SEPT. 8 PROMOTIONS
• Free Student Tickets – in collaboration with Deloitte
• Tailgating at Grange Grove – 3:30-6:30 pm (Interactive games, food trucks, live music)
• Illini Walk – 4:15 pm through Grange Grove
• 1953 Team Reunion – 65th anniversary of B1G Championship squad
• Band Night – High school bands will perform with the Marching Illini
OPENING KICK
• Back to Work: The Fighting Illini are looking to begin the season 2-0 when Western Illinois comes to Memorial Stadium Saturday night for a 6:30 p.m. CT kick on Big Ten Network.
• We've Met Before: Saturday will be the third meeting on the gridiron between the Fighting Illini and WIU. Illinois has yet to give up a point to the Leathernecks, outscoring Western 65-0 in the two previous meetings.
• Unbeaten Against the FCS: The Fighting Illini are 16-0 all-time against FCS opponents (formerly I-AA). Illinois is averaging over 43 points per game against FCS foes with an average margin of victory of over 29.5 points per game. A full list of FCS games can be found on page three.
• Hansen, So Hot Right Now: Sophomore LB Jake Hansen had a monster game to open 2018.
» Rolled up 6.0 TFLs against Kent State to tie the Illinois single game program record (Jeff Weisse vs. Middle Tennessee 9/12/1998) and lead the nation after the first weekend of action. He had more TFLs in one game than the 2017 Illinois team leader had for the season (James Crawford, 5.5).
» The 6.0 TFLs also is tied for the seventh-most in a game in Big Ten history and is the second-most TFLs by a Big Ten player in the last 13 years.
» Had 15 total tackles in week one, which leads the Big Ten and ranks sixth in FBS after week one.
» Pro Football Focus National Team of the Week and Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week
» Hansen had eight career tackles entering the game, all as a true-freshman in 2016 before missing last season with an injury.
• Dual Threat: Making his Illini debut against Kent State, graduate transfer QB AJ Bush Jr. rushed for 139 yards, the fifth-most all-time by an Illinois quarterback. He is the first Big Ten quarterback with at least 190 pass yards and 139 rushing yards in a game since Ohio State's J.T. Barrett in 2014.
• Fresh Starts: Four true freshmen started against Kent State – TE Daniel Barker, DB Sydney Brown, DB Jartavius Martin, DB Delano Ware – the most in the nation during week one and tying the program's record for a season opener (4 in 1980).
» Illinois started multiple true freshmen in back-to-back season openers for the first time in program history (three in 2017 and four in 2018).
» Illinois' seven true freshmen to start season openers in the last two years (7) equals the total from the previous 36 years combined (7).
» Illinois used six first-time starters in the opener: grad transfer QB AJ Bush Jr. and redshirt freshman OL Kendrick Green along with true-frosh Barker, S. Brown, Martin and Ware.
• Fear the Beard: Illinois improved to 1-0 in games Lovie Smith coached with his signature white beard.
• NFL Experience: Lovie Smith's Illini staff has 60 seasons of combined NFL head and assistant coach experience, the most in college football for the third consecutive year, easily outpacing second-place LSU's total of 48.
• Boys of Summer: The Illini are 26-5 in Aug./Sept. home games dating back to the start of 2007.
• Leading the Way: Illinois announced three season captains voted by the team prior to the season: OL Nick Allegretti (OFF), LB Del'Shawn Phillips (DEF) and LB Dele Harding (ST). A fourth captain will be voted on each game to join the three season captains. For the Kent State game, the fourth captain was QB AJ Bursh Jr.
• Youth Movement, Part Two: For the second straight year, Illinois is putting one of the youngest teams in the nation on the field (roster breakdown as of Aug. 24, 2018).
» Nine true-freshmen saw action in the season opener: DT Calvin Avery, TE Daniel Barker, DB Sydney Brown, DB Kerby Joseph, DB Jartavius Martin, WR Carlos Sandy, LB Khalan Tolson, DB Delano Ware, DB Dylan Wyatt
» 2018 class breakdown: 8 seniors, 16 juniors, 39 sophomores, 39 freshmen (32 true-frosh, 7 RS frosh)
» The 8 seniors and 24 total upperclassmen are both the fewest in the nation
» With 78 underclassmen – 39 sophomores and 39 freshmen (32 true and 7 RS) – out of 102 players, the Illini roster has the highest percentage of underclassman in the nation – 76.5%
» 38 out of the 102 players on the roster are newcomers
» Only three Illini currenlty have as many as 15 career starts – Nick Allegretti 25, Mike Dudek 16, Stanley Green 15.
» Illinois' four fifth-year seniors – Nick Allegretti, Mike Dudek, Chase McLaughlin, Austin Roberts – is tied for the third-fewest nationally behind UConn (2) and Auburn (3). (All 5 years at one school)
» The 2017 Illini squad had just nine seniors, tied for the second-least in FBS.
» Illinois played (22) and started (16) more true freshmen than any team in the country in 2017.
NEW KIDS ON THE QUAD
• A total of 14 players, including nine true freshmen, made their Illini debuts in the 2018 season opener.
» True-Freshmen (9): DT Calvin Avery, TE Daniel Barker, DB Sydney Brown, DB Kerby Joseph, DB Jartavius Martin, WR Carlos Sandy, LB Khalan Tolson, DB Delano Ware, DB Dylan Wyatt
» Redshirt Freshmen (1): OL Kendrick Green
» Sophomores (2): WR Dominic Stampley, DB Nick Walker
» Juniors (1): DB Nolan Bernat
» Seniors (1): QB AJ Bush Jr.
