Illinois Football
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2006 ILLINOIS FOOTBALL // GAME NOTES ILLINOIS FOOTBALL Athletic Public Relations // 1700 South Fourth Street // Champaign, IL 61820 // www.coachronzook.com Football Contact: Cassie Arner // (217) 244-3886 // FAX (217) 333-5540 // [email protected] FOR OPENERS GAME 1 4 Illinois opens its 117th season of varsity football on Saturday against Eastern Illinois. Illinois (0-0) vs. Eastern Illinois (0-0) 4 The Illini have compiled an all-time record of 73-38-5 in season openers and a 50-27-4 record when Sept. 2, 2006 // Memorial Stadium (69,249) opening the season a home … Illinois is 78-33-5 all-time in home openers and has won its last eight. 6 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. 4 Illinois junior kicker Jason Reda and linebacker J Leman earned preseason watch list honors. Following a year with 13 made field goals, Reda will be in consideration for the Lou Groza Award, given to the RADIO BROADCAST nation’s top placekicker. Leman led the linebackers in tackles last season with 67 and has been placed on The Illini Sports Network will carry the radio broadcast with the Butkus Award watch list. its pregame show beginning at 5:30 a.m. CT. Calling the action will be Brian Barnhart (play-by-play), Jim Grabowski 4 The Illini returned 10 starters on each side of the ball from a year ago, but competition and position (color analyst) and Steve Kelly (halftime and postgame). changes have given the lineup a different look. Of the 20 starters, only six retained spots on the defensive The broadcast can be heard on the 47-stations on the Illini side and seven on the offense. Sports Network. 4 Of the 52 names on the Illinois depth chart, 15 will be making their Illinois football debut. 4 Last season, the Illini were the youngest team in the country, starting only two seniors and over a MARKETING NOTES dozen freshmen and sophomores. Even with one-year under their belt, the team will still be quite youthful. Saturday, Sept. 2 // Military Day On the current depth chart, Illinois has seven true-freshman listed, including starters Jeff Cumberland at Noon 4 Ticket Windows Open tight end and punter Kyle Yelton. Cornerback Vontae Davis is listed as a potential game-one starter, while 3 p.m. Street Fest opens with military vehicles, 4 corners Chris Duvalt and Dere Hicks, safety Travon Bellamy and tight end Michael Hoomanawanui are key face painting, inflatable games, food and music backups. 4 Featured Band: Tons O’ Fun 4 Military Day Tailgate EASTERN ILLINOIS SERIES 3:50 p.m. 4 Illini Walk 4 Despite just 40 miles from one campus to the other, Saturday’s game marks the first meeting between 5 p.m. 4 Marching Illini Street Fest concert the University of Illinois and Eastern Illinois University. Halftime Patriotic Music performed by Marching Illini 4 4 EIU defensive lineman Jeff Sobol transferred from Illinois and begins his first season with the Postgame 4 Fireworks Show Panthers. He is currently listed as the second-team defensive tackle. 4 Two current NFL head coaches have ties to both Eastern Illinois and the Illini — Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress played at Eastern before coming to Illinois as an assitant coach from 1981-84; and New Orlean’s Sean Payton is EIU class of 1987 and spent time as an assistant with Illinois in 1996. 4 Greg McMahon, former Illinois assistant coach and father of current Illini Drew McMahon, attended Eastern Illinois, graduating in 1983. 4 Illinois sophomore wide receiver Kyle Hudson hails from Mattoon, Ill., which is just 11 miles down the ILLINOIS SCOREBOARD road from the Eastern Illinois campus. Sept. 2 . .Eastern Illinois . .6 p.m. Sept. 9 . .at Rutgers . .11 a.m. (ESPN2) RECORDS TO WATCH Sept. 16 . .Syracuse . .11 a.m. (ESPNU) 4 For the past two seasons, senior running back Pierre Thomas has been among the Big Ten’s best all- Sept. 23 . .Iowa . .TBA around running backs. He has twice led the team in rushing and has been very productive in the kickoff Sept. 30 . .at Michigan State . .11 a.m. Oct. 7 . .Indiana . .11 a.m. return game. He topped 1,300 all-purpose yards in 2004 and 2005 and is 1,343 yards short of the Illinois Oct. 14 . .Ohio . .6 p.m. career all-purpose yardage record, which is currently held by Robert Holcombe (4,737). Oct. 21 . .at Penn State . .11 a.m. 4 Both Thomas and senior running back E.B. Halsey rank among the school’s best runners. Thomas has Oct. 28 . .at Wisconsin . .TBA compiled 1,790 career rushing yards and with a strong