Sept. 23, 2006

Recap |  Stats |  Quotes |  Photo Gallery 1 |  Photo Gallery 2

1. Juice Williams became the first Illini true freshman to start at quarterback since Kurt Kittner started vs. Iowa Sept. 26, 1998 at Memorial Stadium. Like today, that was also the fourth game of the season, as well as the Big Ten opener.

2. Kevin Mitchell recorded his first career sack and first career interception today. Mitchell's interception marks the fourth redzone INT for the Illini this year, and is the team's fifth interception on the season.

3. Pierre Thomas became the 12th player in Illini history to eclipse the 2,000-yard career rushing mark. He entered today's game needing 21 yards to reach the 2,000-yard plateau and had 50 yards on the day. Thomas now has 2,029 career rushing yards.

4. The Illini held the Iowa offense scoreless for the game's first 24:05, marking the longest scoreless time span to start the game by an opponent in the Ron Zook era. Iowa did not score in the first or third quarters, which mark the fifth and sixth scoreless quarters of the season by UI opponents.

5. Jacob Willis had a career-high 78 yards receiving and tied his career best with three receptions. He also recorded his first career touchdown with a 31-yard TD reception, which also marked the longest catch of his career.

6. J Leman led the Illini in tackles for the third straight game with 12, which also marked his third straight game registering double figures in tackles. Leman leads the Illini on the season with 44 tackles.

7. Kevin Mitchell had a season-high 10 tackles on the day and moved up to third on the team in tackles on the season with 28 stops.

8. Kyle Hudson had three catches today, all resulting in first downs. Seven of Hudson's nine catches on the season have converted first downs.

9. After committing 12 penalties last week vs. Syracuse, the Illini had only two penalties for 10 yards today against the Hawkeyes.

10. True freshman Joe Morgan has his first career catch today. He is the 12th Illini player to catch a pass this season

11. Iowa had only eight yards rushing in the first quarter, and 39 in the first half.