CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois football will hit the road for the first time this season, traveling to take on Kansas on Friday night under the lights. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 CT from David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas, and the game will air on ESPN2.
Both teams enter the game with 1-0 records following wins in their respective season openers. Kansas opened its 2023 slate with a home victory over Missouri State, 48-17, on Friday, while Illinois pulled out a last-minute 30-28 win over Toledo at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
Friday's matchup will be the first meeting between the two sides since 1968, though Illinois leads the all-time series, 3-2. The teams have only met in Lawrence one time before, a game that took place in 1892.
Press Conference
Notes
Illinois Starts 2023 with Win Over Toledo
• Illinois is off to a 1-0 start for the third straight season under head coach Bret Bielema after a 30-28 win over reigning MAC champion Toledo last Saturday night in Champaign.
• New Illinois QB Luke Altmyer led Illinois on a 12-play, 64-yard drive in the final minutes to get the Illini within field goal range for the game-winner from K Caleb Griffin. It was Illinois' first game-winning drive in the final two minutes of a season opener in program history.Â
• Altmyer went 18-26 with 211 passing yards, 69 rushing yards, and two passing touchdowns - both to WR Pat Bryant - in his Illini debut. Altmyer's QBR of 79.2 last week was 25th in the nation and fourth among Big Ten QBs, behind only J.J. McCarthy (MICH), Taulia Tagovailoa (MD), and Drew Allar (PSU).
• DB Miles Scott, making his debut on defense, took his first-career interception to the house for a 48-yard pick six in the third quarter to change the game. Scott was the #1 graded defensive back in the nation by PFF and the #3 overall defender in the nation (#1 in the Big Ten).
• Illinois trailed by as many as 12 points (19-7 in the third quarter), marking its largest comeback win since the school-record 25-point come-from-behind win at Michigan State on Nov. 9, 2019.
Illinois-Kansas All-Time Series
• Saturday's game will be the sixth meeting between Illinois and Kansas.Â
• The teams have not met since 1968 in Champaign, when Illinois snapped a three-game winning streak over Kansas with a 47-7 loss.Â
• Illinois will visit Lawrence, Kansas for the first time in 131 years.Â
• The last time Illinois visited Lawrence, it was the 16th game in program history. Saturday's game will be the 1,298th game in Illini history.
• When Illinois last visited Lawrence in 1892, it was part of a three-game, four-day swing through the state of Kansas. The Illini played Baker in Baldwin City on Oct. 26 (W, 26-10), then played at KU the next day on Oct. 27 (L, 26-4), before taking a day off Oct. 28 and playing Kansas City Athletic Club in Kansas City, Kansas on Oct. 29 (W, 42-0).
