OPENING KICK
• On the Road Again: The Fighting Illini (2-4, 0-3) hit the road for a Big Ten West matchup against the Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-3, 0-3) Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
• Punching It Out: On the season, the Illini have forced 12 fumbles to lead the nation in forced fumbles and forced fumbles per game (2.0) along with Wyoming (also 12 FF in six games). Three Illini have forced two fumbles each – DB Stanley Green, DB Patrick Nelson and DL James Crawford, all tied for 14th in FBS.
• Fresh Faces: Youth has been all over the field this season. In fact, the Illini are putting one of the youngest teams in the nation on the field.Â
    » Illinois has started more true freshmen than any team in the nation (14): DB Tony Adams, RB Ra'Von Bonner, OL Larry Boyd, DB Dawson DeGroot, TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, DB Nate Hobbs, OL Vederian Lowe, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree, WR Ricky Smalling, DB Bennett Williams and DL Jamal Woods. Ball State and Baylor are second with nine true-freshmen starters. No other team in the Big Ten has four or more.
    » The 10 true freshmen starters at USF in week three are the most in a game in program history. Prior to this season, the most true freshman to start at Illinois in a SEASON was nine in 1980. In the most recent game against Rutgers nine true freshmen got starts, the second-most ever in a game in program history.Â
    » Illinois has played 20 true freshmen, tied for the most in the nation with LSU.
    » Nine of Illinois' 11 offensive touchdowns (81.8 percent) have been scored by true freshmen, including seven straight dating back to the USF game. Freshman touchdowns have been scored by Mike Epstein (4), Ra'Von Bonner (3), Louis Dorsey (1) and Ricky Smalling (1).Â
    » Illinois had 24 first-time starters in the first six games, the most in the nation. Ball State and Baylor are tied for second with 22.
• Big Play Smalling: Freshman WR Ricky Smalling leads the Big Ten and ranks 24th in FBS in yards per catch (19.4) after hauling in five receptions for 111 yards against Rutgers to become the sixth Illini in program history to have a 100-yard receiving game as a true freshman. Smalling had three catches of 30+ yards against the Scarlet Knights, including a 30-yard TD recpetion, the first of his UI career. His 76-yard catch-and-run at USF on Sept. 15 was the longest in program history by a true freshman and the longest by an Illini since 2011.Â
• Crawford Coming On: Senior DL James Crawford has been stuffing the stat sheet since returning to action in week four against Nebraska. Crawford, who missed the season's first three games, is tied for the B1G lead with two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries during conference play. In three games played he also has nine tackles, 3.0 TFLs, 2.0 sacks, 3 QB hurries and 2 PBUs.Â
• George the Gunslinger: Sophomore QB Jeff George, Jr. had a career-high 308 passing yards against Rutgers on Oct. 14, his first-career 300-yard game and the first for an Illini QB this season. In two games since taking over starting QB duties, George has completed 42 passes for 554 yards and two touchdowns.Â
• Getting Offensive: Illinois is averaging 420.0 yards per game over the last two games, up significatly from their 267.3 ypg over the first four contests. At Iowa on Oct. 7, the Illini gained a season-high 446 yards of total offense, including a season-high 200 rushing yards. A week later against Rutgers, the offense produced 394 total yards, including a season-high 308 passing yards.Â
• Next in Line: While the Illini have freshmen playing all over the field, the offensive line is especially youth-oriented. An OL group of four freshmen and a junior have started the last two games, paving the way for of the offensive resurgence (420 ypg over last two games). The group includes true freshmen Larry Boyd, Vederian Lowe & Alex Palczewski, redshirt freshman Doug Kramer and junior Nick Allegretti.Â
• Block Party: Illinois has three blocked kicks (Two field goals and one PAT) through six games to lead the Big Ten and rank third in the nation in blocked kicks per game (0.50). The Illini are behind only Hawaii (5) and Utah State (4). Jamal Milan blocked the potential game-tying field goal as time expired in the win over Ball State and then the Illini got a pair of blocks at USF, a blocked field goal by Isaiah Gay and a blocked PAT by Tito Odenigbo that was returned by Nate Hobbs for a defensive PAT.Â
• NFL Experience: Lovie Smith's Illini staff has 56 seasons of combined NFL head and assistant coach experience – the most in college football in 2017, ahead of UCLA (45), Michigan (40), Baylor (38) and Alabama (34).
