Aug. 27, 2007
- Illinois opens its 118th season of varsity football Saturday against Missouri.
- The Illini have compiled an all-time record of 74-38-5 in season openers, are 23-8-1 when opening the season on the road and 0-3 in neutral-site season openers.
- Illinois returns 20 starters from a year ago, nine on each side of the ball and two specialists.
- For the past two years, Illinois has been one of the youngest teams in the country. In 2005, the Illini were the most youthful squad and last year they were in the top three.
- The Illini return to St. Louis, bringing with them two natives in reshirt-freshmen Jerry Brown (Vashon) and Antonio Gully (Cardinal Ritter). Also from the state of Missouri is senior fullback Justin Ijei from Chesterfield.
- Illinois looks to defend its Big Ten rushing title from a year ago as the Illini return over 50 percent of their rushing attack. Despite losing leading rusher Pierre Thomas (69.2 ypg), the team's second and third rushers in tailback Rashard Mendenhall (53.3 ypg) and quarterback Juice Williams (48.0 ypg) are back. Mendenhall ranked 10th in the Big Ten in individual rushing last year and led the conference with an 8.2 yards per carry average. Williams broke the school records for rushing by a quarterback, setting marks for a career (576); season (576) and single game (145).
- Mendenhall needs 142 rushing yards to break the career 1,000 yard mark. In two seasons he has accumulated 858 yards on the ground on just 126 carries, for a 6.8 career yard per carry average. The highest yard per carry average of Illinois' all-time rushers belongs to Pierre Thomas, who posted 5.6 ypc from 2003-06.
- Last season, Illinois' played the 40th toughest schedule according to the final Sagarin ratings. This season doesn't offer any relief as the Illini prepare for seven teams on the schedule that went to a bowl game in 2006. Also among those are three teams ranked in the top-10 in No. 5 Michigan, No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 10 Ohio State, as well as No. 18 Penn State.
- Sept. 1 marks the first time since 2003 that Illinois and Missouri have squared off. Mizzou leads the all-time series 13-7 and won both games in the two-game series played in 2002-03 in St. Louis.
- Missouri has won three of the last four games in the series and four of the last six, dating back to the 1991 season.
- Mizzou leads the series 3-1 in neutral-site games, all four being played in St. Louis. The Illini won the first game of the series, which was played in St. Louis, in 1896, but the Tigers took victories in 1969, 2002 and 2003.
- Senior linebacker J Leman -- Butkus Award; Lombardi Award; Bronko Nagurski Award; Lott Award
- Senior placekicker Jason Reda -- Lou Groza Award
- Junior running back Rashard Mendenhall -- Doak Walker Award
- Junior center Ryan McDonald -- Rimington Award
- Sophomore quarterback Isiah "Juice" Williams -- Manning Award
- Sophomore tight end Jeff Cumberland -- Mackey Award
- Senior kicker Jason Reda currently stands ninth on the Illinois career scoring list, needing 12 points to pass Red Grange. Reda needs 88 points this season to become the career scoring leader.
- Reda also is sixth on the career field goals list, needing just five field goals to move into fourth place. He would need 19 FGs to become the career field goal record holder.
- Senior defensive tackle Chris Norwell needs just five more starts to set the Illinois record for most games started by a defensive lineman.
- Senior linebacker J Leman needs 68 tackles to move into 10th place on the Illini career tackles list.
After a two-year drought of playing games in domes, Illinois will return to indoor football for three of their six away games this season, marking the first Dome appearance for head coach Ron Zook as an Illini. The team kicks off the season at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis against Missouri, where they are 0-2 in games. In the third week of the year, Illinois travels to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse to take on the Orange. Twice the Illini have played in SU's home dome, victorious in both contests. Finally in week 10, the squad heads to the Metrodome to play Minnesota in an evening contest. The Illini are 3-5-1 in the Metrodome since the Gophers began playing there in 1982.
