INDIANA GAME PROMOTIONS
• Dads Day – Annual Dads Association Dads Weekend on campus is Nov. 9-11
• Pint Glass Giveaway #3 – First 5,000 fans will get collectible Memorial Stadium pint glasses in honor of Veterans Day
• Grange Grove – 8-10:30 am (games, food trucks and live music) | Info
• Illini Walk – 8:30 am through Grange Grove
OPENING KICK
• Back Home: The Fighting Illini (2-7 overall, 0-6 B1G West) welcome Big Ten East division foe Indiana (3-6 overall, 0-6 B1G East) to Memorial Stadium this Saturday for Dads Day (11 am CT on BTN).
• Fresh Faces: Youth has been all over the field this season. In fact, the Illini are putting the youngest team in the nation on the field.
» Illinois has started more true freshmen than any team in the nation (16): DB Tony Adams, RB Ra'Von Bonner, OL Larry Boyd, DB Dawson DeGroot, TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, DB Nate Hobbs, LB James Knight, OL Vederian Lowe, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree, WR Ricky Smalling, QB Cam Thomas, DB Bennett Williams and DL Jamal Woods. Baylor is second with 11 true-freshmen starters. No other team in the Big Ten has four or more.
» Illinois has 67 cumulative starts from true freshmen this season, nearly doubling the previous program record. Most cumulative true freshmen starts in a season: 67 (2017), 34 (1977), 33 (2006)
» Illinois has played 22 true freshmen, the most in the nation. LSU is second with 20 and Texas A&M is third with 18. An additional 10 redshirt-freshmen have played this year, brining the overall Illini freshmen played total to 32.
» The 10 true freshmen starters at USF in week three are the most in a single game in program history. Prior to this season, the most true freshmen to start at Illinois in a SEASON was nine in 1980.
» 12 of Illinois' 15 offensive touchdowns (80.0 percent) have been scored by true freshmen, including 10 of the last 11. Freshman touchdowns have been scored by Ra'Von Bonner (4), Mike Epstein (4), Ricky Smalling (2) and Louis Dorsey (2).
» Illinois had 28 first-time starters in the first nine games, tied for the most in the nation. Ball State has also used 28, followed by Baylor with 26.
» Cumulative true freshmen starts in a season: 67 (2017), 34 (1977), 33 (2006)
» 2017 Freshman Starters by Game: 3, 7, 10, 8, 8, 9, 8, 7, 7 (program record before this season: 5)
• Punching It Out: The Illini have forced 14 fumbles this season to lead the nation in forced fumbles per game (1.56) along with Tennessee, Mississippi State, Utah State and Nevada. Three Illini have forced two fumbles each – DB Stanley Green, DB Patrick Nelson and DL James Crawford, all tied for third in the Big Ten.
• Smalling Coming Up Big: True-freshman WR Ricky Smalling is making big plays for the Illini.
» Smalling's 16.60 yards per reception rank fifth in the Big Ten and second among all true freshmen in FBS.
» Has at least one catch of 20+ yards in five straight games.
» Became the sixth Illini true-freshman in program history to have a 100-yard receiving game with 5 cataches for 111 yards against Rutgers on Oct. 14.
» Leads the team with 415 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 25 catches.
• Cam in Select Company: At Purdue last week quarterback Cam Thomas became the fourth Illinois true freshman to start a game at QB in program history, joining Aaron Bailey (2013, 1G), Isiah "Juice" Williams (2006, 9G) and Kurt Kittner (1998, 5G). In three games this season, Thomas has thrown for 236 yards and rushed for 187 yards.
• Next in Line: While Illini freshmen are playing all over the field, the offensive line is especially youth-oriented. An OL group including three true-freshmen has started the last five games (Larry Boyd, Vederian Lowe & Alex Palczewski), and a fourth freshmen, redshirt frosh Doug Kramer, has started four of those five.
• Block Party: Illinois has three blocked kicks (two field goals and one PAT) through nine games to rank eighth in FBS and second in the Big Ten. Jamal Milan blocked the potential game-tying field goal as time expired in the win over Ball State and then the Illini got a pair of blocks at USF, a blocked field goal by Isaiah Gay and a blocked PAT by Tito Odenigbo that was returned by Nate Hobbs for a defensive PAT.
• 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).
THE ILLINOIS-INDIANA SERIES
• Saturday marks the 72nd meeting between the Fighting Illini and the Hoosiers.
• Illinois leads the all-time series against Indiana 45-23-3, including a 29-9-1 record in Champaign.
• Illinois and Indiana are meeting for the first time since 2013. The three years off was the longest break in the series since 1991-94. Illinois and Indiana had met the previous 19 straight season up to 2013.
• In the next four years (2018-2021), Illinois and Indiana will meet just one more time, Nov. 14, 2020 at Indiana.
• No Illini has ever played against Indiana.
• In the teams' last meeting in 2013, Illinois had 30 first downs and Nate Scheelhaase threw for a career-high 450 yards but Illinois fell 52-35 in Bloomington, Indiana. Steve Hull had nine receptions for 224 yards, the second most ever by an Illini, and caught touchdowns of 60 and 54 yards. Indiana gained 650 total yards.
• Illinois' most receiving yards vs. IU: 224 Steve Hull 11/9/2013
• Illinois' most rushing yards vs. IU: 214 Rashard Mendenhall 9/22/2007
• Illinois' most passing yards vs. IU: 450 Nate Scheelhaase 11/9/2013
• Illinois' longest rush vs. IU: 83 John Karras 10/27/1951, 67 Robert Holcombe 10/5/1996, 67 John Karras 10/28/1950
• Illinois' longest pass vs. IU: 77 Scheelhaase to Jenkins 10/8/2011, 67 Scheelhaase to Jenkins 10/8/2011
INDIANA CONNECTIONS
• Indiana associate head coach/offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Mike DeBord was the tight ends coach for the Chicago Bears from 2010-12 when Lovie Smith was the head coach.
• Indiana wide receivers coach Grant Heard coached at Western Michigan in 2007 when Illinois assistant director of athletics, football operations Tim Knox was WMU's Director of Football Operations.
• Indiana offensive graduate assistant Billy Cosh's father, Chris Cosh, coached at Illinois from 1992-96.
» Complete Illinois-Indiana Game Notes (PDF)
