Sept. 18, 2004

1. Sophomore Pierre Thomas returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, his third TD on the season. This is the first time Illinois has scored on the opening kickoff since Travis Williams returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a TD on Oct. 12, 2002 vs. Purdue at Memorial Stadium (Williams ran 90 yards for the score on a handoff from Eugene Wilson after Wilson ran 10 yards). This also marks Illinois' first special teams touchdown since E.B. Halsey had a 41-yard punt return TD last season at Purdue (Oct. 4, 2003). It also ties for the third-longest in Memorial Stadium history (99, Sulecio Sanford of Middle Tennessee.

2. Thomas returned three kickoffs for 132 yards and a touchdown against Western Michigan. His 44.0 yard average on returns this game ties for the fourth-best single-game performance in school history, and his 132 yards were the fourth-highest single-game kickoff return yardage total in school history.

3. Two Illini made their first career starts this afternoon, with redshirt freshman Brad Bower starting at quarterback and sophomore Arthur Boyd starting at defensive end. 4. Bower also set a career high in passing yardage with 177 yards, eclipsing his previous high of 102 yards against UCLA last week.

5. Sophomore E.B. Halsey, Illinois' leading scorer on the year entering the game, upped his touchdown total to five with a 3-yard TD run in the first quarter and his game-winning four-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

6. Halsey's 40-yard punt return in the fourth quarter to set up Illinois' final drive was a season-long for Illinois, topping Spencer Jensen's 22-yard punt return against Florida A&M, and was Halsey's second career punt return of over forty yards as he had a 41-yard punt return for a touchdown versus Purdue in 2003.

7. In the second quarter, senior wide receiver Ade Adeyemo had a career-long 39 yard reception from Bower. Adeyemo also set a career high in yardage with 93 yards and tied a career high in receptions with six. Adeyemo's previous career high in yardage was 83 yards against Northwestern on Nov. 22, 2003, and he also set his career high in catches in the same game.

8. Quarterback Brad Bower and receiver Kendrick Jones paired up for career firsts in the second quarter. Jones recorded his first career touchdown reception with a 28-yard TD catch from Bower, which also marked Bower's first career touchdown pass.

9. Illinois saw its school-record streak of 202 consecutive extra points come to an end today. The streak began during the 1998 season and spanned five kickers (Neil Rackers in 1998 and '99, Steve Fitts in 2000, Peter Christofilakos in 2001 and '02, John Gockman in 2003 and Jason Reda this year).

10. Illini defensive end Xavier Fulton became the seventh true-freshman to play this season as he saw his first game action of his career vs. Western Michigan.

11. Senior receiver Mark Kornfeld has caught three passes this season, all for first downs. His catch of 30 yards today against Western Michigan was his longest of the year.

12. Safety Morris Virgil recorded his first career interception with a pick at the Bronco 29 yard line in the fourth quarter.

13. James Cooper recorded his first career sack for 13 yards on Western Michigan's final drive.

14. Matt Sinclair's 13 tackles were a season-high and the fifth-highest single game total of his career. Sinclair's previous season high was eight tackles against both Florida A&M and UCLA.

Western Michigan Notes

1. Nate Meyer's 50-yard field goal was the sixth-longest in school history; it was also his first career field goal.

2. True freshman safety Scooter McIntosh registered his first career interception in just his third collegiate game.

3. Trovon Riley's first quarter TD snapped an 86:40 scoreless streak (four-plus quarters) for WMU.

4. Robert Menchinger extended his P.A.T. streak to 74 - third longest active streak in the nation.