At the time the 2006 Butkus Award Watch list was released, Illini linebacker J Leman was an unknown name to most people outside of the Illinois fan base, but now he enters the 2007 season as one of the top returning linebackers in the country. Last season, Leman jumped onto the national scene with dominant games against Michigan State, Wisconsin and then-No. 1 Ohio State. He earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors after totaling 19 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss against the top-ranked Buckeyes. He followed up that performance with 22 tackles and 2.5 TFL in the season finale at Northwestern. Leman led the Big Ten with 12.7 tackles per game and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. He was also named to the Sports Illustrated All-American team as an honorable mention and is one of only eight returning linebackers in the nation to earn all-star honors.
For years, the Illini have used multiple running backs. This season, junior Rashard Mendenhall is likely to see the bulk of the carries. It will be the first time since 2002 and only the second time in 10 seasons that Illinois has primarily used one running back. However, the last time the Illini had a primary back, Antoineo Harris broke the single-season rushing record with 1,330 yards. In 1997 and 1996, Robert Holcombe was the team's sole running back. In those seasons, he rushed for 1,253 (5th) and 1,281 yards (2nd), respectively. Both those season efforts (as noted) rank in the top-5 on the school's season rushing yardage list.
As the 2007 season begins, Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall ranks 11th on the list of active running backs in the Big Ten. Now as the team's leading returning rusher and no longer sharing the spotlight with two other backs, Mendenhall looks to rise up that list.
- Mike Hart, Sr., Michigan - 3,679 yards
- Tyrell Sutton, Jr., Northwestern - 2,474 yards
- Albert Young, Sr., Iowa - 2,205 yards
- Amir Pinnix, Sr., Minnesota - 1,876 yards
- Jehuu Caulcrick, Sr., Michigan State - 1,593 yards
- P.J. Hill, So., Wisconsin - 1,569 yards
- Javon Ringer, Jr., Michigan State - 1,314 yards
- Kory Sheets, Sr., Purdue - 1,351 yards
- Austin Scott, Sr., Penn State - 1,021 yards
- Damian Sims, Sr., Iowa - 1,005 yards
-- Rashard Mendenhall, Jr., Illinois - 858 yards
- Rushing Yards: 143 by Pierre Thomas vs. Florida A&M, 9/4/04
- Passing Yards: 315 by Jack Trudeau vs. Northwestern, 9/1/84
- Completions: 31 by Jon Beutjer vs. Missouri, 8/30/03
- Touchdowns Rushing: 3 by Antoineo Harris vs. California, 9/1/01
- Touchdowns Passing: 3, most recently by Kurt Kittner vs. Middle Tennessee, 9/2/00
- Receptions: 11 by David Williams vs. Northwestern, 9/1/84
- Touchdown Receptions: 3 by Greg Lewis vs. Middle Tennessee, 9/2/00
- Receiving Yards: 208 by David Williams vs. Northwestern, 9/1/84
- Sacks: 4 by Mike Poloskey vs. East Carolina, 8/31/91
- Points Scored: 79 vs. Illinois State, 9/16/44
- Margin of Victory: 73 (79-6) vs. Illinois State, 9/16/44
- The Illini led the Big Ten in rushing and ranked 10th in the country with an 188.8 average. It was the highest rushing average for an Illini team since the 1973 season. The Illini's 5.2 yards per carry also ranked fifth in the nation last season. The squad began the season with a 300-yard rushing effort against Eastern Illinois and posted six additional 200-yard performances.
- Illinois proved last year that it had big-play ability. The squad posted 49 offensive plays over 20 yards. Quarterback Juice Williams threw nine touchdown passes, seven of which were for over 20 yards. Williams also became the only quarterback in school history to throw three touchdown passes of over 60 yards when he passed for 76, 69 and 69-yard scores. Williams completed 21 big-play passes, connecting with eight different targets. On the rushing side, backs ran for 23 carries over 20 yards, including Rashard Mendenhall's scampers of 86 and 79 yards.
