Postgame Notes: @IlliniFootball vs. Nebraska

Football October 3, 2015

Postgame Notes: @IlliniFootball vs. Nebraska

Illinois Postgame Notes
Illinois 14, Nebraska 13
Memorial Stadium // Oct. 3, 2015 // Attendance: 40,138

TEAM NOTES

1. Junior QB Wes Lunt passed one yard to senior WR Geronimo Allison with 10 seconds on the clock to tie the game at 13, and senior PK Taylor Zalewski made the field goal to give Illinois the 14-13 lead. It was Lunt's seventh touchdown of the season and the second for Allison.
2. Illinois improves to 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in Big Ten play.
3. The win was the second straight fourth-quarter come back win for the Fighting Illini. Last week, the Illini trailed Middle Tennesee 25-24 late in the fourth quarter before a 51-yard field goal by Taylor Zalewski with 2:09 left gave the Illini the victory. Tonight, Illinois trailed Nebraska 13-0 at the start of the fourth quarter and was down 13-7 in the final minute before Allison's game-winning reception with 10 seconds left.
4. Illinois now has seven fourth-quarter comeback wins in the last two seasons (five in 2014 and two so far in 2015). Quarterback Wes Lunt has orchestrated five of those seven fourth-quarter comebacks.
5. Tonight's win marks the first time the Illini have opened the Big Ten season with a victory since the 2011 season when Illinois defeated Northwestern 38-35 (Oct. 1).
6. Tonight's win marks Illinois' first win over Nebraska since 1924, and the first in Champaign since 1923. Illinois improves to 3-9-1 on the all-time series.
7. The Illini held Nebraska to a season-low 292 yards. Nebraska's previous low was 445 yards against BYU in its season opener. Tonight's total of 292 yards is 227 yards less than Nebraska's season average (519.5).
8. The Illini held Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong Jr. to 105 yards passing (10-for-31), his lowest total of the season and second lowest in the last two seasons (Low: 62 yards at Wisconsin, 2014).
9. The Illini did not record a turnover in today's game, marking the second consecutive game without a turnover for the Orange and Blue.
10. The Illini forced seven three-and-outs today. On the season, Illinois has forced 31 three-and-outs, averaging 6.2 per game. The Illini had 44 all of last season.
11. The Illini forced two turnovers in today's game, giving the Illinois defense a total of 16 forced turnovers over the past seven games, dating back to last season against Northwestern (Nov. 29, 2014).
12. Illinois has now won three straight Big Ten games dating back to last season. In the last six conference games, Illinois is 4-2. In the 25 games prior to that, the Illini were 1-24 in conference play.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

1. Freshman RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn's 98 yards rushing were the most by an Illinois true freshman since Donovan Young's 100 yards against Western Michigan on Sept. 24, 2011. Vaughn was two yards short of becoming just the 10th true freshman to rush for 100 yards in a game since 1970.
2. Senior DB Clayton Fejedelem recorded his first career interception in the third quarter.
3. Sophomore WR Marchie Murdock caught his third touchdown pass of the season in the fourth quarter.
4. True freshmen (WR Desmond Cain, RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn and WR Sam Mays) accounted for 156 of the Illini's 382 total yards (40.8 %)
5. On a pivotal third down in the fourth quarter with 13:21 left, Junior LEO Dawuane Smoot recorded the first and only sack for the Illini for a loss of 15 yards. The sack was Smoot's team-leading fourth of the season.
6. Senior WR Geronimo Allison was just nine yards short of his fifth-career 100-yard receiving game. He had eight catches for 91 yards and one touchdown against Nebraska on Saturday evening. That number marks the most receiving yards for the senior in a Big Ten game since grabbing five catches for 118 yards against Nebraska last season.
7. Senior WR Geronimo Allison caught two passes for 20 or more yards tonight, he has now hauled in nine receptions of 20+ yards which matches his 2014 season total. Coming into the game, Allison's seven 20+ yard receptions ranked 13th in the nation.
8. Led by senior cornerback V'Angelo Bentley, the Fighting Illini defense held Nebraska's leading receiver, Jordan Westerkamp, to just one reception for -1 yard. Westercamp, an Illinois native, entered the game with 26 receptions for 351 yards and four touchdowns.
9. Senior RB Josh Ferguson left the game in the first half with a shoulder injury.