Sept. 6, 2008

1. Juice Williams broke the Illinois single-game rushing record by a quarterback with 174 yards, topping his own previous record of 145 yards against Purdue in 2006. He had 100 yards in the first half on 11 carries. With his career-high 174 yards, Williams moves into 21st on the Illinois all-time rushing list with 1,515 yards.

2. Williams also posted 298 yards of total offense, which moves him up to 6th on Illinois' career total offense list with 5,322 yards.

3. In just two games, Williams has already moved into 9th place on the single-season rushing list for Illinois quarterbacks with 184 yards.

4. Illinois jump-started its running game in today's home opener with 399 yards on the ground. That total ranks 10th on the Illinois single-game rushing yards list and is the most since the Illini had 448 yards rushing last year vs. Minnesota.

5. The Illini's 47 points marks the highest-scoring game of the Zook era. It is the seventh 40-point game in Zook's four seasons. The Illini have now topped 40 points in back-to-back games to open the 2008 season.

6. Illinois' nine-play, 93-yard drive in the second quarter marked the longest drive in terms of yardage that the Illini have conducted this season. Illinois' drive that took 6:58 off the clock in the first quarter also was a season-long.

7. Arrelious Benn scored his first and second touchdowns of the season, as well as his first career rushing TDs, with his 4-yard and 13-yard runs. He now has four career TDs.

8. Troy Pollard scored his first career touchdown on a 25-yard run in the fourth quarter.

9. The Illinois defense has now held opponent offenses on three fourth-down attempts for the season. The Illini stopped Missouri twice in the season opener and once against EIU.

10. The Illini defense also forced three turnovers on the day, grabbing two interceptions and forcing a fumble. Illinois now has five turnovers in two games this season.

11. Along with registering a team-high 11 tackles today, Britt Miller also had a sack, an interception, a forced fumble and 2.5 tackles for loss.

12. Dere Hicks intercepted his third career pass and first of the season, returning it 12 yards. It was the first return of his career.

13. With his 16-yard touchdown catch today (third of the season), Chris Duvalt now has a TD reception in each of his first two games as a receiver.

14. Will Davis had a sack today, giving him 12.5 for his career and moving him into 10th on the Illinois all-time quarterback sacks list.

15. Freshman DT Corey Liuget also had a solid day, recording five tackles, 1.5 for loss, 0.5 sacks and a forced fumble. All of those numbers were career highs.

16. After playing 10 true freshman in last week's season opener, freshman OL Jeff Allen saw the field today to bring the number to 11.

17. Placekicker Matt Eller recorded the first field goals of his career today, with a 21-yarder followed by a career-long 42-yarder.

18. Illinois has now won its last 11 home openers and have a all-time record of 81-33-5 in home openers.