MIDDLE TENNESSEE GAME PROMOTIONS
• Stripe the Stadium - Even sections wear BLUE, odd sections + students wear ORANGE
• Family 4-Pack Tickets - 4 tickets starting at $60 (extra tickets available at $15 each)
• Grange Grove – Opens at 7 am (Interactive games, food trucks and music start at Noon)
• Illini Walk – 12:30 pm through Grange Grove
FOR OPENERS
• Kicking Off: The Fighting Illini (2-1) look to bounce back from their first loss of the season when Middle Tennessee comes to Memorial Stadium on Saturday (3 pm CT on ESPNews). The Blue Raiders are 2-1 on the season and are averaging over 50 points per game after a 73-14 win over Charlotte last Saturday.
• D-Fence: Despite a hiccup against UNC last week, the Fighting Illini defense over the first three games has shown vast improvement over a year ago.
» The Illini rank in the top-20 nationally in eight different stat categories, including third down conversion percentage defense (5), interceptions (7), passing efficiency defense (12), tackles for loss (13) and total defense (20). See page 2 here for a chart comparing the 2014 Illini defense with this year's.
» The Illini have forced 17 three-and-out drives this season, tied for the 14th most in FBS.
» The 44-0 win over WIU in week two was Illinois' first shutout since Charleston Southern on 9/15/12.
» The Illini rank fifth in the nation in third down conversion defense, allowing just eight first downs in 43 third down attempts this season (.186).
• Sack-Free in '15: The first string offensive line of LT Austin Schmidt, LG Chris Boles, C Joe Spencer, RG Ted Karras and RT Christian DiLauro has yet to allow a sack this season. As a team, the Illini rank sixth nationally with one sack allowed. It late in the Kent State game with the second-string line in the game.
• Early Season Success: The Illini are 21-2 in August/September home games since 2007, the third-best mark in the Big Ten behind only Wisconsin (27-0) and Ohio State (28-2).
• With 133 rushing yards at UNC Saturday, senior RB Josh Ferguson became the 17th player in Illinois history to surpass 2,000 career rushing yards. He now has 2,126 career rushing yards, good for 13th in UI history.
» Ferguson passed some big names on the UI career rushing list vs. the Tar Heels, leap-frogging Rich Johnson, Nathan Scheelhaase (his current position coach), Red Grange (the greatest college football player of all time) and Chubby Phillips on his way up to 13th place.
» Ferguson is one of two active FBS players with more than 2,000 career rushing yards (2,126) and 1,000 receiving yards (1,300). Arizona State's D.J. Foster is the other one (2,172 rushing, 1,996 receiving).
» A Doak Walker Award candidate, Ferguson ranks fourth in career all-purpose yards at UI (3,807), with a realistic chance to break Robert Holcombe's all-time mark of 4,737.
• Senior DB V'Angelo Bentley needs 31 KR yards to break Pierre Thomas' UI career record of 1,495. Bentley currently ranks second on the list with 1,465 yards. 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.
• Junior SS Taylor Barton picked off two passes in the win over WIU and has three interceptions this season, tied for the second most in the nation through the first three weeks of the season. The three interceptions are the most for an Illini in a season since Terry Hawthorne in 2011 and equal the total for the entire team in all of 2013.
• Senior LB Mason Monheim has 307 career tackles, the 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 the third-most among active FBS players.
NO FLY ZONE
Despite a rough day at North Carolina, the improvement of the Fighting Illini defense in 2015, under the direction of co-defensive coordinators Tim Banks and Mike Phair, has been remarkable. The Illini have jumped over 100 spots in national rankings from last season in several categories and currently are ranked in the top-10 nationally in third down defense, interceptions, passing efficiency defense, TFLs, turnovers gained, first downs allowed, passing yards allowed and total defense.
