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University of Illinois Athletics

Jeff George - Illinois vs. Minnesota - October 29, 2016
40
Winner Minnesota MINN 6-2 , 3-2
17
Illinois ILL 2-6 , 1-4
Winner
Minnesota MINN
6-2 , 3-2
40
Final
17
Illinois ILL
2-6 , 1-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
MINN Minnesota 14 0 7 19 40
ILL Illinois 7 0 7 3 17

Game Recap: Football |

Illinois Drops Homecoming Game to Gophers, 40-17

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois lost to Minnesota 40-17 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Ke'Shawn Vaughn got the Illini on the board on a 3-yard run to the outside in the first quarter.

In the second half, Illinois pulled within one score when Zach Grant caught a 16-yard strike from Jeff George Jr. It was Grant's first career touchdown.

George Jr. finished the day 16-for-34 and 156 yards passing and one touchdown.

Reggie Corbin led Illinois in rushing with 83 yards on 14 carries.

With time running out in the game, Chase McLaughlin connected on a career-long 53 yard field goal. That ties for the fourth longest in Illinois history. The record is 57 yards by Dan Beaver vs. Purdue 10/18/75

Next up, Illinois hosts Michigan State for Dad's Day on Saturday, November 5 at 11 am.

Lovie Smith Quotes

"As far as a great Homecoming weekend as a football team, it's hard to win when you start off that way. I'm putting a big emphasis on trying to get momentum early on in the game and those turnovers early on, those fumbles, put us in a hole. When you're not a good football team yet, it's hard to overcome adversity like that. I think offensively, Jeff did some things better than he did the week before, he was under a lot of pressure. We were never really able to get our running game going, which hurt us. Defensively, the guys played hard. When you're minus three in the turnover ratio, they got something. 'No takeaways,' is a thing for us, it's a tough duty to win. Injury wise, it's always concerning when a player goes off on a cart or stretcher but Malik Turner will be okay, he's in the locker room right now. We had some other players that went down with injuries; I'll be able to let you know a little bit more details later in the week. Wes Lunt, questions have been asked about him, he is getting better. He's dressed so that's progress. At the same time, you have to give Minnesota a lot of credit. They caused the turnovers early on and hung in there and got a win. Again, we aren't there yet but we will keep plugging away."

Team Notes 

  • Today was the 69th meeting between Illinois and Minnesota. Minnesota leads the all-time series 37-29-3.
  • The Illini are 17-16-1 against Minnesota in Champaign.
  • Illinois is 45-59-2 all-time in Homecoming games.
  • Illinois is 9-8-1 all-time in Homecoming games against the Gophers.
  • Illinois started two players for the first time in their careers today. The Illini have had 25 first-time starters this season, including 11 freshmen (four true-freshmen and seven redshirt-freshmen).
  • Illinois wore its "Gray Ghost" alternate uniforms for the third time (Homecoming 2014-16), including blue helmets with gray chrome decals for the first time.
  • Minnesota was 0-1 on fourth down attempts today, opponent offenses are now 2-9 (.222) against the Illini defense on fourth down. Illinois came into the game ranked 2nd in the Big Ten and 4th in the nation in fourth-down defense.
  • The Illini had a season-low three penalties against Minnesota.
  • Illinois held Minnesota to a season-low 112 passing yards, also good for the Illini's fewest passing yards allowed this season.

Individual Notes 

  • Redshirt-freshman PK Chase McLaughlin kicked a career-long 53-yard field goal.
    • The field goal is tied for the fourth-longest in school history and the longest since Taylor Zalewski kicked a 54-yard score against Purdue on Nov. 17, 2012
  • Freshman DB Stanley Green led the team with nine tackles. Green is the first true freshman to lead the Illini in tackles since Mike Svetina had 9.5 tackles against Northwestern on Nov. 24, 2012.
  • Redshirt-freshman QB Jeff George Jr. made his second career start.
    • George Jr. had a career-high 16 completions and 156 passing yards
  • Sophomore LB Tre Watson missed the first half due to a targeting penalty in the second half last week at Michigan.
  • Freshman LB Jake Hansen made his first career start.
    • Hansen had a career-high two tackles.
  • Junior DB Jaylen Dunlap had a career-high three pass breakups.
    • Dunlap is the first player since Eaton Spence had three PBUs in a game on Nov. 15, 2014 vs. Iowa.
  • Senior TE Tyler White's 23-yard reception in the first quarter is the longest of his career.
  • Senior WR Zach Grant scored his first career touchdown.
  • Sophomore WR Sam Mays had a career-high 39 receiving yards, including a career-long 30-yard reception.
  • Redshirt-freshman CB Frank Sumpter made his first career start.
  • Freshman WR Dominic Thieman had a career-high 25 receiving yards on a career-high four receptions.
  • Senior LS Michael Martin had his first career tackle.
  • Senior LB Hardy Nickerson has 321 career tackles (246 at Cal, 75 at Illinois).
  • Consecutive starts extended dating back to 2015: Christian DiLauro 27, Dawuane Smoot 20, Malik Turner 9
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