The Orange Tribe || A Fighting Illini Story

[Zeekesimo]

Gillette Stadium, MA
An offensive shootout ruled in the favor of the UMass Minutemen today, as they were able to hold off the visiting Fighting Illini. The fighting Illini took the opening kickoff to their own 45, and capitalized on the first play of the game when Thomas Griffin connected with Vern Patrick for a quick 6 points. The very next drive, just three plays in, UMass answered with a big play of their own as James Gauthier found Matthew Cox wide open on a go route on third down. "We just fell behind and weren't able to answer in the second half. We are still struggling with playing 60 minutes, and that's not going to get us any wins." Coach Taneli stated after the game.

"I was pleased with Griffin's performance. He had a few mistakes today, but he's grown a lot over the last two weeks for this team. He really is taking on a leadership roll in the locker room, and guys are really starting to buy in to him. It's been a great turnaround." Offensive coordinator Jeremy Huntley told reporters.

Illinois Fighting Illini at Massachusetts Minutemen
Sep 14, 2013	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	OT	SCORE
Illinois Fighting Illini (0-3)	7	10	0	14	--	31
Massachusetts Minutemen (1-2)	14	3	3	17	--	37

Team Stats Comparison
	ILL	MASS
Total Offense	467	431
Rushing Yards	81	117
Passing Yards	386	314
First Downs	17	16
Punt Return Yards	10	29
Kick Return Yards	158	75
Total Yards	635	535
Turnovers	5	4
3rd Down Converstion	3-15	4-16
4th Down Conversion	0-2	1-1
2-Point Conversion	--	--
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	2-3	3-3
Penalties	2-11	0-0
Posession Time	29:16	30:44

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		ILL	MASS
14:36	(ILL) V. Patrick, 55 Yd pass from T. Griffin	7	0
13:12	(MASS) M. Cox, 83 Yd pass from J. Gauthier	7	7
09:26	(MASS) J. Rigsby, 35 Yd pass from J. Gauthier	7	14
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		ILL	MASS
13:24	(ILL) K. Hernandez, 19 Yd FG	10	14
10:52	(MASS) A. Barnes, 37 Yd Fg	10	17
04:48	(ILL) V. Patrick, 31 Yd pass from T. Griffin	17	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		ILL	MASS
01:24	(MASS) A. Barnes, 22 Yd FG	17	20
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		ILL	MASS
11:08	(MASS) S. Brito, 40 Yd pass from J. Gauthier	17	27
08:14	(MASS) P. Lopez, 6 Yd fumble recovery	17	34
04:18	(ILL) P. Johnson, 7 Yd pass from T. Griffin	24	34
00:18	(MASS) A. Barnes, 38 Yd FG	24	37
00:00	(ILL) A. Martin, 55 Yd pass from T. Griffin	31	37

Illinois Fighting Illini PASSING C/A YDS TD INT T. Griffin 20/43 386 4 3 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD D. Evans 21 73 3.48 0 J. Marshall 5 16 3.20 0 A. Martin 1 5 5.00 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD A. Martin 4 128 32.00 1 V. Patrick 3 87 29.00 2 P. Johnson 4 79 19.75 1 K. Martinez 4 38 9.50 0 W. Harper 1 17 17.00 0 R. Williams 1 15 15.00 0 J. Marshall 2 14 7.00 0 D. Evans 1 8 8.00 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK R. Anderson 4 0 D. Marshall 1 0 R. May 1 0 J. Davis 0 2 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD J. Hall 7-2 0 1 0 I. Campos 6-2 0 0 0 J. Hines 4-0 2 0 0 B. Beltran 3-1 0 0 0 R. Patton 3-1 0 0 0 S. Brinson 3-0 1 0 0 F. Wallis 3-0 0 0 0 E. Perez 2-0 0 0 0 K. Burkhart 1-2 0 0 0 C. Howard 1-1 0 0 0 J. Johnson 1-1 0 1 0 P. Martin 1-0 1 0 0 R. Williams 1-0 0 0 0 B. Wise 1-0 0 0 0 W. Williams 1-0 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG K. Hernandez 0/1 4/4 4 19 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 C. Mcgill 7 266 31.10 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD C. Howard 6 158 26.30 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD J. Johnson 3 10 3.30 0