THE ILLINOIS-MINNESOTA SERIES
• Saturday's game between Illinois and Minnesota will be the 70th meeting between the two teams.Â
• Illinois trails in the all-time series against Minnesota, 29-37-3. Illinois is 12-21-2 all-time at Minnesota.
• The Illini forced three turnovers and had 11 TFLs to beat Minnesota 28-24 in 2014, despite being out-gained 411-263, in Illinois' last win over the Gophers. V'Angelo Bentley returned a fumble 12 yards for a touchdown with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter for the game's final score.
• The 2014 win over Minnesota was the Illini's last over a ranked opponent, as the Gophers came in ranked No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. It was the first win over an opponent ranked in either the Associated Press or coaches poll since a 17-14 victory over No. 22 Arizona State on Sept. 17, 2011.
• The Gophers have won six of the last nine meetings, with Illinois winning in 2014 (28-24 in Champaign), 2009 (35-32 in Minneapolis) and 2007 (44-17 in Minneapolis).
• Illinois head coach Lovie Smith vs. Minnesota: 0-1. Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck vs. Illinois: 1-0
• Longest Illinois winning streak vs. Minnesota: 5 (1981-1984, 1987)
• Longest Minnesota winning streak vs. Illinois: 7 (1900-1903, 1911-1913)
• John Sullivan set Illinois' single-game tackles record of 34 vs. Minnesota 11/12/1977
• Rich Kreitling set Illinois' single-game yards per catch record of 41.5 (4-166) at Minnesota 10/18/1958
• Dike Eddleman set Illinois' single-game punt return average record of 51.0 vs. Minnesota 10/18/1947
• Illinois' most rushing yards vs. Minnesota: 315 Robert Holcombe 11/16/1996, 206 Robert Holcombe 11/18/1995, 205 J.C. Caroline 10/17/1953, 201 Rashard Mendenhall 11/3/2007
• Illinois' most receiving yards vs. Minnesota: 188 David Williams 11/5/1983, 181 Arrelious Benn 10/11/2008
• Illinois' most passing yards vs. Minnesota: 462 Juice Williams 10/11/2008, 343 Jeff George 10/29/1988
• Illinois' longest rush vs. Minnesota: 65 Ron Kraft 11/24/1917, 64 Rashard Mendenhall 11/3/2007
• Illinois' longest pass vs. Minnesota: 83 Hickey to Kreitling 10/18/1958, 80 Eason to Martin, 10/2/1982
MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS
• Minnesota has 12 Illinois natives on its roster. Illinois does not have any players from Minnesota.
• Illinois defensive backs/cornerbacks coach Paul Williams and Minnesota offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca coached together at Delaware for three seasons (2002-04), including the Blue Hen's 2003 national title season.
• Minnesota offensive line coach/run game coordinator Ed Warinner had the same position at Illinois from 2005-06.
YOUTH GONE WILD
• Out of 100 total players on the roster there are just nine total seniors, tied for the second-least in FBS – Georgia Southern (8) and Wake Forest (9).Â
• Only 25 total upperclassmen are on the roster – 9 seniors (8 scholarship seniors) and 16 juniors
• In contrast, there are 75 underclassmen – 22 sophomores and 53 freshmen (35 true-freshmen & 18 RS freshmen)
• Out of 100 players on the 2017 roster, 40 are newcomersÂ
» Complete Illinois-Minnesota Game Notes (PDF)