THE ILLINOIS-WESTERN ILLINOIS SERIES
• Illinois is 2-0 all-time against Western Illinois with wins in 2007 (21-0) and 2015 (44-0).
• Illinois has outscored Western Illinois 65-0 in two previous meetings.
• Illinois' 44-0 win over Western Illinois 9/12/2015 was the Illini's last shutout. Illinois led 30-0 at halftime, as Wes Lunt finished 33-for-46 passing for 316 yards and a touchdown.
• Illinois' 2007 win over Western Illinois was its first win of the 2008 Rose Bowl season.
ILLINOIS-WIU CONNECTIONS
• Mike Dudek's high school wide receivers coach and long-time trainer, J.R. Niklos, played at Western Illinois. Niklos' first season as a fullback in the NFL was with the 2002 St. Louis Rams when Illinois head coach Lovie Smith was the Rams' defensive coordinator.
• Five products of St. Rita HS in Chicago will be on the field: Illinois' LB Sean Coghlan, DL Marc Mondesir, OL Jake Stover and Western Illinois' WR Brandon Gaston and LB Tom Rehfeld.
• Illinois OL Kendrick Green and Western Illinois DL LaCale Landon were teammates at Peoria HS.
• Illinois DL Lere Oladipo and Western Illinois LB Justin Allen were teammates at Huntley HS.
• Western Illinois starting TE Adam Conrady played at Rochester HS, where he helped the Rockets win the 2014 state championship game at Illinois' Memorial Stadium.
ILLINOIS AGAINST FCS/I-AA TEAMS
The Fighting Illini are 16-0 all-time against FCS opponents (formerly I-AA). Illinois is averaging over 43 points per game against FCS foes with an average margin of victory of over 29.5 points per game. All but three of those wins have been by at least 21 points.
LINEBACKER U, IT'S NOT WHERE YOU THINK IT IS
• Like many Illini teams over the years, the 2018 Illini defense is led by a play-making linebacker corps, led by sophomore Jake Hansen and senior Del'Shawn Phillips. The duo ranks 1-2 in the Big Ten in tackles after combining for 27 stops in week one (Hansen 15, Phillips 12). Hansen added a school record 6.0 TFLs, while Phillips clinched the win with a fourth-quarter interception in the end zone.
• Illinois' history at the linebacker position is up there with any program in the nation. It begins with the greatest linebacker in football history, Dick Butkus, who was a two-time All-American and led the Fighting Illini to a 1964 Rose Bowl win over Washington. Illinois boasts two Butkus Award winners, Dana Howard in 1994 and Kevin Hardy in 1995, several first-team All-Americans like Darrick Brownlow (1990), Simeon Rice (1994 & '95) and J Leman (2007), not to mention second-team All-American Scott Studwell (1976) and NFL legend Ray Nitschke.
DUDEK'S SEASON CUT SHORT AGAIN
Fifth-year senior and former freshman All-American WR Mike Dudek suffered a season-ending knee injury late in the season-opening win over Kent State. He had four catches for 65 yards and one punt return for 26 yards in the game.
» Dudek's story is familiar to Illini fans. 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. He returned to the field in 2017, but was limited to seven games due to varius injuries. Then in 2018 he again suffered a season ending injury after just one game.
» In 21 career games played, he has 104 catches for 1,365 yards and seven touchdowns. He also has carried the ball seven times for 80 yards, completed one pass for 22 yards and returned eight punts for 95 yards. He had at least two catches in all 21 career games played.
» After missing the 2015 and '16 seasons, Dudek returned to action Sept. 2, 2017, 981 days since his last play on Dec. 26, 2014, at the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
» During his freshman season in 2014, Dudek hauled in 76 receptions for 1,038 yards to shatter Arrelious Benn's previous freshman marks of 54 catches and 676 yards in 2007.
» Dudek was a 2014 first-team Freshman All-American by ESPN.com, Scout and 247sports after leading FBS freshmen in receiving yards (79.8 ypg). He led the B1G in receptions (50) and receiving yards (716) during conference games and ranked fifth in FBS with 354 fourth-quarter receiving yards and tied for third nationally with 10 plays of 15+ yards in the fourth quarter.
FUTURE COACHES
Illini RB Reggie Corbin got a taste of coaching this past summer. Corbin, along with Illini teammates Justice Williams and Del'Shawn Phillips, led the Seahawks to an undefeated 5-0 record in the inaugural season of the Tuscola Flag Football League. The trio connected with nine-year old Illini superfan Colton Rahn, who has cerebral palsey, this past winter when a group of football student-athletes drove to Tuscola to cheer on Colton's basketball team.
OFFENSIVE TIDBITS
• Junior RB Reggie Corbin had his first career two-touchdown game in the opener against Kent State, including an electrifying, tightrope-walking 39-yard TD run to tie the game in the third quarter. Corbin had 10 rushes for 79 yards, after having 78 rushing yards on 18 carries during the entire 2017 season.
• Illinois' 21-point third quarter against Kent State tied the highest-scoring quarter in the Lovie Smith era. Illinois also scored 21 in the second quarter against Murray State 9/3/2016.
• Homegrown OLine: The starting offensive line consists of all players from Illinois. The group of senior Nick Allegretti (Frankford, Ill.), redshirt freshman Kendrick Green (Peoria, Ill.), sophomore Doug Kramer (Hinsdale, Ill.), sophomore Vederian Lowe (Rockford, Ill.) and sophomore Alex Palczewski (Mount Prospect, Ill.) played all 74 offensive snaps together in the season-opening win over Kent State.
» Complete Illinois-WIU Game Notes (PDF)