- Junior receiver Kyle Hudson starts his third year of pulling double-duty as a wide receiver on the football team and a centerfielder on the Illini baseball team. Hudson led the Illini in receptions in 2006 and receiving yards each of his first two seasons.
- True-freshman wide receiver Arrelious Benn looks to make a start against Missouri, his first collegiate game. The last time a wide receiver started as a true freshman at Illinois was Lonnie Hurst in 2003 against Missouri.
- Quarterback Juice Williams was one of seven true-freshmen signal-callers to play last year. He and Thaddeus Lewis of Duke logged the most starts at nine apiece. Williams' record in those starts was 1-8, while Lewis' was 0-9.
- Illinois returns its top four tacklers from a year ago in J Leman, Antonio Steele, Kevin Mitchell and Justin Harrison. Vontae Davis, Brit Miller and Chris Norwell also return, meaning seven of the Illini's top eight defenders are back from 2006.
- The defense is extremely experienced, returning nine of 11 starters. All three starting linebackers return, along with three lineman and three defensive backs. Five Illini on defense have recorded 20 or more starts in their career: SS Justin Harrison (24), LB J Leman (28), FS Kevin Mitchell (21), DT Chris Norwell (33), DE Derek Walker (23).
- The Illini are hoping to register the same improvement in 2007 that they saw in 2006. The squad made drastic strides last season, shaving off nearly 160 yards per game. The biggest gains came in the rushing defense with the allowance of only 127 yards per game. The rushing defense improved its attack, allowing 103 yards less than it did one year prior, going from the league's worst to fifth-ranked. The total defense was giving up nearly 500 yards of offense in 2005 and ended the season stopping opponents for just over 300 yards per game. The Illini defense also increased the number of tackles behind the line of scrimmage by 21 in 2006, stopping opponents 83 times for a loss of 275 yards.
- Senior kicker Jason Reda has been a consistent force throughout his career, converting all but one extra-point try in three years (70-of-71). Last season, he was perfect on field goals under 40 yards and scored a career-high 69 points. He has connected on his last 58 PATs.
- Oddly enough, Illinois this year boasts a trio of four-year starters on the field goal and extra point units. Long snapper Kyle Knezetic, holder Frank Lenti Jr. and Reda have worked together extensively throughout their careers as Illini, giving the coaching staff a great deal of confidence in that special teams unit.
- Six Illini have already earned their college degrees -- FB Justin Ijei, WR Frank Lenti, Jr., DB Tyler Rouse, LB J Leman, DT Chris Norwell and OL Martin O'Donnell.
- Illinois junior linebacker J Leman is not only a standout on the field, but his accomplishments in the classroom include a bachelor's degree in just three years. He maintained a 3.7 GPA in communications, graduating in August of 2006. He is currently pursuing a master's degree which he will complete this December.
- The Illini's starting center Ryan McDonald is pursuing his undergraduate degree in one of the most difficult academic fields at the University of Illinois. Illinois is known for its engineering cirriculum, ranking in the Top-10 in all nine disciplines, including the top-rated civil engineering program. McDonald has recorded a 3.87 in aeronautical engineering, a program which ranks eighth nationally. He had an internship this summer on campus working with NASA.
For the second straight summer the team hosted an event to raise money for the Cunningham Children's Home, located locally in Urbana. The event was a 12-hour supply drive to raise goods and money for the home from their Wish List. The team congregated on the East side of Memorial Stadium and along with the help of local radio stations, solicited the help of community members to give supplies and money to the Home. The team's two-year total of goods and money raised is $20,000.
- Great excitement surrounds the 2007 Illinois football season. More than 13,000 Illini fans have become new season ticket holders and the school has sold out its South Endzone "Horseshoe" section. Students have also jumped on board, with season ticket sales up by nearly 2,000.
- Phase I of the Memorial Stadium project will be completed next week in time for Illinois' home opener against Western Illinois. The students will be housed in the brand-new North Endzone seating as well as the Marching Illini. This is the first part of a $116 million renovation taking place at the historic stadium right now.
