CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois kicks off their 2021 season in a conference matchup against Nebraska at Memorial Stadium. The game will be the first of the Bret Bielema era and the first in all of college football this season. August 28 will mark the earliest season opener in Illinois' 132-year program history.

Originally the game was scheduled to be played in Dublin, Ireland. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the contest was moved to Champaign.

The Illini will have a chance to make a statement in front of a national television audience. The game will be broadcast on FOX with Joe Davis (play-by-play) and Brock Huard (analyst) on the call.

The Fighting Illini will welcome back fans for the first time since the conclusion of the 2019 season. Tickets can be purchased at bit.ly/3gnaBTL. 

ILLINOIS STATS AND NOTES

THE FIRST KICKOFF OF THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON

• Saturday's 12:20 p.m. CT kickoff will be the first of the college football season and the only Power-5 vs. Power-5 game of Week 0.
• Illinois returns to full capacity for the first time since the 2019 season.
• The last time the Illini had a season opener at Memorial Stadium against a conference opponent was Sept. 2, 1995 when #25 Illinois hosted #13 Michigan.

THE 2021 FIGHTING ILLINI

• Illinois returns 82% of its total starts on offense (72/88). Only OL Kendrick Green (8 starts), WR Josh Imatorbhebhe (7), and TE Daniel Imatorbhebhe (1) have departed among offensive players that started a game in 2020.
• Illinois returns 86% of its total starts on defense (76/88). Only LB Milo Eifler (5), DB Nate Hobbs (5), and DB/LB Delano Ware (2) have departed among defensive players that started a game in 2020.
• Illinois returns its entire specialists unit, led by P Blake Hayes, K James McCourt, and LS Ethan Tabel.
• Illinois returns 131 career FBS starts on its offensive line, tied for the ninth-most in the nation: Vederian Lowe (40), Alex Palczewski (40), Doug Kramer (37), Verdis Brown (8), Julian Pearl (4), Alex Pihlstrom (2)
• One of Bielema's first tasks as head coach was to get the know the Fighting Illini roster and invite student-athletes back to Champaign. All 2020 football student-athletes were granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  » Illinois returned 21 of the 26 student-athletes listed as seniors on the 2020 roster.
  » Illinois returned 18 scholarship seniors from last year's roster, the most of any Power-5 team in the nation.
• Illinois returned 83% of its production according to Bill Connelly, ESPN's SP+ writer. The 83% is ranked sixth in the Big Ten and 42nd in the nation.

(SUPER) SENIORS

• Illinois has 42 seniors, including 22 super seniors who received an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19.
• Illinois' 22 super seniors are the most in Power-5.
• Illinois' 20 other seniors still have one year of eligibility remaining following this season - if they choose to use it - and are listed as juniors on the roster.
• The Fighting Illini roster features 29 student-athletes that already earned bachelor's degrees, the most of any team in the nation.
• Illinois returns 10 four-time letterwinners, tied for the second-most in the nation (Toledo, USC) behind only Ball State (11).

2021 CAPTAINS

• IIllinois' six captains - Tony Adams, Owen Carney Jr., Jake Hansen, Blake Hayes, Doug Kramer, and Vederian Lowe - are all super seniors. Hansen, Hayes, and Kramer are the first three-time captains in Illinois program history.

THE BRET BIELEMA ERA BEGINS

• Illinois Bret Bielema was named as the 26th Fighting Illini Head Football Coach in the 132-year history of the program in December 2020.
• A native of Prophetstown, Illinois, Bielema has 24 years of collegiate coaching experience and compiled a 12-year record of 97-58 (.626) as head coach at Wisconsin and Arkansas.
• From 2006-12 Bielema was the head coach at Wisconsin, where he led the Badgers to three Big Ten championships (2010-12), six consecutive bowl games and a 68-24 record (.739). He was the first coach in Big Ten history to win 10 games in his first season, the first Wisconsin coach to win 11 games prior to a bowl game and became the third coach in NCAA history to win 12 games in his first season. Bielema won 17 of his first 18 games with the Badgers. The Badgers shared or won Big Ten championships three straight seasons from 2010-12 and led Wisconsin to victories in the first two Big Ten championship games.
• Bielema has spent the last three seasons in the National Football League. His first two seasons in the NFL were with the New England Patriots as a consultant to six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick in 2018 and as the team's defensive line coach in 2019, when the Patriots won the AFC East with a 12-4 record and had the NFL's best defense. In Bielema's first season with the Patriots, New England was 11-5 and defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII. He has been the outside linebackers coach and senior assistant for the New York Giants during the 2020 season.

ALL-BIG TEN RETURNERS

• Illinois Illinois returns 11 student-athletes who have earned All-Big Ten recognition (top award listed).
  » RB Chase Brown » 2020 All-Big Ten third team
  » DB Sydney Brown » 2019 All-Big Ten third team
  » OLB Owen Carney » 2020 All-Big Ten second team
  » RB Mike Epstein » 2020 All-Big Ten honorable mention
  » LB Jake Hansen » 2020 All-Big Ten second team
  » P Blake Hayes » 2019 Big Ten Punter of the Year
  » C Doug Kramer » 2020 All-Big Ten honorable mention
  » OT Vederian Lowe » 2020 All-Big Ten honorable mention
  » K James McCourt » 2020 All-Big Ten honorable mention
  » DT Roderick Perry II » 2020 All-Big Ten honorable mention
  » OT Alex Palczewski » 2019 All-Big Ten third team

ALL-TIME SERIES

ILLINOIS vs. NEBRASKA

• Series: Nebraska leads, 13-4-1
• Last: Illinois 41, Illinois 23 (at Nebraska, 11/21/2020)
• Streak: Illinois W1
• at Champaign: Nebraska leads, 4-2-1
• Illinois trails the all-time series against Nebraska, 4-13-1. 
• Illinois defeated Nebraska 41-23 last season to snap a four-game losing streak to the Cornhuskers. The victory was the first at Nebraska since 1924. 
• The 41 points scored last season were a season high and the most the Illini have ever scored on the road in Lincoln. It was also the most points Illinois has scored in a road game since Nov. 7, 2015 at Purdue (48 points). 
• Illinois is attempting to beat Nebraska in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1923 (W, 24-7 in Champaign) and 1924 (W, 9-6 in Lincoln). 
• Illinois is playing Nebraska in a season opener for the fifth time in program history (1923, 1924, 1925, 1953). The Illini hold a record of 2-1-1 against Nebraska in season openers. 
• 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.
• Red Grange set Illinois' punt return yardage record (125) against Nebraska in 1923.
• Illinois' most rushing yards vs. Nebraska: 187 A.J. Bush Jr. 10/10/2018, 142 J.C. Caroline 9/26/1953 
• 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