The Illinois State football team will have to head into Minnesota next Saturday without one of its senior captains as Antwan Oliver will miss two to three weeks with a pair of fractured ribs on his left side.
The Redbird defensive back got tangled up with Saint Xavier wide receiver Greg Gerritsen in the second quarter of Thursdays season opener and fractured his ribs in the collision. Head coach Denver Johnson is looking for Oliver to return for conference play.
This isnt a good situation for us, Johnson said. Antwan is probably our best player back there in the secondary and it is unfortunate for him. Hopefully, it will be something that will heal quickly. I know hell work hard to get back out there and he is a tough kid, but hes going to miss at least a couple of games. Im hopeful that we can have him back by the time we start conference play and if we can do that we will count it as a blessing that it wasnt any worse than it is.
Prior to the injury, Oliver picked off his first interception of the season and added four tackles and a pass break up in the Redbirds 44-14 win over the Cougars.
Oliver, who earned preseason All-Gateway honorable mention honors, started all 12 games in 2003 and led the team with 11 pass break ups. He finished his junior season with 49 tackles and one interception. In addition to missing the game at Minnesota, Oliver will likely miss the Sept. 18 matchup against Eastern Illinois, his former team.
