Illinois will not have cornerback Jaheim Clarke this weekend at Duke (11 a.m. CST, ESPN) as he’s been scratched due to the hamstring issue that kept him out of the season opener vs. Western Illinois.

September 4, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN — Jaheim Clarke has been scratched for this weekend’s matchup at Duke.

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema confirmed Thursday in his final local media session before kickoff this weekend that the third-year cornerback will be on the inactive list and not one of the 74 players who get on the team plane Friday when No. 11 Illinois plays at Duke on Saturday (11 a.m. CST, ESPN).

Following the 52-3 win over Western Illinois last Friday night, Bielema confirmed Clarke suffered a hamstring injury late in preseason camp practices and could miss most of the first month of this season with his rehabilitation process from this soft tissue issue.

“Juice won’t be with us but we kind of knew that on Tuesday,” Bielema said Thursday. “We knew that if we wasn’t going to be (medically) cleared by Tuesday, Wednesday than we weren’t going to bring him for this game. Should be ready for next week though. Other than him, that’s the only guy in our projected two-deep before the year had started (on the inactive roster).”

After playing in 24 games over the past seasons and earning his first career start in the road win over Rutgers last season, Clarke was expected to compete for playing time with the first-team unit in 2025 at the cornerback spot opposite of Kaleb Patterson and All-Big Ten selection Xavier Scott at the nickel.

Clarke had 34 total tackles (26 solo), one tackle for loss, one fumble recovery, and five pass breakups last season. He had a career-high 12 tackles (eight solo) in his first-career start against Northwestern in a win at Wrigley Field in the regular season finale and then had his first career fumble recovery in the Citrus Bowl win over South Carolina.

Illinois played six players at cornerback and nickel during the blowout win over WIU last Friday night, including a team-high (for non-safeties) 38 snaps from Torrie Cox Jr., with 25 of those snaps in pass coverage. Tanner Heckel, who took a majority of reps with the first-team defense in the spring season due to several inactive defensive backs recovering from end-of-season medical procedures, received 10 snaps of action on Friday night.

Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry said Illinois introduced as many as 13 subpackage combinations against Western Illinois last weekend and this includes using multiple safeties on first and second down situations. Mac Resetich did not receive the start at safety, but according to Pro Football Focus, he was on the field for the fifth-most snaps (33) among all players on the Illinois defensive squad.