GAME 6: ILLINOIS (2-3, 0-2) vs. Rutgers (1-4, 0-2)
When	Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017 | 11 am CT (11:01 kick)
Where	Memorial Stadium (60,670), Champaign, Ill. | Seating Map | Interactive Map
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RUTGERS GAME PROMOTIONS

• Social Media Day – $30 for ticket, texting gloves & Illini pop socket

• Season Ticket Holder Appreciation – Giveaways all game week

• Cub Scout Camporee – ticket special, patch & overnight campout

• Grange Grove – 8-10:30 am (games, food trucks and live music)

• Illini Walk – 8:30 am through Grange Grove

OPENING KICK

• Home Sweet Home: Illinois (2-3, 0-2) returns home to host Rutgers (1-4, 0-2) Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Fighting Illini beat the Scarlet Knights 24-7 last season in New Jersey in the last meeting between the two teams.

• Getting Offensive: Illinois moved the ball better than it had all season last Saturday at Iowa, gaining a season-high 446 yards of total offense, including a season-high 200 rushing yards. It was the first time Illinois gained 200+ yards rushing since 10/15/2016 at Rutgers (228). Illinois' 200 yards rushing were the second-most allowed by Iowa this season (295 vs. Penn State).

• 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. 

     » Illinois has started more true freshmen than any team in the nation (13): DB Tony Adams, RB Ra'Von Bonner, OL Larry Boyd, 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 is 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 Iowa eight true freshmen got starts, tied for the second-most ever in a game in program history. 

     » Illinois has played 20 true freshmen, tied for the most in the nation with LSU.

     » Illinois had 22 first-time starters in the first five games, tied for the most in the nation with Ball State, and ahead of Baylor (21), East Carolina (19), LSU (19), and UAB (19). 

• 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 paved the way for 446 total yards, 200 rushing yards and allowed just one sack at Iowa. The group that started and played most of the game included true freshmen Larry Boyd, Vederian Lowe & Alex Palczewski, redshirt freshman Doug Kramer and junior Nick Allegretti. 

• Mike & Mike: A pair of Mikes, Dudek and Epstein, have led the Illini offense through the first five games.

     » Illini WR Mike Dudek, who missed all of 2015 and 2016 due to injury, hasn't missed a beat despite not playing in a game for 981 days. He leads the team receptions (19), receiving yards (215) and punt returns (11.2 ypr) on the season. His first catch in over two years was a 16-yard TD pass in the win over Ball State, who he racked up 102 all-purpose yards against. His 52-yard punt return late in the game set up the Illini's game-winning score in the final minutes.

     » Freshman RB Mike Epstein is tied for seventh in the nation in touchdowns among true freshmen (4) and ranks eighth in the nation among true freshmen in rushing yards per game (69.2). He had 21 carries for 111 yards in the week two win over WKU to become the first Illinois true freshman to eclipse 100 yards rushing since Ke'Shawn Vaughn at Purdue 11/7/2015. He has led the Illini in rushing yards in all five games this season. 

• Block Party: Illinois has three blocked kicks (2 field goals and one PAT) through five games to lead the Big Ten and rank third in the nation in blocked kicks per game (0.60). The Illini are behind only Utah State and Hawaii, who both have four blocked kicks on the season. 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. 

• 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-RUTGERS SERIES

• Illinois leads the all-time series against Rutgers 2-1. The teams split a nonconference home-and-home in 2005 and 2006, before Illinois won at Rutgers last season.

• Illinois and Rutgers will meet for the second time since Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014.

• Illinois' defense forced five turnovers, including a 78-yard interception return for touchdown by Darius Mosely, and Kendrick Foster scored two touchdowns as Illinois left Rutgers with a 24-7 win last season. Foster ran five yards for a touchdown and caught a five-yard scoring pass from first-time QB starter Chayce Crouch in helping the Fighting Illini give coach Lovie Smith his first Big Ten victory.

• Illinois won the program's first meeting, and only meeting in Champaign, in an overtime game on Sept. 3, 2005. Illinois trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before scoring 20 unanswered points to fore overtime. After Rutgers hit a field goal in the first possession of overtime, Pierre Thomas' two-yard touchdown run ended the game 33-30. The 20-point comeback is tied for the largest comeback win in Illinois history along with the Illini's 35-29 victory at Michigan on Oct. 25, 1999.

