FOR OPENERS
• Kicking Off: Coming off two impressive home wins by a combined 93 points to start the season, the Fighting Illini hit the road this Saturday for an ACC test at North Carolina (11 am CT on ESPN2). Illinois will be looking for its first 3-0 start since 2011, and for its first-ever win over the Tar Heels, who are 1-1 on the season.
• Fast Start: In 2014, the Illini needed fourth quarter comebacks in five of their six wins. This season has been the opposite, with both games put away by halftime. Illinois has led by a combined score of 68-0 at the break this season – 38-0 vs. Kent State and 30-0 vs. Western Illinois.
• D-Fence: The Fighting Illini defense has been nothing short of spectacular in the first two victories.
» The Illini are allowing just 1.5 points per game, tied for lowest in the nation, and rank in the top-5 nationally in first downs allowed (10.0), interceptions (5), total defense (193.0) and pass efficiency defense (61.3).
» The Illini have forced 14 three-and-out drives this season, six vs. Kent State and eight vs. WIU.
» Saturday's 44-0 win over WIU was Illinois' first shutout since Charleston Southern on Sept. 15, 2012
» Illinois has yet to allow a touchdown this season. The last time the Illini went consecutive games without allowing a TD was in 1988 in wins over Purdue (20-3) and Wisconsin (34-6).
» The three points allowed thus far are the fewest in the opening two games of the season for an Illinois team since the 1942 team shutout South Dakota and Butler to open that campaign.
» The Illini rank fifth in the nation in third down conversion defense, allowing just four first downs in 33 third down attempts this season (.121). Illinois held WIU to 1-of-15 on third downs.
• The Big 'O': Not to be outdone, the Illini offense ranks 12th nationally in points per game (48.0 ppg) and the 96 total points in the first two games is the most since the 1944 Illini put up 105 in the first two games.
• Seeing Red: Illinois is tied for the NCAA lead in red zone scoring, getting points on all nine trips (seven touchdowns, two field goals).
• Junior SS Taylor Barton picked off two passes in the win over WIU and has three this season, tied for the most in the nation through the first two 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 305 career tackles, the second-most among active FBS players. The Butkus and Lombardi Award candidate piled up a career-high 111 tackles in 2014, and has forced seven career fumbles, tied for fourth most in Illinois history and the third-most among active FBS players.
• Senior RB Josh Ferguson is one of three active FBS players with more than 1,500 career rushing yards (1,993) and 1,000 receiving yards (1,290). Arizona State's D.J. Foster and Oregon's Byron Marshall are the other two.
» A Doak Walker Award candidate, Ferguson ranks fourth on the Illinois career all-purpose yards (3,664) list with a realistic chance to break Robert Holcombe's all-time UI mark of 4,737.
» Ferguson needs seven yards to reach 2,000 career rushing yards. He currently ranks 17th on the UI all-time list, with the potential to jump into the top three with a big season.
• Senior DB V'Angelo Bentley needs 116 KR yards to break Pierre Thomas' UI career record of 1,495. Bentley currently ranks third on the list. 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.
• After breaking the UI single-season QB efficiency record in 2014 (141.61), junior QB Wes Lunt is off to an even better start in 2015. Lunt tied his career-high with four TD passes against Kent State (all in the first half) and has a 151.8 efficiency rating this season. Lunt has tossed 19 TDs against just four INTs in his UI career.
• After the week two win over Western Illinois, the Fighting Illini are now 15-0 all-time against FCS opponents and 15-0 all-time against other public universities in the state of Illinois.
• Over the last four games dating back to last season, the Illinois defense has forced a total of 12 turnovers.
ILLINOIS-UNC SERIES
• Saturday will be the third meeting between the Fighting Illini and North Carolina, and the second in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have won both previous meetings, 27-0 in Champaign in 1971 and 34-14 in Chapel Hill in 1987.
• North Carolina head strength & conditioning coach Lou Hernandez spent seven seasons in the same role at Illinois under former head coach Ron Zook (2005-11).
GOING BOTH WAYS
• A pair of Illini are seeing action on both sides of the ball. Redshirt freshman Nick Allegretti is a back-up offensive guard and center, but also is seeing time as a defense tackle due to injury issues on the d-line. He played both DT and blocked for PATs and FGs in the win over Western Illinois. The, of course, there's Mr. Versatility V'Angelo Bentley. Already a star defensive back and return man, Bentley has seen some snaps in the offensive backfield this year, throwing a pass vs. Kent State and rushing once for five yards vs. WIU.
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.
SURPRISE SCHOLARSHIPS
Two Fighting Illini walk-ons were surprised at training camp practice with scholarship offers…
» Senior walk-on tight end Tim Clary was surprised with a scholarship for his final season at practice on Aug. 22. Clary was given an envelope on the sidelines, surrounded by his teammates. After he opened the letter and realized what it was, Clary was mobbed by his teammates.
» A few days after Clary's surprise, junior walk-on star Cedric Doxy was surprised with his own scholarship offer at practice and received a similar response from his teammates.
» In all, six players on the current roster have gone from walk-on status to scholarship student-athlete – Clary, Doxy, DB Clayton Fejedelem, DB Davontay Kwaaning, LS Zach Hirth and PK Taylor Zalewski.
Complete Illinois-UNC Game Notes (PDF)
