GAME 4: ILLINOIS (2-1, 0-0) vs. Nebraska (2-2, 1-0)
When	Friday, Sept. 29, 2017 | 7 pm CT (7:05 kick)
Where	Memorial Stadium (60,670), Champaign, Ill. | Seating Map | Interactive Map
Gameday Info	Gameday Central | Fan Guide | Parking Map | Weather
Tickets	Family 4-Pack | Buy Online | Premium Seating
Promotions	Hail to the Orange Night | Hall of Fame Weekend | Grange Grove
Watch	FS1 | FoxSportsGo (Justin Kutcher, Mark Helfrich, Petros Papadakis, Jennifer Hale)
Listen	Illini Sports Network | Listen | SiriusXM 83 | Mandarin Audio
Live Stats	FightingIllini.com
Illinois Links	Game Notes (PDF) | Record Book | Stats
Nebraska Links	Game Notes | Media Guide | Stats
Big Ten Links	Game Notes | Media Guide | Stats
Monday Presser	Video | Quotes
Shop	Online Store
Social Media	@IlliniFootball  | #Illini | @IlliniFootball  | Facebook  | YouTube

NEBRASKA GAME PROMOTIONS

• Hail to the Orange Night – WEAR ORANGE.

• Hall of Fame Weekend – Members of 2017 Illinois Hall of Fame class will be honored

• Family 4-Pack Ticket Package – 4 tickets for $69 | GET 4-PACK

• Giveaways – Hall of Fame pint glasses to first 5,000 fans + commemorative Hall of Fame posters

• Grange Grove – 4-6:30 pm (games, food trucks and live music) | Grange Grove Info

• Illini Walk – 4:30 pm through Grange Grove

OPENING KICK

• Friday Night Lights: The Fighting Illini will play their second straight Friday night game when Nebraska comes to Memorial Stadium to open Big Ten play on Hail to the Orange Night. Kick is set for 7:05 p.m. on Fox Sports 1. 

• Hall of Fame Weekend: Members of the inaugural 2017 Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame, including legendary linebacker Dick Butkus, will be honored at the game. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 2 p.m. at State Farm Center. 

• Block Party: Illinois has three blocked kicks (2 field goals and one PAT) through three games to lead the nation in blocked kicks per game (1.0). The Illini are one of four teams with three blocked kicks along with Utah State, Hawaii and South Florida, who have all played four games. 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. 

• Mike & Mike: A pair of Mikes, Dudek and Epstein, have led the Illini offense through the first three games.

     » Illini WR Mike Dudek, who missed the last two seasons due to injury, hasn't missed a beat despite not playing in a game for 981 days. He leads the team in both receptions (14) and receiving yards (158) on the season. His first catch in over two years was a 16-yard TD pass in the win over Ball State, who he racked up 102 all-purpose yards against. His 52-yard punt return late in the game set up the Illini's game-winning score in the final minutes.

     » Freshman RB Mike Epstein is tied for fourth in the nation in touchdowns among true freshmen (4) and ranks sixth in the nation among true-freshmen in rushing yards per game (73.7). He had 21 carries for 111 yards in the week two win over WKU to become the first Illinois true freshman to eclipse 100 yards rushing since Ke'Shawn Vaughn at Purdue 11/7/2015. Epstein had a team-high 105 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in his Illini debut against Ball State and had 83 scrimmage yards and two TDs at USF. 

• Phillips All Over the Field: Junior LB Del'Shawn Phillips, a junior college transfer in his first season at Illinois, ranks second in the Big Ten and ranks 16th in FBS in tackles per game (10.7). He had a Big Ten-best 16 tackles in the week one win over Ball State. In the week two win over WKU, Phillips put pressure up the middle to force the throw on Julian Jones' interception and tied for the team lead with six tackles. He added 10 tackles at USF in week three. 

• Roundtree Not Playing Like a Rookie: Freshman DE Bobby Roundtree has 3.0 sacks through his first three college games. His 1.0 sacks/game are the most in the nation among true freshmen, tied for 12th overall in FBS and third in the Big Ten. He had 2.0 sacks and a forced fumble in the week two win over WKU.

• Fresh Faces: Youth has been all over the field this season. In fact, the Illini are putting one of the youngest teams in the nation on the field. 

     » lllinois has started more true freshmen than any team in the nation (10): DB Tony Adams, OL Larry Boyd, TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, DB Nate Hobbs, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree, WR Ricky Smalling and DB Bennett Williams. Baylor is second with eight true-freshmen starters.