| ILLINOIS' DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT IN 2015 |
| Category | 2014 (Nat'l Rk) | 2015 (Nat'l Rk) |
| Third Down Conversion % | .423 (88) | .186 (5) |
| Interceptions (total) | 7 (105) | 6 (7) |
| Pass Efficiency Defense (rating) | 136.0 (95) | 94.36 (12) |
| Tackles for Loss (per game) | 6.3 (49) | 8.3 (13) |
| Turnovers Gained (total) | 19 (74) | 7 (18) |
| First Downs Allowed (per game) | 22.5 (101) | 14.3 (19) |
| Passing Yards Allowed (ypg) | 217.2 (47) | 150.7 (19) |
| Total Defense (ypg) | 456.4 (109) | 285.7 (20) |
| Scoring Defense (ppg) | 34.0 (107) | 17.0 (28) |
| Rushing Defense (ypg) | 239.2 (115) | 135.0 (44) |
ILLINOIS-MIDDLE TENNESSEE SERIES
• Saturday will be the third meeting between the Fighting Illini and Middle Tennessee State. Illinois leads 2-0 with wins in 1998 (48-20) and 2000 (35-6), both at Memorial Stadium.
• Illinois coach Bill Cubit and MTSU coach Rick Stockstill were on the same coaching staff at UCF in 1985.
• Illinois has two players on its roster from the state of Tennessee, true freshmen Ke'Shawn Vaughn and Cameron Watkins, who both attended Pearl-Cohn High School in Nashville, less than an hour away from Murfreesboro, where MTSU is located.
UPLIFTING ATHLETES PLEDGE DRIVE
• Illinois' Uplifting Athletes chapter is holding a touchdown pledge drive against Middle Tennessee on Sept. 26. Every touchdown the Fighting Illini score against the Blue Raiders will benefit acoustic neuroma research. Fans can make a donation at pledgeit.org/illinois2015.
• Fighting Illini players raised over $16,000 for acoustic neuroma, which ended the career of former Illini offensive lineman Andrew Carter, with their fourth annual Lift for Life fundraiser through Uplifting Athletes on June 26, 2015. Acoustic neuroma is a rare, slow-growing tumor of the nerve that connects the ear to the brain. Sophomore OL Joe Spencer serves as president of the UI chapter of Uplifting Athletes and helped organize the event, which featured the entire Fighting Illini team participating in a strongman competition at Memorial Stadium. Find more on Andrew Carter's story here: bit.ly/CarterFeature.
ILLINI STAFF TO PARTICIPATE IN COACH TO CURE MD WEEK
Illinois coach Bill Cubit and staff join forces with coaches around the country this weekend to support the Coach to Cure MD program. All the Fighting Illini coaches will be wearing patches on their sleeves for the Middle Tennessee game on Sept. 26 to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. Fans are encouraged to donate online at CoachtoCureMD.org or donate $5 by texting "CURE" to 90999.
MAKING THE GRADE
The Illini have excelled in the classroom over the last three seasons, a major focus of the staff's program-building.
• A total of 38 football student-athletes earned degrees in 2014-15, including 13 that are on the 2015 roster pursuing second degrees or master's degrees.
• Since 2012, the number of football graduates has gone from 15 (2012), to 16 (2013) to 21 (2014) to 38 (2015).
• Illinois has broken its school record for Academic All-Big Ten selections in each of the last three seasons in Champaign. Prior to 2012, the school record was 12 (2000 & 2009). Since then, the Illini have had 18 (2012), 21 (2013) and now 29 in 2014.
• For four consecutive semesters, at least 40 football student-athletes have posted at least a 3.0 grade-point-average, including a high of 60 in Spring 2015. In the same time frame, Illinois' team GPA also has risen steadily from 2.71 in fall 2012 to 2.98 in spring 2015.
Fergy Fast
• Senior RB Josh Ferguson ranks 13th on the Illinois career rushing list with 2,126 yards. He jumped four spots with his 133-yard performance at UNC Saturday, passing big names like Nathan Scheelhaase (2,066) and Red Grange (2,071). Next up are John Karras (2,135) and Keith Jones (2,194). For the full list, see page 12 here.
• Already the programs all-time leader in running back receptions with 140, Ferguson became the all-time Illini leader in career receiving yards by a running back in week two vs. WIU. He now has 1,300 career receiving yards, eclipsing Ty Douthard's previous record of 1,250 from 1993-'96.
• Ferguson has 3,807 all-purpose yards at Illinois (2,126 rush, 1,300 rec, 381 KR), fourth-most in school history and 930 yards behind Robert Holcombe's career mark of 4,737 from 1994-97. Ferguson had 1,162 all-purpose yards in 2014 and 1,351 in 2013.
Complete Illinois-MTSU Game Notes (PDF)
