Fighting Illini Football is off to a great start this season. Lovie Smith and his team fired on all cylinders as Illinois beat Murray State by a score of 52-3. ““There was a lot of anticipation for this,” Smith said afterwards. “I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night. I was just very excited about the game.” The team executed flawlessly, and they are looking ahead to next week’s match up against North Carolina. — Scott Wells
Travis McDade caught some action from the sidelines as well, his comments are below.
This was a game of rushing — long, long Illini runs. Here, Kendrick Foster outpaces everyone for one of his two touchdowns. He rushed the ball 4 times for 118 yards, an astounding per-rush average of nearly 30 yards.
Wide received Desmond Cain adds to the tally in the third quarter with a thirty yard touchdown reception.
The defense came up big, too, nearly pitching a shut-out. Here, Taylor Barton stops a Racer in one of their closest approaches to the end zone. Murray State came away with three points.
After a high snap on the dark side of the field, quarterback KD Humphries scrambles to find the ball before the Illini rush finds him.
Illini quarterback Chayce Crouch came into the game in the third quarter. Here he fights through Murray State defenders in a fourteen yard scramble for the first down.
Below, more photos by Scott Wells:
[gallery illinois_murray_state_football_2016]
Illinois hosts North Carolina next weekend at Memorial Stadium, kick off at 6:30 p.m.