1, 205, St. Viator: A prep QB, the sturdy son of Walter Payton projects as a quality defensive back. He doesn't list Illinois among the leaders for his services.

Illini seek Hodges' brother

On the bright side, the Illini appear to be strong in the running for Rich Central's 275-pound offensive lineman, Aaron Hodges, brother of Illini tight end Brian Hodges. And Palatine's All-State receiver, Yaacov Yisreal, includes Illinois on a list headed by Penn State, Indiana and Northwestern.

On the negative side, the state's top fullback, Salvatore Dimucci (6-1, 215) of Loyola, has committed to Wisconsin, and St. Charles' prize defenders, Gabe Nyenhuis (6-4, 240) and Pat Durr (6-2, 220), decided early to attend Northwestern.

During the course of this season, populous Chicagoland will produce not only these but other blue-chip athletes, and Lemming's preseason ratings won't be the last word.

But from any angle, it's obvious the UI's long losing skid has encouraged rivals to move in and take advantage of in-state athletes who are bombarded with pictures of greener grass on the other side of the fence.

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette.

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