It has not been a good last couple of weeks to be a member of Illinois’ starting defense.
First, starting safety Supo Sanni went down with a season-ending Achilles injury. Then, starting cornerback Terry Hawthorne went down with a stress reaction in his right foot and will be out until the end of September at the earliest.
Now comes word that the Illini will be sans yet another starter, albeit for a far different reason. Unless you consider “sprained liver” medically plausible, of course.
According to the Champaign News-Gazette, starting “Bandit” Michael Buchanan was arrested over the weekend and charged with DUI. As a result, the hybrid defensive end/linebacker has been suspended indefinitely.
After starting the season-opening loss to Missouri, Buchanan will miss the Illini’s next game against Southern Illinois. There’s also a possibility the sophomore will miss additional games.
As a true freshman in 2009, Buchanan played in ten games.