senior year will break into Illinois’ top-10. He needs Nov. 4 . .Ohio State . .TBA Nov. 11 . .Purdue . .TBA 61 yards to improve to 12th on the list. Halsey is currently 21st on that same list with 1,335 yards. He will Nov. 18 . .at Northwestern . .TBA jump into the top-20 with 22 yards. * all times Central … rankings are AP/Coaches Poll 4 Junior kicker Jason Reda has made 20 field goals in his two-year career at Illinois, which ranks ninth on the all-time field goal list. He connected for seven as a true-freshman and 13 last season. The school EASTERN ILLINOIS SCOREBOARD record is 53 held by Chris White, but with one more made field goal, Reda will move to eighth on the list. Sept. 2 . .at Illinois . .6 p.m. 4 Illinois quarterback Tim Brasic rushed for 420 yards in 2005, the most in a single season by an Illinois Sept. 9 . .Indiana State . .6 p.m. quarterback. With 96 yards this season, Brasic will surpass the 516 yards recorded by Fred Custardo from Sept. 16 . .at Illinois State . .6:30 p.m. 1963-65, which is the most on the ground by an Illinois signal-caller. Sept. 23 . .at Samford . .6 p.m. Thomas is on his way to setting the Illinois career kickoff return yardage record. For his career, he has Sept. 30 . .at Hawaii . .11 p.m. 4 Oct. 7 . .Southeast Missouri . .1:30 p.m. totaled 1,272 kickoff return yards, which is just 111 yards short of the school record. Oct. 14 . .at Eastern Kentucky . .2 p.m. Oct. 21 . .Murray State . .1:30 p.m. ILLINI POSE TRIPLE TAILBACK THREAT Oct. 28 . .at Tennessee-Martin . .2 p.m. Nov. 4 . .Tennessee State . .1:30 p.m. 4 Once again the Illini running backs provide much of the experience on the offensive side of the ball, Nov. 11 . .at Tennessee Tech . .1:30 p.m. especially in seniors Pierre Thomas and E.B. Halsey. Last season, then-freshman Rashard Mendenhall Nov. 18 . .Jacksonville State . .1:30 p.m. joined the mix and the three backs combined for 116.0 yards per game. 4 For years, the Illinois running game has consisted of the two-headed monster tailback philosophy. 1 // 2006 ILLINOIS FOOTBALL 2006 ILLINOIS FOOTBALL // GAME NOTES Dating back to 1998 (and with the exception of the 2002 season), two or more running backs have split time DID YOU KNOW? in the backfield. With all three tailbacks returning for the 2006 season, the running game looks to be much Two NFL head coaches attended Eastern of the same. The following is a list of Illinois’ tailback tandems: 1998 . .Rocky Harvey (634) & Steve Havard (584) . .1,218 (110.7 ypg) Illinois and were assistant coaches at 1999 . .Rocky Harvey (774) & Steve Havard (806) . .1,580 (131.7 ypg) Illinois — Minnesota’s Brad Childress and 2000 . .Rocky Harvey (683) & Antoineo Harris (772) . .1,455 (132.3 ypg) New Orleans’ Sean Payton. 2001 . .Rocky Harvey (620) & Antoineo Harris (629) . .1,249 (104.1 ypg) 2002* . .Antoineo Harris (1,330) . .1,330 (110.8 ypg) 2003 . .E.B. Halsey (525) & Pierre Thomas (233) . .758 (62.2 ypg) 2004 . .Pierre Thomas (893) & E.B. Halsey (461) . .1,354 (123.1 ypg) TEAM STAT COMPARISON 2005 . .Pierre Thomas (664), E.B. Halsey (349) & Rashard Mendenhall (218) . .1,277 (116.0 ypg) 2005 averages * only season since 1998 Illinois has had one featured back ILL EIU Overall Record . .2-9 . .9-3 1,000-YARD RUSHING DUOS Conf. Record . .0-8 . .8-0 As the 2006 season begins, Illinois is the only Big Ten team to boast a pair of career 1,000-yard rushers on Total Offense . .354.6 . .305.5 its current roster in seniors Pierre Thomas (1,790 career yards) and E.B. Halsey (1,335 career yards). In all, Points Scored . .17.0 . .26.6 there are eight 1,000-yard career rushers currently listed on Big Ten rosters: First Downs . .20.0 . .15.9 Mike Hart, Jr., Michigan . .2,169 yards Rushing Yds. .158.2 . .158.6 Tony Hunt, Sr., Penn State . .1,934 yards Passing Yds. .196.5 . .146.9 Pierre Thomas, Sr., Illinois . .1,790 yards Time of Possession . .29:16 . .30:26 Antonio Pittman, Jr., Ohio State . .1,734 yards 3rd Down Conversion . .38.0 . .35.1 Tyrell Sutton, So., Northwestern . .1,474 yards Points Allowed . .39.5 . .19.2 Albert Young, Jr., Iowa . .1,426 yards Yards Allowed . .469.3 . .341.2 E.B. Halsey, Sr., Illinois . .1.335 yards Rushing Yds. Allowed . .234.0 . .121.5 Jehuu Caulcrick, Jr., Michigan State . .1,097 yards Passing Yds. Allowed . .235.3 . .219.8 -Javon Ringer, So., Michigan State . .817 yards ILLINI RECORDS IN SEASON OPENERS STATISTICAL LEADERS 4 Rushing Yards: 143 by Pierre Thomas vs. Florida A&M, 9/4/04 (2005 returners averages listed) 4 Passing Yards: 315 by Jack Trudeau vs.