• Illinois' most rushing yards vs. Rutgers: 108 Kendrick Foster 10/15/2016

• Illinois' most receiving yards vs. Rutgers: 66 Kendrick Jones 9/3/2005

• Illinois' most passing yards vs. Rutgers: 233 Tim Brasic 9/3/2005

• Illinois' longest rush vs. Rutgers: 53 Reggie Corbin 10/15/2016

• Illinois' longest pass vs. Rutgers: 61 Chayce Crouch to Ke'Shawn Vaughn 10/15/2016

RUTGERS CONNECTIONS

• Illinois DL Sean Adesanya (Rahway, N.J./Rahway/Eastern Arizona JC) and LS Sean Mills (Metuchen, N.J./St. Joseph) are New Jersey natives.

• Illinois running backs coach Thad Ward and Rutgers defensive coordinator Jay Niemann coached together at Northern Illinois from 2013-15.

• Illinois offensive coordinator Garrick McGee and Rutgers defensive coordinator Jay Niemann coached together at Northern Iowa in 1999.

• Rutgers special teams coordinator Vince Okruch was Illinois' defensive coordinator in 2006.

• Rutgers starting kicker Andrew Harte is a Downers Grove, Illinois, native. 

NEW KIDS ON THE QUAD

• A total of 35 players, including 21 true freshmen, have made their Illini debuts during the first four games of 2017. 

     » True-Freshmen (20): DB Tony Adams, RB Ra'Von Bonner, OL Larry Boyd, DL Owen Carney, Jr., DB Dawson DeGroot, TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, WR Carmoni Green, P Blake Hayes, DB Nate Hobbs, DB James Knight, OL Vederian Lowe, LB Marc Mondesir, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree, WR Ricky Smalling, WR Kendall Smith, DB Bennett Williams, DL Jamal Woods

     » Redshirt Freshmen (10): DL Christion Abercrombie, RB Christian Bobak, OL Jake Cerny, DB Harvey Clayton Jr., OL Doug Kramer, QB Cam Miller, LS Sean Mills, TE Griffin Palmer, LB Ayo Shogbonyo, LS Ethan Tabel

     » Sophomores (3): RB Dre Brown, OL Zeke Martin, LB Jimmy Marchese

     » Juniors (2): DL Sean Adesanya, LB Del'Shawn Phillips

YOUTH GONE WILD

• Out of 101 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). 

• Only 25 total upperclassmen are on the roster – 9 seniors (8 scholarship seniors) and 16 juniors

• In contrast, there are 76 underclassmen – 22 sophomores and 54 freshmen (36 true-freshmen & 18 RS freshmen)

• Out of 101 players on the 2017 roster, 41 are newcomers 

• Only four players entered 2017 with double-digit career starts – DiLauro 31, Turner 24, Allegretti 12, Dunlap 12. Two of the four didn't start week one (DiLauro and Dunlap). 

FIRST TIMERS

• Illinois has used 22 first-time starters in 2017, tied for the most in the nation with Ball State and ahead of Baylor (21). Last year's Illini team led the nation with 28 first-time starters.

• Illinois had 10 first-time starters in the opener - six on defense (S Bennett Williams, CB Tony Adams, DE Bobby Roundtree, DT Tymir Oliver, DE Sean Adesanya, LB Del'Shawn Phillips) and four on offense, including three offensive linemen (WR Dominic Thieman, OL Doug Kramer, OL Zeke Martin, OL Adam Solomon) 

• There have been 12 more first-time starters since the opener (RB Ra'Von Bonner, OL Larry Boyd, TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, LB Dele Harding, DB Nate Hobbs, OL Vederian Lowe, TE Henry McGrew, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree, WR Ricky Smalling, DL Jamal Woods)

FRESHMEN STARTERS SINGLE-GAME NOTES

• Illinois is playing and starting freshmen like never before in program history. 