Massachusetts Minutemen PASSING C/A YDS TD INT J. Gauthier 9/23 314 3 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD S. Brito 18 71 3.94 0 J. Gauthier 6 53 8.83 0 M. Morgan 15 10 0.67 0 R. West 3 0 0.00 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD J. Rigsby 3 103 34.33 1 M. Cox 1 83 83.00 1 J. Henderson 2 60 30.00 0 S. Brito 2 51 25.50 1 D. Garcia 1 17 17.00 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK H. Tisdale 2 0 D. Garcia 1 0 L. Cain 0 1 C. Shannon 0 1 J. Chisholm 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD C. Cooper 7-2 0 2 0 P. Lopez 6-1 0 0 1 J. Connolly 6-0 1 0 0 D. Morgan 5-1 0 0 0 M. Howe 3-1 0 1 0 J. McPhereson 3-1 1 0 0 C. Ramirez 2-1 0 0 0 D. Chaney 1-0 0 0 0 J. Jarvis 1-0 0 0 0 S. Joyce 1-0 0 0 0 W. Nelson 0-1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG A. Barnes 3/3 4/4 13 38 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 R. Lo 7 279 39.90 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD J. Henderon 4 75 18.80 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD M. Cox 4 29 7.20 0

Player of the Game:
Thomas Griffin - 20/43, 386 yards, 4 touchdowns, 3 interceptions

[Zeekesimo]

Three in a row for Fighting Illini. Coach Taneli a bad choice?
Critics have put coach Jengo Taneli on the hot seat this week as Illinois drops it's third straight game. "We have a tough road ahead of us. Iowa's defense is great this year, ranking #11 nationally, and we have to be on top of our game if we want to put up some points. They have a great coaching staff, and don't let their 0-2 record fool you, they are going to come out to play. I have got to rally these guys together if we want to compete." quarterback Thomas Griffin said after practice.


Around the Nation:
#17 29 @ 19 #11
Notre Dame heads in to East Lansing and knocks off their rivals at Michigan State in this heavyweight match up.
#19 17 @ 34
Boise State defends the blue turf and doubles up #19 Stanford.
20 @ 26 #1
#1 Sooners is taken to overtime by SMU, and manages to hold on to the win.

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Sep 15, 2013
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Oklahoma	3	0	1602
2	2	Texas	2	0	1540
3	3	Alabama	3	0	1472
4	4	Ohio State	3	0	1414
5	5	Florida	2	0	1365
6	6	LSU	3	0	1308
7	7	Georgia	2	0	1228
8	8	Oregon	2	1	1167
9	9	South Carolina	2	0	1087
10	10	TCU	3	0	1014
11	12	Texas A&M	2	0	942
12	17	Notre Dame	3	0	879
13	13	Wisconsin	3	0	812
14	14	USC	2	1	756
15	11	Michigan State	2	1	700
16	15	West Virginia	1	0	655
17	16	Texas Tech	3	0	603
18	18	Oklahoma State	2	0	548
19	20	Tennessee	3	0	460
20	21	Michigan	1	1	382
21	22	Florida State	2	0	307
22	23	Nebraska	2	0	240
23	19	Stanford	2	1	169
24	24	Arkansas	3	0	111
25	25	Kentucky	2	0	78

Others Receiving Votes:
Baylor 50, Utah 50, Auburn 50, Kansas State 50, Clemson 49, Missouri 49, Iowa State 46, Boise State 41, Minnesota 37, Penn State 36, Georgia Tech 32, Arizona State 32, Northwester 29, San Jose State 26, Mississippi State 21, Maryland 20, Kansas 20, Miami 15, Washington State 11, Purdue 8, California 6, Arizona 3, Virginia Tech 2, Wyoming 2, Oregon State 2

