Illinois Postgame Notes
Illinois 44, Western Illinois 0
Memorial Stadium // Sept. 12, 2015 // Attendance: 37,733

TEAM NOTES

1. Holding the Leathernecks scoreless, Illinois shutout an opponent for the first time since a 44-0 victory over Charleston Southern on Sept. 15, 2012. The Illini totaled 500 yards on offense, while holding the Leathernecks to 141 total yards.

2. Illinois is now 15-0 all-time against FCS opponents and 15-0 all-time against other public universities in the state of Illinois. 

3. Illinois now leads the all-time series vs. WIU 2-0, with both game being shutouts. The Illini have outscored the Leathernecks 65-0 combined in the two meetings (21-0 in 2007 and 44-0 in 2015). 

4. With today's victory, the Illini moved to 21-2 in August/September home games since 2007, which ranks third in the Big Ten.

5. In its first two games of the season, Illinois held both Kent State and Western Illinois without a touchdown. The last time the Illini went consecutive games without allowing a touchdown was in the 1988 season, garnering victories over Purdue (20-3) on Oct. 8 and Wisconsin (34-6) on Oct. 15.

6. The last time the Illini defense went consecutive games without allowing a touchdown was the opening two games of the 1994 season. Illinois suffered a 10-9 loss to Washington State on Sept. 1 and garnered a 42-0 win over Missouri on Sept. 10.

7. By allowing just three points in the first two games of the season, Illinois allowed the fewest points in the opening two games of the season since the 1942 team shutout South Dakota and Butler to open that campaign.

8. The Illini defense held Western Illinois to just one first down and 45 total yards in the first half. The last time an Illini opponent garnered just one first down in a half was in the second half of a 21-0 UI victory over Western Illinois on Sept. 8, 2007. In total the Illini held the Leathernecks to five first downs on the game. In the first two games, Illinois has allowed at total of 147 yards in the first half (102 vs. Kent State, 45 vs. WIU) and six first downs.

9. Just like the 2015 home opener, the Illini offense started fast, scoring 17 points on their first four possessions of the game.

10. The Illini forced two turnovers in today's game. Over Illinois' last four games the defense has forced a total of 12 turnovers.

11. Illinois converted 50% (9-for-18) of its third down attempts, while Western Illinois went 1-for-15 on third down.

12. In the first two games of season, the Illini are 9-for-9 in the red-zone and 5-for-5 on fourth-down conversions.

13. The Illini led the Leathernecks at the half 30-0, totaling 30+ points in the first half for the second time in as many games. At half, Illinois had 298 total yards compared to Western Illinois' totaled 45.

14. After Western Illinois WR/KR/PR Lance Lenoir totaled 280 all-purpose yards last week against Eastern Illinois, the Illini held him to just 31 all-purpose yards.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

1. Senior S Taylor Barton picked off Trenton Norvell twice, returning one for 49 yards. The last Illini with two interceptions in a game was Trulon Henry against Ohio State on Oct. 2, 2010. Barton has totaled three picks in the last two games.

2. With 2:57 left in the first half, sophomore CB Jaylen Dunlap blocked a punt and sophomore WR Marchie Murdock returned it 12 yards for a touchdown. The last Illinois blocked punt for a touchdown was by Vontae Davis against Missouri on Sept. 1, 2007.

3. Junior QB Wes Lunt turned in his third career 300-yard passing game as an Illini. Lunt finished 33-for-46 with 316 yards and one touchdown.

4. Senior WR Geronimo Allison turned in the third 100-yard receiving game of his Illini career, leading the Illini with eight catches for 124 yards. 17. Junior RB Henry Enyenihi scored his first touchdown in the Orange and Blue on a 1-yard run with 14:57 left in the fourth quarter.

5. Senior RB Josh Ferguson totaled 39 rushing yards and one touchdown; putting him just seven yards away from reaching 2,000 total rushing yards in his Illini career. Catching six passes for 42 yards, Ferguson became the all-time Illini leader in career receiving yards by a running back with 1,290, passing Ty Douthard's ('93-'96) total of 1,250.