Since Illinois lost the services of Josh McCray, the Illini needed someone else to step up. Luckily for head coach Bret Bielema, both Reggie Love III and Chase Hayden have stepped up.

Bielema discusses how both have played in his place.

“It’s been huge you know since Josh McCray went down I literally went up on the field and went over to Reggie and Chase Hayden and said hey your time has come you’ve been wanting it and been waiting for it. The time is now.”

Bielema said both had a great week of practice leading up to the game, which obviously shown on the field

“Reggie had a nice couple of runs broke a couple free, Chase Hayden also had a nice little one in the middle too. Really has given us hope. Chase Brown has done an incredible job. Having those two guys waiting in the wings is a nice thing.”

The running back committee combined in the Virginia game for almost 200 yards (188 total), which helped the Fighting Illini to a dominating 24-6 victory

They will see if they can keep it up this week against Wisconsin. The Badgers just came off a tough loss to Ohio State.