Sept. 3, 2006

Recap |  Final Stats |  Quotes

1. With the victory, Illinois is now 74-38-5 in season openers and 51-27-4 when opening the season at home. The Illini also improve to 79-33-5 all-time in home openers, marking their ninth straight win in a home opener.

2. Illinois started three true-freshmen in tonight's game: tight end Jeff Cumberland, cornerback Vontae Davis and punter Kyle Yelton. The last season that Illinois started three true freshmen was in 1997: tight end Josh Whitman, offensive lineman Ray Redziniak and safety Bobby Jackson.

3. Illinois had six rushing touchdowns tonight against Eastern Illinois. The last time Illinois had six rushing TDs in a game was in the Micronpc.com bowl victory over Virginia on Dec. 30, 1999.

4. Illinois had 345 yards rushing against the Panthers, marking the first time in over six seasons that the Illini totaled 300 rushing yards. The last time came when the UI totaled 326 yards on the ground in the Micronpc.com bowl victory over Virginia on Dec. 30, 1999.

5. True-freshman cornerback Vontae Davis and sophomore linebacker Brit Miller each recorded their first career interceptions tonight. This marks the first time the Illini have had multiple picks in a game since the 2004 season opener vs. Florida A&M (Kelvin Hayden, 2 INTs).

6. Senior Pierre Thomas rushed for over 100 yards for the sixth time in his career, with his 126 yards against EIU, and scored two touchdowns for the fifth time in his career with his two TD runs against the Panthers.

7. Pierre Thomas' two touchdown runs tonight brings his career total to 17 rushing TDs.

8. With 126 yards rushing tonight, Pierre Thomas now has 1916 career yards, moving up to 12th on the Illini career rushing list, and needs just 84 more yards to reach the 2,000-yard rushing plateau.

9. Thomas moved up to third on the UI's career all-purpose yardage list, passing Thomas Rooks. Thomas had 154 all-purpose yards tonight to give him 3,548 in his career.

10. Thomas also moved up to second on the UI's career kickoff return yardage list, passing George McDonald-Ashford. Thomas had 21 kick return yards tonight to give him 1,293 in his career. The Illini record is 1,383 set by Clinton Lynch.

11. Rashard Mendenhall recorded his first career rushing touchdown with his 1-yard TD run in the second quarter.

12. The Illini recorded a net total of 519 yards on the night. This marks the first time since the Wisconsin game last season (Oct 29, 2005) that the Illini have totaled over 500 yards. Illinois had 538 yards against the Badgers in that game.

13. The Illini spread out the scoring against the Panthers. Thomas and Mendenhall each had a pair of touchdowns, marking the first time that the UI had two running backs record multiple TDs since Thomas and E.B. Halsey each had two against Florida A&M in 2004. Tim Brasic and Halsey each added a rushing touchdown tonight against EIU.

14. Junior wide receivers Jacob Willis and Frank Lenti both made their first career starts tonight. Lenti earned a scholarship following the end of 2006 training camp and Willis is a walk-on. Willis caught his first collegiate pass tonight with a 25-yard reception.

15. Against the Panthers, the Illini offense had six big plays of over 25 yards, including two runs of over 35 yards.

16. Sophomore Derek Walker recorded the first sack of the season for the Illini and the second of his career when he dropped EIU quarterback Mike Donato for an 11-yard loss in the first quarter.

17. Justin Harrison led the Illini with nine tackles while Alan Ball added eight.

18. Illinois' next opponent, Rutgers, won 21-16 at North Carolina earlier this afternoon.

19. The Big Ten went a perfect 11-0 in the first week of the season., In addition to Illinois' 42-17 victory over Eastern Illinois today, Ohio State beat Northern Illinois 35-12, Michigan beat Vanderbilt 27-7, Iowa beat Montana 41-7, Penn State beat Akron 34-16, Michigan State beat Idaho 27-17, Purdue beat Indiana State 60-35, Indiana beat Western Michigan 39-20 and Wisconsin beat Bowling Green 35-14. On Thursday, Northwestern beat Miami (OH) 21-3 and Minnesota beat Kent State 44-0.