Dropped from top 25:
None

Around the B1G
#17 Notre Dame 29 @ #11 Michigan State 19
Illinois 31 @ UMass 37
Iowa 17 @ Ball State 19
#21 Michigan 30 @ NC State 20
Boston College 6 @ #4 Ohio State 24
East Carolina 13 @ Penn State 24
UAB 13 @ Purdue 23
#13 Wisconsin 28 @ USF 9
Wake Forest 27 @ #23 Nebraska 51
Indiana 23 @ #10 TCU 25
Louisiana Tech 10 @ Minnesota 49
Northwestern 41 @ Nevada 23


Around Illinois
National Rank: #91
Offense Rank: #100
Defense Rank: #86

Injury Report:
Jonathan Clarke - Torn tendon in thumb (2-4 weeks) Questionable
Vern Patrick - Severe concussion (1-3 weeks) Probable
Andrew Chandler - Strained calf (1-3 weeks) Probable
Fernando Baxter - Dislocated elbow (4-6 weeks) Questionable
David Warner - Hand lacerations (3-5 weeks) Questionable
Peter Calhoun - Shoulder subluxation (1-3 weeks) Probable
Kevin Burkhart - Dislocated clavicle (5-7 weeks) Doubtful

Academic Probation:
None

[Zeekesimo]

Matchup Preview *|* September 21, 2013
	@
Illinois Fighting Illini (0-3, 0-1 Away)		Iowa Hawkeyes (0-2, 0-1 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 959 Total Offensive Yards 873 697 Passing Yards 511 262 Rushing Yards 362 Defensive Stats Comparison 1,271 Total Yards Allowed 556 864 Passing Yards Allowed 402 407 Rushing Yards Allowed 154 Injury Report J. Clarke Torn tendon in thumb; 2-4 weeks H. Cooke Strained ACL; 5-7 weeks V. Patrick Severe concussion; 1-3 weeks S. McCray Broken nose; 0-2 weeks A. Chandler Strained calf; 1-3 weeks M. Rogers Frayed labrum; 1-3 weeks F. Baxter Dislocated elbow; 4-6 weeks T. George Strained MCL; 0-2 weeks D. Warner Hand laceration; 3-5 weeks T. Hamrick Bone spurs in foot; 0-2 weeks Game Notes The key to this game is going to be running back David Evans of Illinois versus the front seven of Iowa. Evans has carried the ball 51 times for 170 yards (3.33 YPC) with 1 rushing touchdown. He has created one big run on his own and averages 56.7 yards per game. The Hawkeyes defense has held opponents to just 77 rushing yards per game and ranks 14 against the run nationally.

[Zeekesimo]

Kinnick Stadium, IA
Did hell freeze over, or did the Fighting Illini bring in their first win? Thomas Griffin anchored the team, and they were able to hold off the fourth quarter push by the Hawkeyes for their first win of the season. "It feels good to finally get that win, and even better that it was against a division opponent. It's a great way to bounce back after those losses." Griffin said after the game. "It got a little close there at the end of the game, but Calvin Howard was able to seal the victory late today." Coach Taneli stated about his team.

The Fighting Illini took on the highly rated Hawkeye defense, and managed to do just enough for the win. The Iowa defense really stepped it up in the second half, and handed the ball over to their offense with under a minute left for the potential game-tying drive. Unlucky for Iowa, Robert Bell went down in the third quarter with a broken toe, and freshman Doug Thurston was handed the reigns to win the game. He could not replicate his previous drive, and threw it right into the hands of Calvin Howard for the easy interception that sealed the game. Illinois can't relish the victory too long, as they head home to take on Penn State.

