GAME 3: ILLINOIS (2-0) at #22 South Florida (2-0)
When	Friday, Sept. 15, 2017 | 7 pm ET/6 CT
Where	Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla. | Seating Map
Gameday Info	Gameday Central | Parking Map | Weather
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Watch	ESPN | WatchESPN (Dave LaMont, Mack Brown and Jen Lada)
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OPENING KICK

• Flight to Florida: The Fighting Illini will travel to No. 22/21 South Florida for a Friday night matchup on ESPN. Illinois (2-0) is looking for its first 3-0 start since 2011 and its first non-conference road win since 2007 (at Syracuse). 

• Homecoming: Florida is home to 14 current Illini and the former home of head coach Lovie Smith. Smith returns to Raymond James Stadium, his old home stadium when he was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Illini Tré Watson (Tampa Bay, Fla/Tampa Catholic), Bobby Roundtree (Largo, Fla./Largo) and Jake Hansen (Tarpon Springs, Fla./East Lake) are from the Tampa area.

• Mike & Mike: 

» Freshman RB Mike Epstein had 21 carries for 111 yards against WKU. He is the first Illinois true freshman to eclipse 100 yards rushing since Ke'Shawn Vaughn at Purdue 11/7/2015. Epstein had a team-high 105 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in his Illini debut against Ball State, including the go-ahead one-yard plunge with 2:06 left in the game. He ranks fifth in the nation among true-freshmen in rushing yards per game (82.5). 

» Illini WR Mike Dudek, who missed the last two seasons due to injury, hasn't missed a beat despite not playing in a game for 981 days. His first catch 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. In game two against WKU, Dudek was Illinois' leading receiver with six catches for 46 yards on 11 targets.

• Big Play Jay: Junior LB Julian Jones returned an interception for a touchdown in the win over WKU. It was Illinois' first interception returned for a touchdown since Darius Mosely at Rutgers 10/15/2016 and his first career interception. Illinois' defense scored as many points as WKU's offense in the game.

• It's a Block-Off: Illinois opened the season with a 24-21 win over Ball State on Sept. 2 thanks to a walk-off blocked field goal by sophomore DT Jamal Milan. The 6-3, 300-pound Milan got his paw on the Cardinals' 54-yard attempt as time expired, sealing victory for the Orange and Blue. 

• Phillips All Over the Field: Junior LB Del'Shawn Phillips, a junior college transfer making his Illini debut, had a Big Ten-best 16 tackles in the week one win over Ball State. In the week two win over WKU, Phillips put pressure up the middle to force the throw on Julian Jones' interception and tied for the team lead with six tackles. Phillips is averaging 11.0 tackles per game through two games, tied for first in the B1G.

• Roundtree Note: Freshman DE Bobby Roundtree had 2.0 sacks and a forced fumble against WKU. He has 3.0 sacks through his first two college games. His 1.5 sacks/game are the most in the nation among freshmen, tied for 9th overall in FBS and tied for first in the Big Ten.

• Fresh Faces: Youth has been all over the field this season.

» lllinois has started more true freshmen than any team in the nation (9): DB Tony Adams, OL Larry Boyd, TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, DB Nate Hobbs, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree, DB Bennett Williams. LSU is second with six true-freshmen starters.

» Illinois has played 17 true freshmen, the second-most in the nation (LSU 20).

» Illinois' seven true freshmen starters against WKU were the most in a game in program history (OL Larry Boyd, TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, DB Nate Hobbs, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree). 

» Against WKU, Illinois started two true freshmen on the offensive line for the first time ever (OL Larry Boyd, OL Alex Palczewski).

» Against WKU, Illinois started four true freshmen on offense for the first time ever (OL Larry Boyd, OL Alex Palczewski, RB Mike Epstein, TE Louis Dorsey).

» Illinois' five true freshmen started on defense this season is the most in an Illini season since 1980 (6).

• Boys of Summer: The Illini are 25-4 in Aug./Sept. home games dating back to the start of 2007.

• 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). 

NEW KIDS ON THE QUAD

• A total of 30 players, including 17 true freshmen, made their Illini debuts during the first two games of 2017. 

True-Freshmen (17): DB Tony Adams, RB Ra'Von Bonner, OL Larry Boyd, DL Owen Carney, Jr., TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, P Blake Hayes, DB Nate Hobbs, DB James Knight, LB Marc Mondesir, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree, WR Ricky Smalling, WR Kendall Smith, DB Bennett Williams, DL Jamal Woods.

Redshirt Freshmen (9): DL Christion Abercrombie, RB Christian Bobak, DB Harvey Clayton Jr., OL Doug Kramer, QB Cam Miller, LS Sean Mills, TE Griffin Palmer, LB Ayo Shogbonyo, LS Ethan Tabel

Sophomores (2): 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, 16 juniors

» In contrast, there are 76 underclassmen – 22 sophomores and 54 freshmen (36 true-freshmen and 18 redshirt freshmen) 

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

» Illinois had 28 first-time starters during the 2016 season, the most in the nation during the regular season, just ahead of Missouri (27). Included in that number were 13 freshmen (four true-freshmen and nine redshirt-freshmen).

