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CHAMPAIGN — Tailback Daniel Dufrene, who has started seven games for Illinois this season, isn’t with the team this week to take care of “personal problems,” Ron Zook said after Thursday’s practice.
“I don’t want to say any more than that,” Zook said. “I talked to him last night and he was fine.”
Zook said Dufrene’s status for Saturday’s game against Iowa is “up to him.”
“I’m worried about Daniel right now,” Zook said. “He’ll be fine. We’ve just got to work through this thing.”
Dufrene leads the team in rushing with 539 yards on 97 carries. He has 17 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns.
In the last two games, Dufrene’s workload had been cut as freshman Jason Ford got more playing time. After getting double -digit carries the first six games of the season, Dufrene had six against Indiana and seven at Wisconsin.