WISCONSIN GAME PROMOTIONS
• Homecoming - 105th #ILLINOIShomecoming is this weekend.
• Big Ten 2-Pack – Tickets to 2 B1G games (WIS & OSU) starting at $40 per ticket
• Grange Grove – Opens at 7 am (Interactive games, food trucks & music start at 11 am)
• Fighting Illini Walk – Noon through Grange Grove
• Rodney Atkins Concert – Country music star will perform FREE concert in Grange Grove from 12:30-2 pm
FOR OPENERS
• Kicking Off: The Fighting Illini (4-2 overall, 1-1 B1G West) come off bye week to host Wisconsin (5-2 overall, 2-1 B1G West) at Memorial Stadium as part of the University of Illinois' 105th Homecoming celebration on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT, BTN).
• Captain Comeback: Illinois has seven fourth-quarter comeback wins in the last two seasons (five in 2014 and two so far in 2015). QB Wes Lunt has orchestrated five of those seven fourth-quarter comebacks, including both this season (vs. Middle Tennessee and vs. Nebraska).
• D-Fence: The Fighting Illini defense over the first six games has shown vast improvement since last season.
» The Illini rank in the top-30 nationally in eight different stat categories, including blocked kicks (2), third down defense (4), TFLs (14), first downs allowed (14), passing efficiency defense (16), passing yards allowed (24), total defense (28) and scoring defense (30).
» Through six games in 2014, the Illini were allowing 482.3 ypg and 35.5 ppg. This season, they're allowing 332.5 ypg and 19.7 ppg through six games.
» The Illini have forced 32 three-and-out drives this season (5.3 per game), tied for the 16th-most in FBS. Illinois forced 44 three-and-out drives in all of 2014 (3.4 per game).
» The Illini rank fourth in the nation in third down conversion defense, allowing just 21 first downs in 94 third down attempts this season (.223).
• Senior WR Geronimo Allison leads the B1G in receptions per game (6.7) and is one of two B1G players averaging over 100 yards per game (100.2). With 40 catches for 601 yards this season, Allison has matched his production from the entire 2014 season (41-598). A recent addition to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, Allison is coming off an eight-catch, 148-yard game at Iowa, which included a 53-yard touchdown.
• Junior LEO Dawuane Smoot is having a monster year, racking up 11.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks at the midpoint of 2015. He ranks fifth in FBS in TFLs per game (1.9) and 22nd in sacks per game (.83).
• Senior DB V'Angelo Bentley is the Illinois career leader in kick return yardage (1,576). He surpassed Pierre Thomas' record of 1,495 yards against MTSU on Sept. 26. The Hornung Award candidate is the first Illinois player in school history to record kick, punt, interception and fumble returns for TD in his career.
• Senior LB Mason Monheim has 340 career tackles, third-most among active FBS players. The Butkus and Lombardi Award candidate has forced seven career fumbles, tied for fourth most in Illinois history and fifth-most among active FBS players.
• Cardiac Illini: The last two Fighting Illini victories were each decided in the final 10 seconds of regulation by a total of three points. Against Nebraska, QB Wes Lunt found WR Geronimo Allison for a 1-yard TD with 10 seconds left for a 14-13 Illini victory. That followed up a 27-25 win over Middle Tennessee on Sept. 26 after the Blue Raiders missed a 43-yard field goal with four seconds on the clock.
• Block Party: Illinois is tied for second in FBS with three blocked kicks this season. The Fighting Illini have blocked two punts, returning both for touchdowns, and one field goal on the season.
• On the Upswing: Illinois has won three of its last four and four of its last seven B1G games dating back to last season. In the 25 Big Ten games prior to the last seven, the Fighting Illini were 1-24.
Honoring The Galloping Ghost
• For the second straight Homecoming game, the Fighting Illini will honor Hall of Famer Harold "Red" Grange, the Galloping Ghost, by wearing special "Gray Ghost" alternate uniforms against the Badgers.
• The uniforms debuted at Homecoming 2014 on the 90th anniversary of Grange's historic Homecoming performance against Michigan in the Memorial Stadium dedication game on Oct. 18, 1924. In that game, Grange scored four touchdowns and racked up 262 total yards in the first 12 minutes, then ran for a fifth touchdown and threw for a sixth to lead the Illini to a 39-14 victory in what many consider the greatest single-game performance in college football history.
ILLINOIS HOMECOMING FACTS
• The first homecoming celebrated on Illinois' campus was on Oct. 15, 1910, which the Illini won 3-0 over Chicago. This year's game against Wisconsin marks the 105th #ILLINOIShomecoming.
• Illinois has won three of its last five Homecoming games, including a 28-24 victory over Minnesota last season, and has an all-time record of 45-57-2 on Homecoming.
• This year marks the 11th time overall and the first time since 2001 (a 42-35 UI victory) that the Illini will host Wisconsin on Homecoming. Illinois is 8-2 all-time in Homecoming games against the Badgers.
• Illinois boasts being one of the first universities to celebrate Homecoming, a tradition on almost every college campus. It was conceived in 1909 by students C.F. Williams and W. Elmer Ekblaw, members of the Shield and Trident senior society. They joined with another society, Phoenix, to organize the three-day event.
• For years, there has been a debate over which university had the first homecoming. Historians from various schools found research that puts Illinois among one of the first five universities to celebrate the Homecoming tradition. Baylor has documented proof of a formally named Homecoming celebration in 1909, but took a six-year hiatus before celebrating the second event at the school in 1915. Northern Illinois had alumni events beginning in 1906, but didn't use the proper noun "Homecoming" until 1911. Indiana University renamed their 1909 Gala Day to Homecoming on Nov. 5, 1910, and Michigan began inviting alumni back to campus in 1897, but the formal name began on the Ann Arbor campus in 1916.