Illinois Fighting Illini at Iowa Hawkeyes
Sep 21, 2013	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	OT	SCORE
Illinois Fighting Illini (1-3)	7	14	3	0	--	24
Iowa Hawkeyes (0-3)	0	2	0	15	--	17

Team Stats Comparison
	ILL	IOWA
Total Offense	346	406
Rushing Yards	114	142
Passing Yards	232	264
First Downs	19	20
Punt Return Yards	13	16
Kick Return Yards	43	80
Total Yards	402	502
Turnovers	0	3
3rd Down Converstion	6-17	7-16
4th Down Conversion	1-1	--
2-Point Conversion	--	1-1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-4	2-2
Penalties	4-35	7-63
Posession Time	30:45	29:25

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		ILL	IOWA
12:55	(ILL) D. Evans, 5 Yd run	7	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		ILL	IOWA
10:38	(ILL) A. Martin, 14 Yd pass from T. Griffin	14	0
06:37	(ILL) D. Evans, 27 Yd pass from T. Griffin	21	0
00:18	(IOWA) R. Smith, safety	21	2
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		ILL	IOWA
10:47	(ILL) K. Hernandez, 31 Yd FG	24	2
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		ILL	IOWA
14:17	(IOWA) K. Davis, 5 Yd run (2-Pt converted)	24	10
01:48	(IOWA) K. Davis, 20 Yd pass from D. Thurston	24	17

Illinois Fighting Illini PASSING C/A YDS TD INT T. Griffin 18/29 232 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD D. Evans 35 76 2.17 1 J. Marshall 3 39 13.00 0 V. Patrick 1 5 5.00 0 K. Martinez 1 0 0.00 0 T. Griffin 2 -3 -1.50 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD K. Martinez 5 70 14.00 0 D. Evans 6 63 10.50 1 V. Patrick 3 56 18.67 0 A. Martin 3 40 13.33 1 L. Larkin 1 3 3.00 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK R. May 3 0 R. Anderson 1 0 D. Marshall 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD B. Wise 4-4 0 0 0 J. Hall 4-2 0 0 0 R. Rojas 4-0 2 0 0 J. Johnson 3-2 0 0 0 P. Pacheco 3-1 0 0 0 C. Howard 3-0 0 1 0 B. Beltran 3-0 0 0 0 S. Brinson 2-0 2 0 0 D. Phan 2-0 0 0 0 I. Campos 1-3 0 0 0 R. Riggs 1-1 0 0 0 W. Williams 1-1 0 0 0 K. Burkhart 1-0 0 0 0 D. Warner 1-0 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG K. Hernandez 1/2 3/3 6 31 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 C. McGill 8 324 40.50 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD C. Howard 1 27 27.00 0 J. Marshall 1 16 16.00 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD J. Johnson 2 13 6.50 0

Iowa Hawkeyes PASSING C/A YDS TD INT R. Bell 17/28 197 0 0 D. Thurston 4/9 67 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD T. Bacon 18 104 5.78 0 S. McCray 7 52 7.43 0 K. Davis 1 5 5.00 0 C. Saldana 1 3 3.00 0 D. Thurston 1 0 0.00 0 M. Acevedo 1 -1 -1.00 0 R. Bell 1 -1 -1.00 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD K. Davis 5 100 20.00 1 C. Saldana 6 67 11.17 0 W. Duvall 5 56 11.20 0 T. Bacon 2 22 11.00 0 S. McCray 3 19 6.33 0 T. Mathews 1 0 0.00 0 M. Acevedo 1 0 0.00 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK J. Dixon 2 0 L. Gill 0 3 J. Thomas 0 1 W. Taylor 0 1 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD J. Bennett 8-2 0 0 0 B. Smith 7-5 0 0 0 R. Mackey 5-1 0 0 0 W. Cote 3-1 1 0 0 F. Freeman 3-0 0 0 0 T. Hamrick 3-0 0 0 0 S. Morris 2-2 0 0 0 R. Smith 2-0 0 0 0 D. Romo 2-0 0 0 0 A. Palmer 2-0 0 0 0 L. Moss 2-0 0 0 0 M. Clark 1-0 0 0 0 H. Hester 0-2 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG L. Herndon 0/1 1/1 1 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 L. Green 8 327 40.90 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD W. Fisher 4 100 20.00 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD T. Hamrick 2 16 8.00 0

