NCAAF Game Recap - Western Kentucky at Illinois
Sat Sep 9, 2017 8:00 PM EDT

Fres
10
Bama
41
F
Okla
31
OSU
16
F
Aub
6
Clem
14
F
Pitt
14
PSU
33
F
Stan
24
USC
42
F
Mont
7
Wash
63
F
Cin
14
Mich
36
F
FlAtl
14
Wisc
31
F
OkSt
44
SoAl
7
F
Chat
10
LSU
45
F
UGA
20
ND
19
F
Lou
47
UNC
35
F
Del
0
VaTec
27
F
UNCC
7
K St
55
F
Boise
44
WaSt
47
F(2OT)
TCU
28
Ark
7
F
InSt
7
Tenn
42
F
SamHu
44
PVAM
31
F
IdSt
13
UtSt
51
F
AlcSt
10
FLInt
17
F
Ohio
21
Purd
44
F
Buff
17
Army
21
F
UT-M
23
Miss
45
F
Iowa
44
IASt
41
F OT
ECU
20
WVU
56
F
Tows
17
MD
63
F
E Ky
16
KY
27
F
NW
17
Duke
41
F
JacSt
10
GATec
37
F
Wake
34
BC
10
F
TxSt
3
Colo
37
F
UAB
31
Ball
51
F
E Il
10
NIU
38
F
Sav
7
App
54
F
Tul
21
Navy
23
F
APSU
10
MiaOH
31
F
How
31
Kent
38
F
Abil
10
ColSt
38
F
SJSU
0
Tex
56
F
Ind
34
UVA
17
F
Vill
13
Temp
16
F
MidTN
30
Syr
23
F
E Mi
16
Rut
13
F
WestMI
14
MSU
28
F
OD
17
UMass
7
F
GWebb
0
Wyo
27
F
AlaAM
0
Vand
42
F
ULLaf
42
Tuls
66
F
C Mi
45
Kans
27
F
UNH
22
GaSo
12
F
Neb
35
Oreg
42
F
Hawaii
23
UCLA
56
F
Web
20
Cal
33
F
Mor
17
Lib
58
F
AlaSt
7
Troy
34
F
Marsh
20
NCSt
37
F
(N/A)
10
JMU
52
F
SD
35
BGSU
27
F
ArkPB
3
Akr
52
F
Toled
37
NEV
24
F
UNLV
44
Idaho
16
F
Nich
14
TxAM
24
F
Sou
0
SMiss
45
F
NorTx
32
SMU
54
F
SCar
31
MIZ
13
F
MissSt
57
LT
21
F
NMS
30
NM
28
F
Rice
31
UTEP
14
F
W Ky
7
Ill
20
F
UTSA
17
Bayl
10
F
MIN
48
OreSt
14
F
Utah
19
BYU
13
F
Hou
19
Ariz
16
F
SDSU
30
AzSt
20
F
MiaFL
ArkSt
Canc
NoCol
Fla
Canc
ULMon
FlaSt
PPD
SoFL
UConn
PPD
Mem
UCF
PPD

Sep 9, 2017, 8:00 PM EDT

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Western Kentucky (1-1)

0

0

0

7

7

Illinois (2-0)

3

10

7

0

20

Illinois defense, Epstein smother Western Kentucky, 20-7
Sun Sep 10, 2017 1:30 AM

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) Illinois had had a slim six-point lead in the second quarter on Western Kentucky, but the Illini defense had the Hilltoppers backed up to their own 2-yard line and on their heels.

The Hilltoppers decided to throw out of the end zone and, as soon as quarterback Mike White had the ball he had a wave of blue jerseys in his face.

He threw for the sideline, White later explained, but never got his feet set.

Parked at the 10-yard line, Illini linebacker Julian Jones never looked away from White.

"I had my eyes on him the entire play, so as soon as the ball was in the air I knew the ball was coming right to me," Jones said.

Jones grabbed the ball and ran untouched into the end zone, and the Illini had a 13-0 lead, well on their way to a 20-7 win.

"Bad football play," White summed up.

The Illini (2-0) came into the game as underdogs on their home field to a Conference USA team, no doubt in large part due to Western Kentucky's high-powered offense. The Hilltoppers (1-1), with White at quarterback, averaged 45.5 points a game last season, best in the country.

Illinois' young defense, including three freshmen starters, held the Hilltoppers to 244 total yards. Western Kentucky didn't score until the fourth quarter.

The Illini offense was limited, but freshman running back Mike Epstein rushed for 111 yards.

White averaged 311.6 yards a game last season, but Saturday heavy Illini pressure limited him to 28 of 43 passing for 238 yards and an interception. He also ran for a score.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound redshirt senior was under pressure much of the night. He was sacked twice and hurried four times.

"They put their players on one-on-one islands and they won those battles," White said. "That comes with the territory being a quarterback, not everything is going to be perfect every play."

Illinois followed up the pick-six with a crushing 84-yard drive to open the second half. Quarterback Chayce Crouch capped it with a nine-yard run, finishing with a leap into the end zone for a 20-0 lead.