     » The 10 true freshmen starters at USF are the most in a game in program history, breaking the mark of seven set the week prior against WKU. It also marks the most true freshman to start at Illinois in a SEASON. The previous high for a season was nine in 1980.

     » Illinois has played 18 true freshmen, tied for the second-most in the nation (LSU 20, Texas A&M 18).

     » Illinois had 17 first-time starters in the first three games, tied for fifth-most in FBS (Baylor 21, Ball State, UAB 19, Utah State 18, East Carolina 17). 

• Boys of Summer: The Illini are 25-4 in Aug./Sept. home games dating back to the start of 2007.

• 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).

NEBRASKA CONNECTIONS

• Illinois AD Josh Whitman played for the San Diego Chargers in 2001 when Nebraska coach Mike Riley was the head coach of the Chargers. Nebraska defensive line coach John Parrella was a defensive tackle on that Chargers team.

• The Chicago Bears drafted four players from Mike Riley's Oregon State program while Lovie Smith was the Bears' head coach: LB Joey LaRocque (2008, 7th round), DB Al Afalava (2009, 6th round), DT Stephen Paea (2011, 2nd round) and DB Brandon Hardin (2012, 3rd round)

• Illinois Assistant AD, Football Operations Tim Knox was the running backs coach at Western Michigan in 2004 and director of football operations from 2000-03 when Nebraska defensive consultant Gary Darnell was WMU's head coach. Nebraska defensive coordinator Bob Diaco was WMU's linebackers/special teams coach in 2004.

• Nebraska linebackers coach Trent Bray was LB coach at Arizona State in 2011 when the Illini beat the Sun Devils 17-14 on Sept. 17, 2011, Illinois' last win against an AP-ranked opponent. Nebraska personnel intern Shelly Lyons was a linebacker for the 2011 Arizona State team and graduate manager Jon Clark was a student assistant.

• Former Illinois quarterback Chase Haslett is a graduate manager for Nebraska. Haslett, the son of former NFL player and NFL coach Jim Haslett, spent three years as a backup at Illinois before transferring to Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

THE ILLINOIS-NEBRASKA SERIES

• Illinois trails the all-time series with Nebraska, 3-10-1 (.250). 

• The series is tied 2-2-1 in games played in Champaign. 

• Illinois' 14-13 win in Champaign 10/3/2015 was the Illini's first against the Cornhuskers since 1924.

• The 2015 Illini win over the Huskers ended in dramatic fashion, as QB Wes Lunt found WR Geronimo Allison for a 1-yard touchdown with 10 seconds remaining to give the Illini a 14-13 victory in Champaign. Illinois went 72 yards in the final 41 seconds for the winning score. 

• Last season, Illinois led 16-10 entering the fourth quarter at Nebraska before allowing 21 points to lose 31-16. Nebraska went on an 18-play, 75-yard drive that lasted 10:42 and gave the Cornhuskers a 17-16 lead in the fourth quarter. The Illini  hit three field goals but scored just one TD, a 31-yard run by Kendrick Foster. 

• The 2016 meeting was a breakout game for Tre Watson and Reggie Corbin. Watson started for the first time in his career and had 10 tackles and a forced fumble, while Corbin had then-career highs in carries (9), rushing yards (72) and all-purpose yards (101). 

• Patrick Nelson had an Illinois season-high 16 tackles at Nebraska last season.

• Malik Turner has nine catches for 127 yards against Nebraska in the last two years. He caught five passes for 57 yards last year after making four catches for 70 yards in 2015. 

• Mike Dudek had 117 yards of offense against NU in 2014, six catches for 90 yards and one rush for 27 yards.

• Red Grange set Illinois' punt return yardage record against Nebraska in 1923 (125 yards).

• Illinois retired Dick Butkus' jersey when Nebraska came to Champaign 9/20/1986.

• Illinois' most rushing yards vs. Nebraska: 142 J.C. Caroline 9/26/1953, 114 Josh Ferguson 10/5/2013

• Illinois' most receiving yards vs. Nebraska: 119 David Williams 9/21/1985, 118 Geronimo Allison 9/27/2014

• Illinois' most passing yards vs. Nebraska: 292 Jack Trudeau 9/21/1985

• Illinois' longest rush vs. Nebraska: 73 J.C. Caroline 9/26/1953, 65 Red Grange 10/6/1923

• Illinois' longest pass vs. Nebraska: 58 Reilly O'Toole to Geronimo Allison 9/27/2014

ILLINI AT HOME UNDER THE LIGHTS

The Fighting Illini will have at least two home night games at Memorial Stadium this season – vs. Western Kentucky on 9/9 and vs. Nebraska on 9/29 – and at least three night games overall – at USF on 9/15. It marks the fifth time ever and the first time since 2007 that Illinois will play two prime time home games in the same season. The Illini are 15-10 all time in night games at Memorial Stadium (start after 6 p.m.). 