     » Cumulative true freshmen starts in a season: 36 (2017), 34 (1977), 33 (2006)

     » 2017 Freshman Starters by Game: 3, 7, 10, 8, 8 (program record before this season: 5)

• Prior to this season, the previous high for most true freshmen started in a game at Illinois was five, which last happened Nov. 11, 2006 against Purdue (QB Juice Williams, WR Chris James, TE Michael Hoomanawanui, CB Vontae Davis, S Travon Bellamy). 

• Against Iowa, Illinois started four freshmen on the offensive line, including three true freshmen for the first time in program history (T Larry Boyd, G Alex Palczewski, T Vederian Lowe + redshirt freshman Doug Kramer).

• Illinois' 13 true freshmen starters this season is not only the most of any team in the nation, but also is a program record. The previous high for a season was nine in 1980.

• DE Isaiah Gay is the third-youngest player to start a game in FBS this season behind Duke DE Victor Dimukeje and Old Dominion QB Steve Williams. Gay turned 18 on Sept. 17. Those three are the only players to start in FBS as 17-year olds this season.

STANDOUT STATS

A few interesting nuggets from the latest NCAA FBS stat rankings. For more follow @IlliniStats: 

» Illinois has lost just one fumble on the season, tied for the Big Ten lead and sixth in FBS.

» The Illini have forced nine fumbles in five games to rank fourth in FBS in forced fumbles per game (1.80).

» The Illini rank ninth in FBS and third in the Big Ten in kickoff return defense (15.71 ypr).

» The defense ranks 18th in FBS and fourth in the Big Ten in red zone defense, holding opponents to a .720 scoring percentage. The Illini have held opponents scoreless on seven of 25 red zone trips. 

» Sophomore DB Patrick Nelson is tied for the Big Ten lead and tied for 12th in FBS with two forced fumbles in five games (0.40 per game).

» Junior PK Chase McLaughlin is second in the Big Ten and 15th in FBS in field goal percentage, hitting 8-of-9 on the season (.889).  

PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF

Illinois has had three players return to action this season after missing two-plus seasons with injuries.

     Mike Dudek » After producing the most prolific season for a freshman receiver in school history in 2014, Dudek suffered season-ending knee injuries during spring ball in both 2015 and 2016, missing both seasons. He returned to action in the season-opener against Ball State, 981 days since his last game action.  

     Sean Adesanya » Third-year DE finally made his Illini debut in the 2017 season-opener after two years battling injuries. The 2015 junior college transfer missed all of 2015 and 2016 due to injuries before starting against Ball State. He has 8 tackles and 1.0 sack on the season.

     Dre Brown » One of the top signees in the 2015 recruiting class, Brown was poised for playing turn as a true freshmen before going down with an ACL injury in training camp. In all, he endured 2 torn ACLs, 2 sprained MCLs, a stress fracture and 4 knee surgeries before making his Illini debut Oct. 7 at Iowa as part of the kick return unit.

OFF THE FIELD NUGGETS

• Travel Buddies: Illini QB Chayce Crouch and WR Mike Dudek spent part of their summer together in Europe taking a study abroad program for the College of Business. The pair, who also have been roommates for three years, spent most of May in Vienna, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Prague and Budapest while taking a International Negotiations class. 

• First-time Footballer: Freshman punter Blake Hayes, a native of Melbourne, Australia, had never played in or attended a college football game until making his Illini debut against Ball State on Sept. 2. Hayes played Australian rules football before training at ProKick Australia for the last two years in hopes of getting a college scholarship in the United States. 

• Rugby Champ: Illini RB Reggie Corbin was a national champion rugby player in addition to being a football star in high school. Corbin helped Gonzaga HS in Washington D.C. to back-to-back rugby national titles in 2014 and 2015 after joining the team on a dare by star player Ben Cima, who plays on the U.S. national rugby team. The team lost only games in Corbin's two years on the team.   

• Facebook Find: Facebook was a key part in the recruitment of freshman safety Bennett Williams, at least according to Illini defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson. Nickerson was a teammate of Bennett's father, Garey Williams, at Cal and the two are connected on Facebook. Nickerson says he would see highlights of Bennett on Garey's Facebook page and became more impressed as he got older, eventually leading to his recruitment to Illinois. 

» Complete Illinois-Rutgers Game Notes (PDF)