"We didn't start off offensively the way we wanted to start off," first-year coach Mike Sanford said. "Whatever the favorite, whoever was, doesn't mean anything to us. What means something to us is we fully believed we were going to come out of Champaign with a victory and we did not."

Crouch finished 14 of 25 for 107 yards and an interception for Illinois.

Epstein, getting his first start, carried the ball 21 times.

"He started and again, you want to see young guys take that kind of step their second time out. Just the tip of the iceberg a little bit too," Illinois coach Lovie Smith said.

THE TAKEAWAY

Western Kentucky: With White at quarterback last season, the Hilltoppers averaged 523.1 total yards (fifth in the country) and 336.8 passing yards (fifth in the country) a game. Saturday, Illinois' young defense kept him under control. White averaged just 8.5 per completion.

Illinois: The Illini defense is young, with three true freshmen starting Saturday. But true to form for a Lovie Smith team, against the Hilltoppers it set the tone - and won the game. The second quarter touchdown by Jones gave Illinois a two-touchdown lead, which the defense made stand up.

Given limitations of Illinois' offense, particularly Crouch's inability to consistently throw the ball down field, the team's defense is likely to be called on to keep the Illini in games all season, and particularly as they head into the Big Ten, starting Sept. 29 against Nebraska.

QUOTABLE

"Our guys stepped up to the plate. Defensively we knew, (Western Kentucky has) a very good quarterback, good skill guys. It would be a big challenge for our young defensive line and our young secondary, but they really stepped to the table," Smith said.

EPSTEIN'S SOLID START

Illinois' most reliable offensive weapon was Epstein. He quietly topped 100 yards for the first time in his college career after carrying 11 times for 54 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener.

When the Illini badly need to move the ball, they turned to Epstein.

Western Kentucky's first score made it a 20-7 game, and Illinois took over on its own 14 with 11:30 to play in the game. The first two carries went to Epstein and he churned out 10 yards for a first down that kept the clock moving and started a drive that chewed up 7:04. It ended without points but left the Hilltoppers with less than five minutes to play and deep in their own territory.

UP NEXT

Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers host Louisiana Tech on Sept. 16, opening Conference USA play.

Illinois: The Illini are scheduled to take on South Florida at 7 p.m. ET on Friday in Tampa, but that could change, depending on the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Illini sports information director Kent Brown said. The schools are scheduled to play home-and-home games this season and next and have talked about the possibility of moving Friday's game to Champaign, if need be. Brown stressed that those discussions are preliminary. South Florida canceled this week's game with Connecticut ahead of the hurricane.

---

More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25

Passing

W Ky Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
M. White 43 28 65.1 0 238 23 1 69.7
Ill Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
C. Crouch 25 14 56.0 0 107 20 1 49.9

Rushing

W Ky Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
D. Ferby 7 14 2.0 8 0
Q. Baker 5 11 2.2 9 0
Ill Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
M. Epstein 21 111 5.3 13 0
C. Crouch 12 44 3.7 16 1

Receiving

W Ky Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
N. Fant 10 110 11.0 23 0
Q. Jernighan 5 30 6.0 9 0
Ill Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
M. Dudek 6 46 7.7 16 0
M. Turner 3 22 7.3 9 0

Fumbles

W Ky F FL
N. Fant 1 0
M. White 1 1
Ill F FL
M. Epstein 1 0
M. Dudek 1 0

Returning

W Ky KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
N. Fant 0 0 0 4 1.3 0 6
K. Towner 2 21.5 0 23 0 0 0
Ill KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
K. Foster 2 19.0 0 24 0 0 0
M. Dudek 0 0 0 1 0.0 0 0

Punting

W Ky Punt Yds Avg LgPu
J. Collins 7 216 30.9 45
Ill Punt Yds Avg LgPu
B. Hayes 7 243 34.7 52

Takeaways

W Ky Int Yds InTD
A. Kincade 1 1 0
Ill Int Yds InTD
J. Jones 1 10 1

Team Stats Comparison

W Ky Ill
Points For 7 20
Total Yards 244 300
Rushing Yards 6 193
Passing Yards 238 107
Passing Completions / Attempts 28/43 14/25
Turnovers 2 1
Interceptions Thrown 1 1
Fumbles - Lost 4/1 4/0
First Downs 14 19
Penalties - Yards 11/100 9/95
Time Of Possession 06:06 54:54
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 2/12 9/18
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 0/2 0/0
Punts - Average Yards 7/31 7/35

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter W Ky Ill
Ill 06:15 FG Chase McLaughlin 37 yd FG 0 3
2nd Quarter W Ky Ill
Ill 05:02 FG Chase McLaughlin 20 yd FG 0 6
Ill 13:39 TD Julian Jones 10 yd interception return (Chase McLaughlin kick) 0 13
3rd Quarter W Ky Ill
Ill 06:41 TD Chayce Crouch 9 yd run (Chase McLaughlin kick) 0 20
4th Quarter W Ky Ill
W Ky 03:22 TD Mike White 2 yd run (Ryan Nuss kick) 7 20

Game Information

Stadium: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois
Attendance: 41,923
Game Time:
Weather: