THI Football Central: Illinois
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Line: North Carolina -10
Where: Memorial Stadium (60,670), Champaign, Ill.
Time/TV: 7:30 pm EST, Big Ten Network
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network; Sirius (958)/XM (196) SiriusXM Online (974/958)
Weather: Champaign, Illinois
ILLINOIS AT A GLANCE
Rankings: AP Poll - NR, Coaches Poll - NR
Series vs. UNC: North Carolina leads 3-0
Last Meeting: 48-14 last season in Chapel Hill
Location: Urbana-Champaign, Illinois
Nickname: Fighting Illini
School Colors: Orange & Blue
Stadium (cap.): Memorial Stadium (60,670)
Surface: Turf
Conference: Big Ten
2016 record: 1-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten
Head Coach: Lovie Smith
Record: First Season at Illinois
Websites: FightingIllini.com; Orange & Blue News
LAST TIME OUT: Illinois 52, Murray State 3
From Illinois Media Notes:
* The victory over Murray State was the first college win for Illinois head coach Lovie Smith, who has returned to college football for the first time since the 1996 Florida Citrus Bowl, when he was an assistant at Ohio State. Smith is coming off 19 years in the NFL, including the last 11 as head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
* Illinois jumped all over Murray State right from the start, forcing turnovers on the Racers first two drives and jumping out to a 14-0 lead just 7:13 into the game. The Illini went on to lead 35-3 at halftime en route to the 52-3 final. The Orange and Blue out-gained the Racers 515-165 for the game.
* The Illinois defense held Murray State to -10 yards rushing, the lowest total in the nation by a wide margin – the next closest is Miami (FL), who held Florida A&M to 22 yards on the ground. The last time an opponent had negative rushing yards against Illinois was Western Michigan (-6) in 2012.
* After one week of play in 2016, the Illini defense leads the nation in rushing yards allowed (-10.0 ypg), and ranks third nationally in sacks (6.0), sixth in scoring defense (3.0 ppg), sixth in turnovers gained (3), ninth in tackles for loss (11.0), ninth in interceptions (2) and 10th in total defense (165.0 ypg).
* After throwing for three touchdowns and zero interceptions vs. Murray State, QB Wes Lunt has thrown 31 TDs against just nine INTs in his two-plus years at Illinois. His 209.0 passing efficiency against Murray State ranks eighth in the nation and second in the Big Ten after the first week of games.
* DE Dawuane Smoot enjoyed a breakout 2015 season (eight sacks, 15.0 TFLs) and is looking for an even bigger senior campaign. He was named a preseason All-American and the 20th-best college football player in the country by Pro Football Focus and has drawn plenty of attention from NFL draft experts heading into 2016.
* Seven true-freshmen made their Illinois debuts against Murray State – LB Jake Hansen, LB Dele Harding, DL Kenyon Jackson, OL Darta Lee (start), RB Tre Nation, DL Tymir Oliver, WR Dominic Thieman.
* Junior RB Kendrick Foster rushed for a career-high 118 yards against Murray State on just four carries. His 29.5 yards per rush set an Illinois record, breaking the previous mark of 25.3 by Abe Woodson vs. Iowa State in 1955 (3-76). Foster had two 56-yard touchdown runs against the Racers on back-to-back drives. He entered the game with 78 career rushing yards