ILLINOIS-WISCONSIN SERIES
• This week's game marks the 82nd meeting between the Fighting Illini and the Badgers.
• Wisconsin holds a slim 38-36-7 edge in the all-time series and has won nine of the last 10 meetings. Illinois' lone victory in that stretch was a 31-26 win over the fifth-ranked Badgers in Champaign in 2007.
• Illinois leads the series 20-16-3 in games played in Champaign.
• Last season, Illinois' comeback bid fell short in a 38-28 loss to the Badgers at Camp Randall Stadaium.
• In Wisconsin's last visit to Champaign in 2013, the Badgers pulled away for a 56-32 win.
• The 1995 game between the Illini and Wisconsin holds historical significance as the last college football game to end in a tie (final score was 3-3). Overtime rules were instituted the following season.
• Last 100-yard rusher vs. Wisconsin: Rashard Mendenhall, 160, 10/6/2007
• Last 300-yard passer vs. Wisconsin: Jon Beutjer, 319, 11/9/2002
• Last 100-yard receiver vs. Wisconsin: Steve Hull, 105, 10/19/2013
ILLINI BYE WEEK FACTS
• The Fighting Illini are coming off their lone open weekend of the season heading into the Wisconsin game.
• Illinois has dropped 12 of its last 14 games following a bye. Last season, the Illini had two bye weeks and went 1-1 in games following them. The Oct. 25 win over Minnesota (28-24) and the Nov. 15 loss to Iowa (30-14) in 2014 both came after off weeks for the Orange and Blue.
• Illinois has played 36 games after a bye in the modern era (since 1985, when bye weeks became commonplace) and is 13-23 in those contests.
NO FLY ZONE
The improvement of the Illini defense in 2015, under the direction of co-defensive coordinators Tim Banks and Mike Phair, has been remarkable. The Illini have jumped over 70 spots in national rankings from last season in several categories and currently are ranked in the top-30 nationally in blocked kicks, third down defense, TFLs, first downs allowed, pass efficiency defense, passing yards allowed, scoring defense and total defense.
| ILLINOIS' DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT IN 2015 |
| Category | 2014 (Nat'l Rk) | 2015 (Nat'l Rk) |
| Blocked Kicks (total) | 1 (70) | 3 (2) |
| Third Down Conversion % | .423 (88) | .223 (4) |
| Tackles for Loss (per game) | 6.3 (49) | 8.0 (14) |
| First Downs Allowed (per game) | 22.5 (101) | 16.2 (14) |
| Pass Efficiency Defense (rating) | 136.0 (95) | 105.97 (16) |
| Passing Yards Allowed (ypg) | 217.2 (47) | 181.2 (24) |
| Scoring Defense (ppg) | 34.0 (107) | 19.7 (28) |
| Total Defense (ypg) | 456.4 (109) | 332.5 (30) |
| Interceptions (total) | 7 (105) | 7 (34) |
| Rushing Defense (ypg) | 239.2 (115) | 151.3 (50) |
FOURTH-QUARTER MAGIC
• The Illini mounted their second fourth-quarter comeback victory of the season against Nebraska on Oct. 3. Illinois trailed 13-0 entering the final quarter and was down 13-7 with less than a minute remaining before QB Wes Lunt orchestrated a 6-play, 72-yard drive culminating in Geronimo Allison's 1-yard touchdown catch with 10 seconds left for a 14-13 Illini victory.
• A week before against Middle Tennessee State, the Fighting Illini trailed 25-24 with less than four minutes on the clock before Lunt engineered an 8-play, 41-yard drive ending in a 51-yard game-winning field goal by Taylor Zalewski with 2:09 left.
• In 2014, Illinois mounted five fourth-quarter comebacks, coming back to beat Penn State, Minnesota, Texas State, Western Kentucky and Youngstown State after training at some point during the fourth quarter.
• Illinois has had 11 comeback wins since 2001 when trailing after three quarters. Five of those 11 have come since the start of the 2014 season.
GERONIMOOOOOOOO!
• Senior WR Geronimo Allison has 40 receptions for 601 yards this season, leading the Big Ten in receptions per game (6.7) and ranking in the top-20 nationally in receptions and receiving yards per game (100.2).
• Allison has been hot as of late, with 26 reception for 367 yards and two touchdowns in the last three games. He is coming off his best game of the season at Iowa (8 catches for 148 yards with a 53-yard touchdown), his fifth career 100-yard game.
• Allison caught the game-winning TD against Nebraska, a 1-yard strike from Wes Lunt with 10 second left in the game to put the Illini up 14-13. He finished with eight receptions for 91 yards against the Huskers.
• Allison has hauled in 11 receptions of 20+ yards, which is tied for the ninth-most in the nation and exceeds his 2014 season total of nine. His 28 receptions of 10+ yards is tied for 10th-most in FBS.
• In his second season with the Illini after transferring from Iowa Western CC in 2014, Allison went over 1,000 career receiving yards during the Nebraska game. He now has 1,199 yards on 81 career receptions at UI.
• The Tampa, Florida, native and Iowa Western Community College transfer has had overwhelming success on first down, recording 618 of his 1,199 total yards (51.5 percent) and six touchdowns, including the Oct. 3 game-winner against Nebraska, on that down. Twenty-two of his 36 first-down catches have resulted in first downs and nine of them went for 25-plus yards.
Complete Illinois-Wisconsin Game Notes (PDF)
