Illinois defensive lineman Michael Buchanan is indefinitely suspended, coach Ron Zook said.
Buchanan was arrested on preliminary charges of driving under the influence of alcohol at about 2:25 a.m. Sunday in Champaign and has an Oct. 1 court date, according to reports.
The Illini had returned from a loss to Missouri on Saturday in which he made his first career start and recorded a career-best three tackles.
Clay Nurse will move from defensive end to the "bandit" position that Buchanan played, while sophomore Whitney Mercilus will start at defensive end. Tim Kynard will back up Mercilus.
The Illini play their first home game Saturday at Memorial Stadium against Southern Illinois.
"We talk about adversity, you have to overcome it," Zook said. "It's disappointing. ... He's still ours. He's still a good person."
There's nothing like a drunken schoolboy to make a man feel alive and on every campus I go to, I can't find enough of them.
Hey IllinoDave- does the fact that it happens everywhere mean that U of I does not have an alcohol problem? That alcoholism is okay in Champaign is okay as long as it takes place everywhere?
And so begins another sports season at the U of I, when I look at the amount of money spent for the Shrines to the Stars it makes me want to put my boot so far up inside him that he could polish my boot toe when he brushes his teeth, not to mention the cast of characters that have preceded him.
Hey LouDo, you do realize that students get DUI's in every university across the country, right? To classify Champaign/UofI as having an "alcohol problem" is ridiculous on multiple levels.
Illini are awesome, as is Zook and Weber. And the Chief. He is great, too.
Guenther is great, and I sure miss the Chief.
Go Chief Woo Woo Chief.
ILLINOIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Real alcohol problem in Champaign affecting all sports teams, most notably the basketball team with that infamous Brian Carwell incident. I'm not a Zook fan, but suspending indefinitely is a good start. There needs to be a whole mentality change down there to stop the alochol abuse.