CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois football team is back in Memorial Stadium on Saturday to host Virginia in a 3 p.m. matchup on ESPNU. 

Chase Brown leads the Illini with 350 rushing yards on 6.4 yards per carry. He is the first Illini since at least 1942 to have back-to-back 150-yard games to start a season. 

Defensively, Jartavius Martin has 13 tackles and four pass breakups to lead the team in both categories. Jer'Zhan Newton has been the biggest disruptor with three quarterback hurries and 1.0 sack.  

Brian Barnhart and Martin O'Donnell have the call on the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network. 

PRESS CONFERENCE

Illinois' press conference with head coach Bret Bielema will be live on Monday at 1 p.m. CT on FightingIllini.com/watch.

NOTES

ILLINI START 1-1 ON THE SEASON
• Illinois fell to 1-1 after a 23-20 loss at Indiana last Friday. Indiana went on a 75-yard drive to score with less than a minute remaining to beat the Illini.
• Chase Brown ran for 199 yards on 36 carries and Isaiah Williams had nine receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown. 
• The Illini used a 48-yard field goal from Griffin to push their lead to four, 20-16, with 2:16 remaining at Indiana. The field goal was the longest of Griffin's career.
• Illinois beat Wyoming, 38-6, for a Week 0 win in its second straight season. Last season, Illinois beat Nebraska, 30-22, in Week 0.
• The Illini opened the game with a bang with a two-play touchdown drive and never trailed. Chase Brown took his first carry of the season 38 yards up the right sideline before senior Tommy DeVito connected with Brown for a 14-yard TD pass one play later on his first pass attempt as an Illini.
• Illinois allowed just 30 passing yards against Wyoming, its fewest passing yards allowed since Sept. 15, 2012 when the Illini held Charleston Southern to 29 passing yards.
• Illinois held the Cowboys to 1-for-12 on third down. Wyoming started the game by going 0-for-11 on third down before picking up a third down in the fourth quarter against the Illini backups.
• Illinois' 477 yards of total offense vs. Wyoming were the Illini's most under Bret Bielema (most since 490 at Nebraska 11/21/2020).

CHASE BROWN CHASES HISTORY
• Chase Brown became the first Illini running back since at least 1942 to start the season with back-to-back 150+ yard rushing games after he went for 199 yards on 36 careers at Indiana last week.
• Brown has 1,913 rushing yards for his career at Illinois, No. 20 on Illinois' all-time career rushing list. Brown tallied 352 yards as a freshman at Western Michigan for 2,265 for his career.

PALCZEWSKI LEADING ILLINI IN YEAR 6
• Senior offensive lineman Alex Palczewski returns to the Fighting Illini for a sixth season in 2022.
• Following the season-opener vs. Wyoming, the Mount Prospect, Ill., product has now made 54 career starts in the Orange and Blue. His start vs. Wyoming broke a tie with former teammate Vederian Lowe, who is now with the Minnesota Vikings after being selected in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
• Palczewski is the NCAA's active leader in career starts with 54 and is 11 away from tying the NCAA record set by App State WR Thomas Hennigan from 2017-21.
• Palczewski, coming off an honorable mention All-Big Ten (coaches and media) season in 2021, was voted by his teammates as one of four team captains for the 2022 season, returning to the role after also being voted as a team captain in 2019. He helped lead the Fighting Illini to a berth in the Redbox Bowl during his first season as captain.

SERIES vs. VIRGINIA

Series: 2-1
Last: L, 42-14 9/11/2021 at Charlottesville
Streak: L1
at Champaign: 0-0
Bielema vs. Virginia: 0-1
• Illinois leads the all-time series against Virginia, 2-1.
• Saturday's game will end a two-game contract between Illinois and Virginia. The Illini have future Power-5 nonconference games scheduled against Kansas (2023, 2024), Duke (2025, 2026), and Missouri (2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2032, 2033, 2034, 2035).
• This is the first time Illinois and Virginia will meet in Champaign.
• Last year, Illinois played its first ever game in the Commonwealth of Virginia, falling to UVA, 42-14.
• Illinois' two wins over Virginia have come in bowl games (1990 Florida Citrus Bowl and 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl).
• Illinois had the ninth most offensive yards in a game in program history (603) against Virginia in the 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl en route to a 63-21 victory.
• Neil Rackers' nine extra points in the MicronPC.com Bowl is tied for the most in program history.
• Illinois set several bowl game records against Virginia...
     » Yards gained in a bowl game (611) in the 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl
     » Most first downs in a bowl game (29) in the 1990 Cirtus Bowl
     » Most rushing touchdowns in a bowl game (6) in the 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl
     » Fewest punts in bowl game (0) in the 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl
• No. 11 Illinois snapped a 26-year bowl victory drought with a 31-21 win over No. 16 Virginia in the 1990 Florida Citrus Bowl
• In the 1990 Citrus Bowl, Jeff George threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns while Mike Bellamy had eight receptions for 166 yards and one touchdown.
• Illinois is 22-13 all-time against teams currently in the ACC. The Illini's last win over a team currently in the ACC was a 41-20 victory in 2007 over Syracuse, which was a part of the Big East at the time. The Illini's last win over a then-ACC affiliated opponent was the 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl victory over Virginia.