» 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 16 first-time starters in 2017, the second-most in the nation behind Baylor's 18. 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) and six more first-time starters against WKU (OL Larry Boyd, TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, DB Nate Hobbs, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree)

FRESHMEN STARTERS SINGLE-GAME NOTES

• Illinois' seven true freshmen starters vs. WKU were the most in a game in program history. The previous high 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). Prior to that, the last time was Nov. 5, 1977 against Ohio State (TE Lee Boeke, FB Wayne Strader, LB John Gillen, LB John Scott, LB Earnest Adams).

• Illinois started four true freshmen on offense against WKU for the first time ever. The previous high was three with the last time occurring Nov. 8, 2008 against Western Michigan.

• Illinois started two true freshmen on the defensive line against WKU (DE Isaiah Gay, DE Bobby Roundtree) for the first time since Nov. 1, 1980 against Minnesota (DT Mark Butkus, DE Jim Covington).

• Illinois started three true freshmen in the season opener (S Bennett Williams, CB Tony Adams, DE Bobby Roundtree). In the previous 42 years, Illinois started a total of 12 true freshmen in the first game. The three true-freshmen starters tied for the second most in the nation in 2017 season openers behind LSU's four.

• Illinois started two true freshmen defensive backs (S Bennett Williams, CB Tony Adams) in the season opener for the first time since at least 1975. 

• Three lllini true freshmen started on defense in a season opener for the first time since 1980 (3). It was the first time multiple true freshmen started in the season opener since 2006 when future NFL stars TE Jeff Cumberland and CB Vontae Davis started against Eastern Illinois. Illinois tied with Arizona and LSU for the most true-freshmen starters on defense in season openers.

THE ILLINOIS-SOUTH FLORIDA SERIES

» Illinois and South Florida meet for the first time.

» Illinois is scheduled to host South Florida at Soldier Field in Chicago next season (Sept. 15, 2018).

SOUTH FLORIDA CONNECTIONS

» Illinois defensive backs/safeties coach Donnie Abraham's son, Devin Abraham, is a senior defensive back for South Florida and has an interception in each of USF's first two games.

» Illinois defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson was a linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1999 when USF running backs coach Shaun King started five games as a rookie quarterback for the Bucs. 

» Illinois head coach Lovie Smith spent five years as linebackers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1996-2000) while USF wide receivers coach Charlie Williams was Tampa Bay's wide receivers coach. 

» USF head strength and conditioning coach Pat Moorer served as director of strength and conditioning at Illinois from 1997-98.

» Six players in the game attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School: Four for Illinois (DE James Crawford, WR Dominic Thieman, RB Mike Epstein, K James McCourt) and two for USF (K Marco Salani, DT Brandon Boyce)

» Illinois WR Carmoni Green was high school teammates with USF WR Darnell Salomon and CB Deatrick Nichols at Miami Central High School.

» Illinois LB Tré Watson and USF DB Bentlee Sanders attended Tampa Catholic High School.

» Illinois LB Jake Hanson and USF DB Devin Abraham attended East Lake High School (Tarpon Springs, Fla.).

» Illinois will face one of Steve Spurrier's sons for the second straight week. Steve Spurrier Jr. is the quarterbacks coach at Ball State, while Scott Spurrier is an offensive quality control coach at South Florida.

ALL OVER THE NFL

• A total of 16 former Fighting Illini were on 2017 opening day NFL rosters –  OT Jeff Allen (Texans), WR Geronimo Allison (Packers), WR Arrelious Benn (Jaguars), CB Vontae Davis (Colts), Clayton Fejedelem (Bengals), RB Josh Ferguson (Colts – IR) TE Michael Hoomanawanui (Saints), OL Ted Karras (Patriots), TE Matt LaCosse (Giants), DE Corey Liuget (Chargers), LB Whitney Mercilus (Texans), LB Hardy Nickerson (Bengals), , DE Dawuane Smoot (Jaguars), DT Akeem Spence (Lions), DE Jihad Ward (Raiders) and DB Tavon Wilson (Lions).

• Three more Illini are on NFL practice squads to start the 2017 season – CB Justin Hardee (Saints), DE Carroll Phillips (Jaguars) and OLB Gimel President (Texans)

• DE Dawuane Smoot was selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft (68th overall), becoming the sixth Illinois defensive lineman drafted since 2011 (Corey Liuget 2011, Whitney Mercilus 2012, Akeem Spence 2013, Michael Buchanan 2013, Jihad Ward 2016). 

• Illinois has had at least one player drafted in 42 of the last 45 years and has 241 all-time NFL Draft picks.

» Complete Illinois-USF Game Notes (PDF)