CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois football team returns home on Saturday for the annual Dads Day at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is schedule for 11 a.m. CT on Big Ten Network.

Illinois (3-5, 2-3 Big Ten) is coming off a 20-18 upset at #7 Penn State in nine overtimes, marking the longest game in college football history. The Illini were led by their rushing attack, picking up 357 yards on the ground as Chase Brown and Josh McCray rushed for 223 and 142 yards, respectively.

The Illini now turn their attention to Rutgers (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten), which is coming off a bye week. The Scarlet Knights started off 3-0 before losing four straight, but three of the losses have come to nationally ranked teams in Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State. Noah Vedral leads the Rutgers offense with 1,274 passing yards and another 194 yards on the ground.

BTN has the television broadcast with Jeff Levering (play-by-play), Anthony Herron (analyst), and Elise Menaker (reporter) on the call. The Busey Bank Illini Sports Network will have the radio call featuring Brian Barnhart (play-by-play), Martin O'Donnell (analyst), and Michael Martin (reporter).

PRESS CONFERENCE

GAME PROGRAM

ILLINOIS STATS AND NOTES

ILLINOIS HOSTS DADS DAY AND MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY

• Illinois and Rutgers square off for the sixth straight year in Big Ten play.
• The Illini have won three straight over Rutgers, including a 23-20 win last season in Piscataway.
• As the oldest known parent association in the U.S., started in 1922, the Illini Dads Association hosts Dads Weekend annually. The philanthropic organization is a part of events all around campus and awards over $25,000 per year in student scholarships and grants for Registered Student Organizations.
• Illinois will also celebrate its annual Military Appreciation Day this weekend, including a flyover scheduled for pregame at Memorial Stadium and other in-game recognitions.

THE LONGEST GAME IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL HISTORY

• Illinois is coming off a win in the longest game in college football history, a 9 OT victory at #7 Penn State, 20-18.
• Illinois was named the National Team of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America.
• The victory over #7 Penn State was Illinois' second in a row over a top-10 opponent (vs. #6 Wisconsin, 24-23, 10/19/2019).
• It was Illinois' first road win over a ranked opponent since Nov. 10, 2007 at #1 Ohio State (28-21).
• The win marked the 100th career victory for head coach Bret Bielema.
• The Fighting Illini outgained the Nittany Lions 395-227 including a 357-62 edge in rushing yards and an advantage in time of possession of 36:25 to 23:35.
• Illinois' 357 rushing yards were the most ever by an opponent in a Big Ten game at Beaver Stadium.

DEFENSE STEPS UP

• Illinois has held opponents to 24 points or fewer in five straight games for the first time since Dec. 2010-Sept. 2011. Last year's Illini team allowed 24 points or fewer twice in eight games.
• Illinois' defense has made a 10+-point improvement from last season (34.88 ppg to 23.75 ppg).
• Illinois is ninth in the nation and second in the Big Ten in fumbles recovered (8).
• Illinois is 24th in the nation and second in the Big Ten in takeaways (13).
• Illinois is 28th in the nation and seventh in the Big Ten in turnover margin (+0.62).

CHASE BROWN CHASES HISTORY

• Chase Brown's 223 rushing yards at Penn State were the most ever by an opponent at Beaver Stadium and the fourth-most ever against Penn State.
• Brown's 223-yard game marks his second game of the season with 200+ yards (257 vs. Charlotte). He joined Howard Griffith (1990) and Rashard Mendenhall (2007) as the only players in Illinois program history with multiple 200-yard rushing games in a single season.
• Brown is the first Illini in history to run for 220+ yards twice in a career. He did it in the span of three games.
• Brown eclipsed the 100-yard mark in the first half (134) at Penn State. By halftime Brown's 134 yards were already the most given up in a game by Penn State this season.
• Brown led the nation in yards after contact last week with 141, according to PFF. He has led the nation in yards after contact twice in the last four weeks and he is the only running back to lead the nation in yards after contact twice this season.
• Brown is one of three players in FBS to have two 200-yard rushing games this season.
• Brown is ninth in the nation in yards per carry (6.85) and second in the Big Ten, behind only Ohio State's TreVeyon Henderson (8.79).
• Brown is 16th in the nation in rushing yards per game (106.2) and second in the Big Ten, behind only Michigan State's Kenneth Walker III (142.4).
• Brown's 223 yards pushed him past 1000-career yards as an Illini. He is the 46th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career yards and now sits at No. 37 on the list at exactly 1,200 yards in Orange and Blue. Brown also tallied 352 yards as a freshman at Western Michigan, giving him 1,552 for his collegiate career.

LOWE, PALCZEWSKI TIE STARTS RECORD

• Illinois offensive tackles Vederian Lowe and Alex Palczewski tied the Illini record for career starts at Penn State. With a start against Rutgers, they both would set the record for career starts in Illini history (49) previously held by QB Nathan Scheelhaase (2010-13), C Ryan McDonald (2005-08), and OL Tim Simpson (1988-91), who all had 48 career starts.

ALL-TIME SERIES

ILLINOIS vs. RUTGERS

• Series: Illinois leads, 5-2
• Big Ten: Illinois leads, 4-1
• Last: Illinois 23, Rutgers 20 (11/14/2020)
• Streak: Illinois W3
• at Champaign: Illinois leads, 2-1
• Last season, Illinois defeated the Scarlet Knights 23-20 on a last second game-winning field goal from James McCourt. Then QB Isaiah Williams made his first career start and set the Illinois quarterback single-game rushing record with 192 yards.
• The teams split a nonconference home-and-home in 2005 and 2006, before Illinois has won four of five Big Ten Conference games in the last four seasons.
• The road team has won four of five games in the series since Rutgers joined the Big Ten.
• Illinois and Rutgers will meet for the sixth time since Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014.
• Illinois won the program's first meeting in overtime on Sept. 3, 2005 in Champaign. 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 second-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: 192 Isaiah Williams 11/14/2021
• Illinois' most receiving yards vs. Rutgers: 111 Ricky Smalling 10/14/2017
• Illinois' most passing yards vs. Rutgers: 308 Jeff George Jr. 10/14/2017
• Illinois' longest rush vs. Rutgers: 73 Reggie Corbin 10/6/2018
• Illinois' longest pass vs. Rutgers: 61 Chayce Crouch to Ke'Shawn Vaughn 10/15/2016
• Illini quarterback Artur Sitkowski started 15 games in three seasons at Rutgers, passing for 2,031 yards and eight touchdowns before transferring to Illinois this past summer.
• Illinois linebackers coach Andy Buh served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Rutgers in 2019.
• Illinois defensive backs coach Aaron Henry's first full-time coaching position came in 2016 at Rutgers, where he served as the defensive backs coach.