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After being ejected for targeting, Illinois CB Cameron Watkins thanks young players for stepping in

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Week 2 wasn’t much pretty for Illinois, but the Illini got the job done and improved to 2-0 on the year after a 34-14 win over Western Illinois.

There were a lot of miscues, mistakes and injuries throughout the game, including a targeting penalty that resulted in an ejection for starting cornerback Cameron Watkins, a huge loss to the Illini secondary. He was ejected in the second half of the game and will also have to miss the first half of Illinois’ bout against USF next week.

After the game, Watkins understood the significance of his mistake and sent out a heartfelt message to his teammates on Twitter.

“Wanna give a shout out to them young boys who stepped in last night made the most of every opportunity. I had a costly play that hurt the team and they didn’t miss a beat in my absence. They deserve all the credit in the world,” Watkins wrote.

Illinois improved to 2-0 with the win but things get much more difficult next Saturday against South Florida, especially with Watkins missing the first two quarters.

Watkins is the team’s second-leading tackler through two games, registering 17 stops for the year.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB