CHAMPAIGN - What's happened to the University of Illinois offense is more than just a passing fancy.

An offense that averaged 269 yards a game through the air last season is averaging 174 this year.

In 12 games last season, Illini quarterbacks threw for 22 touchdowns. Through eight games this year, they've passed for six.

A new offensive coordinator has had a tough time trying to get his play calling in sync with his quarter-backs.

But if a bright light has emerged, it's the rise of the Illini running game. And at the center of it is the emergence of Mikel LeShoure as the go-to ball carrier.

Quietly, Illinois has become the No. 2 rushing team in the Big Ten Conference, averaging 197.5 yards per game. The team is averaging 5.0 yards per rush, also second best in the league.

Until recently, it's been a tailback-by-committee approach that head coach Ron Zook and offensive coordinator Mike Schultz have taken. Five different tailbacks have carried the ball, and it was usually difficult to tell who the coaching staff favored.

Heading into Saturday's game at Minnesota, though, the lead rusher is clearly LeShoure, a sophomore from Champaign Centennial High School who has reshaped his body and, he says, his attitude.

LeShoure had had consecutive 100-plus-yard games for the Illini. He carried 15 times for 122 yards against Purdue two weeks ago, then carried 21 times for 150 yards in Illinois' 38-13 victory over Michigan last weekend.

Included in that game was a 70-yard touchdown burst early in the third quarter.

LeShoure raced untouched to the Michigan end zone, and on Monday, he laughed about his show of speed, saying that one year ago he would have been tackled by the time he reached the Wolverines' 20.

"I definitely wouldn't have made it all the way last year," LeShoure said. "I was a different man last year."

The differences have been born from necessity, hard work and a determination to separate himself from the pack at his position.

LeShoure missed the final three games in 2008 after teammate Jeff Cumberland punched him in a personal dispute, breaking LeShoure's jaw.

He spent the next six weeks with his jaw wired shut, eating meals made at his Champaign home by his mother.

"I couldn't really eat like I wanted to," LeShoure said. "That took some of the weight off of me. You definitely can't eat the food you want. My mother would make me chicken noodle soup, chicken and rice soup, tomato soup ... a lot of soup. And milk shakes.

"One time my mom blended up spaghetti and she had to put a little water in there. It was terrible."

Finally, after being cleared to eat solid food, LeShoure celebrated by treating himself to a burger from Sonic.

"I had to push it into my mouth because my mouth wouldn't open real wide," he said. "Oh, it was real good."

As a freshman, LeShoure had played at 237 pounds. But he knew he could be more productive with less weight and more speed. So he used the broken jaw experience to jump-start an improved nutrition program that he monitors to this day.

"That was the main thing I felt I had to do to be the best I could be," he said.

Now, LeShoure runs at 220 pounds.

"I'm faster, more versatile, definitely a better player," he said. "It's a big difference and you can tell in my play. I also have more endurance and stamina out there."

And, despite being suspended for the Illinois State game Sept. 12 for breaking team rules, he says he has taken on a leadership role.

"Coaches expect a lot from me," he said. "I have a different role than I had last year, and with that comes responsibilities."

On the season, LeShoure has 65 carries for 435 yards and three touchdowns.

Zook likes to point out that during Illinois' Rose Bowl season in 2007, it was several games into the year until Rashard Mendenhall separated himself from other tailback candidates to grab the bulk of the workload. Mendenhall ended up having a banner year, gaining a school-record 1,681 yards en route to becoming a first-round NFL draft pick.

It's too late for LeShoure to post numbers like that. But he can still have a strong finish and he'll have two more years to build on this encouraging sophomore year.

Because quarterback Juice Williams has not shown signs of finding his confidence as a passer, it seems likely that Illinois will lean more and more on its running attack.

With Williams running the option, and with LeShoure blasting his way through defenses, Illinois might have found its offensive personality.

Finally, Illinois seems to have uncovered a running back with a Big Ten look - big, strong and with a burst of speed he did not have one year ago.

mtupper@herald-review.com|421-7983