Player of the Game:
David Evans - 35 carries for 76 yards, 1 touchdown; 6 receptions for 63 yards and 1 touchdown

[Zeekesimo]

Taneli notches first win against Big Ten opponent
Coach Taneli finally got the monkey off his back as he coached his way to victory over Iowa last week. It's a rough journey ahead though, as they take on Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, and Wisconsin all in that order. It's not going to be an easy journey by any means, and we will learn a lot about this Illini team during this stretch. "We have to stay focused. We can't celebrate the small stuff. Keep our eye on the prize and remember that this is a twelve game season. It's what got us out of this losing streak, and hopefully it will be what leads us into a winning streak now." Coach Taneli said. They face off against another hard-nosed opponent this week, as Penn State's offense ranks in at #10 and their defense at #31. "It's going to be a tough challenge, but I believe in our guys."


Around the Nation:
#4 23 @ 33 #22
It was a showcase of Big Ten talent this week, and boy were we in for a treat. Badgers knock off visiting Buckeyes.
#24 29 @ 28 #7
Arkansas puts together a textbook comeback as they conquer a 17 point fourth quarter deficit.
#1 34 @ 31 #2
The top two teams in the nation face off early in the season, as the Sooners take it to the Longhorns.

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Sep 22, 2013
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Oklahoma	4	0	1609
2	3	Alabama	3	0	1549
3	5	Florida	2	0	1490
4	6	LSU	3	0	1441
5	9	South Carolina	3	0	1393
6	2	Texas	2	1	1316
7	8	Oregon	3	1	1258
8	4	Ohio State	3	1	1176
9	10	TCU	4	0	1120
10	11	Texas A&M	3	0	1045
11	12	Notre Dame	4	0	980
12	7	Georgia	2	1	923
13	13	Wisconsin	3	0	852
14	16	West Virginia	2	0	788
15	14	USC	3	1	739
16	15	Michigan State	2	1	694
17	22	Nebraska	3	0	648
18	17	Texas Tech	3	0	582
19	24	Arkansas	4	0	497
20	18	Oklahoma State	2	1	413
21	20	Michigan	2	1	364
22	19	Tennessee	3	1	315
23	21	Florida State	2	0	258
24	23	Stanford	3	1	193
25	--	Kansas State	4	0	124

Others Receiving Votes:
Kentucky 98, Utah 72, Auburn 41, Clemson 41, Baylor 36, Iowa State 31, Penn State 29, Arizona State 29, Northwestern 24, Boise State 20, Maryland 20, Mississippi State 18, Missouri 18, San Jose State 18, Miami 13, Washington State 11, Virginia Tech 10, Minnesota 10, Purdue 5

Dropped from top 25:
Kentucky 25

Around the B1G
Purdue 6 @ Penn State 23
Illinois 24 @ Iowa 17
#20 Michigan 41 @ Indiana 31
#4 Ohio State 23 @ #22 Nebraska 33
Minnesota 20 @ Northwestern 24


Around Illinois
National Rank: #76
Offense Rank: #95
Defense Rank: #89

Injury Report:
James Marshall - Stress fracture in foot (3-5 weeks) Questionable
Jonathan Clarke - Torn tendon in thumb (1-3 weeks) Probable
Vern Patrick - Severe concussion (0-2 weeks) Probable
Andrew Chandler - Strained calf (1-3 weeks) Probable
Fernando Baxter - Dislocated elbow (3-5 weeks) Probable
Isaac Campos - Elbow bursitis (5-7 weeks) Questionable
David Warner - Hand lacerations (2-4 weeks) Probable
Peter Calhoun - Shoulder subluxation (0-2 weeks) Probable
Kevin Burkhart - Dislocated clavicle (4-6 weeks) Doubtful

Academic Probation:
None