The Illinois players and coaches make the short bus trip to Rantoul High School for a scrimmage at 7 tonight.

The players will have a short exercise period, stretch, go through about 15 minutes of special teams and then have about an hourlong scrimmage.

"It's two weeks before the (season opener at Washington State)," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "It will be the last big scrimmage that we have. I'd like to get them close to a game dosage of it."

The Illini coaches are hoping for a big crowd at Bill Walsh Field. The closer they can get to game conditions, the better they like it.

"It's a chance for our players to play in a stadium when the lights come on and there are some people in the stands and the coaches are off the field," Turner said. "A chance to see who is going to be disciplined enough to do the right things."

Turning two

Freshman Kurt Kittner has taken control of the backup quarterback job.

"We don't want to get into a quarterback roulette," Turner said. "Right now, Kurt's doing the best."

Barring a collapse in the last two weeks of practice, Kittner will be ready to play against Washington State in case something happens to starter Mark Hoekstra.

Third-stringer Jeff Ziegler didn't help himself Friday morning. During team drills, he underthrew Lenny Willis, and the ball was picked off by Anthony Hurd.

Ziegler wasn't the only quarterback who struggled. In one stretch during the 7-on-7 drills, Hoekstra was sacked and threw an interception.

Garo Fitts

Steve Fitts played quarterback in high school. But he looked like a punter on the pass he threw Friday morning. Fitts' pass went right to defensive backs coach Leslie Frazier.

Yo, Rocky

The Illinois coaches are taking long looks at freshman running backs Rocky Harvey and Quincy Washington. Harvey ran well during the team period, breaking into the clear on a few runs.

Both Harvey and Washington might need to play this season as backups to Steve Havard and Jameel Cook. Harvey and Washington are also under consideration as returners.

Feel the pain

Receiver Terrance Smalls is out with a leg injury. Defensive tackle Rameel Connor remains out with a leg injury.

Up next

After a morning walkthrough, the Illini have the 7 p.m. scrimmage at Rantoul's Bill Walsh Field. The team takes Sunday off and returns to double sessions Monday.