NEW KIDS ON THE QUAD

• A total of 32 players, including 18 true freshmen, made their Illini debuts during the first three games of 2017. 

     True-Freshmen (18): DB Tony Adams, RB Ra'Von Bonner, OL Larry Boyd, DL Owen Carney, Jr., DB Dawson DeGroot, TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, P Blake Hayes, DB Nate Hobbs, DB James Knight, LB Marc Mondesir, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree, WR Ricky Smalling, WR Kendall Smith, DB Bennett Williams, DL Jamal Woods.

     Redshirt Freshmen (10): DL Christion Abercrombie, RB Christian Bobak, OL Jake Cerny, DB Harvey Clayton Jr., OL Doug Kramer, QB Cam Miller, LS Sean Mills, TE Griffin Palmer, LB Ayo Shogbonyo, LS Ethan Tabel

     Sophomores (2): OL Zeke Martin, LB Jimmy Marchese

     Juniors (2): DL Sean Adesanya, LB Del'Shawn Phillips

YOUTH GONE WILD

• Out of 101 total players on the roster there are just nine total seniors, tied for the second-least in FBS – Georgia Southern (8) and Wake Forest (9). 

• Only 25 total upperclassmen are on the roster – 9 seniors (8 scholarship seniors) and 16 juniors

• In contrast, there are 76 underclassmen – 22 sophomores and 54 freshmen (36 true-freshmen & 18 RS freshmen)

• Out of 101 players on the 2017 roster, 41 are newcomers 

• Only four players entered 2017 with double-digit career starts – DiLauro 31, Turner 24, Allegretti 12, Dunlap 12. Two of the four didn't start week one (DiLauro and Dunlap). 

FIRST TIMERS

• Illinois has used 17 first-time starters in 2017, the fourth-most in the nation behind Baylor (21), UAB (19) and Utah State (18). Last year's Illini team led the nation with 28 first-time starters.

• Illinois had 10 first-time starters in the opener - six on defense (S Bennett Williams, CB Tony Adams, DE Bobby Roundtree, DT Tymir Oliver, DE Sean Adesanya, LB Del'Shawn Phillips) and four on offense, including three offensive linemen (WR Dominic Thieman, OL Doug Kramer, OL Zeke Martin, OL Adam Solomon) 

• There have been seven more first-time starters since the opener (OL Larry Boyd, TE Louis Dorsey, RB Mike Epstein, DL Isaiah Gay, DB Nate Hobbs, OL Alex Palczewski, DL Bobby Roundtree, WR Ricky Smalling)

FRESHMEN STARTERS SINGLE-GAME NOTES

• DE Isaiah Gay is the third-youngest player to start a game in FBS this season behind Duke DE Victor Dimukeje and Old Dominion QB Steve Williams. Gay turned 18 on Sept. 17. Those three are the only players to start in FBS as 17-year olds this season.

• Against USF, Illinois started five true freshmen on offense for the first time ever AND started five true freshmen on defense for the first time ever. 

• Illinois started three true freshmen defensive backs against USF (S Bennett Williams, CB Tony Adams, CB Nate Hobbs) for the first time ever.

• Illinois started two true freshmen on the offensive line against USF (OL Larry Boyd, OL Alex Palczewski) for the second straight game (only two times ever).

• Illinois started two true freshmen on the defensive line against USF (DE Isaiah Gay, DE Bobby Roundtree) for the second straight game. Prior to the last two games, the last time two true freshman defensive linemen started was Nov. 1, 1980 against Minnesota (DT Mark Butkus, DE Jim Covington).

• Prior to this season, the previous high for most true freshmen started in a game at Illinois was five, which last happened Nov. 11, 2006 against Purdue (QB Juice Williams, WR Chris James, TE Michael Hoomanawanui, CB Vontae Davis, S Travon Bellamy). 

• Illinois started three true freshmen in the season opener (S Bennett Williams, CB Tony Adams, DE Bobby Roundtree). In the previous 42 years, Illinois started a total of 12 true freshmen in the first game. The three true-freshmen starters tied for the second most in the nation in 2017 season openers behind LSU's four.

• Three lllini true freshmen started on defense in a season opener for the first time since 1980 (3). Illinois tied with Arizona and LSU for the most true-freshmen starters on defense in season openers.

» Complete Illinois-Nebraska Game Notes (PDF)