Indiana University Athletics
Game Notes: Indiana at Illinois
11/7/2017 12:37:00 PM | Football
Setting The Scene
• Indiana (3-6, 0-6 B1G East) heads to Illinois (2-7, 0-6 B1G West) for the first time since 2012 on Saturday, Nov. 11. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CST/Noon EST at Memorial Stadium (60,670; FieldTurf) on BTN.
• The teams are meeting for the first time since 2013.
• IU has won the last two games in the series: 31-17 on Oct. 27, 2012 (A), and 52-35 on Nov. 19, 2013 (H).
• The Fighting Illini lead the overall series, 45-24-2.
The Coaches
• Tom Allen made his debut as Indiana head coach at the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl. He was named IU's 29th head coach on Dec. 1, 2016. The New Castle, Ind., native joined the Hoosiers as associate head coach/defense on Jan. 15, 2016. A 2016 Broyles Award nominee, Allen engineered one of the top defensive turnarounds in the country, as Indiana improved substantially in every major statistical category. (full bio on page 17)
• Lovie Smith is 5-16 (.238) in his second season as Illinois head coach. Smith compiled an 89-87 (.506) career record with the Chicago Bears (2004-12) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014-15).
News & Notes
• Indiana is the only program in the country to face three top five opponents and one of two (West Virginia) to meet five ranked foes this season.
• The Hoosiers have taken on three top five opponents for the second time (1961) in school history.
• This is the second straight year and the 11th time in program history IU has met five ranked opponents.
• Indiana has faced 15 top 20 foes in its last 31 ballgames, the most in the conference.
• Fifth-year senior safety Chase Dutra collected a career-high with 15 tackles and matched his career-best with 12 solo stops against No. 4 Wisconsin last weekend.
• Dutra, who is third in the Big Ten with 48 solos, has reached double-digit tackles in three of the last four games, leading all tacklers in each of those three contests. He has totaled 42 stops, 33 solo, in the stretch.
• Since the start of the 2016 season, senior linebacker Tegray Scales is first among all defenders nationally with 139 solo tackles, is second with 34.0 TFLs and shares fifth with 12, 10-plus tackle games.
• The Hoosiers are the only team with two pass-catchers in the top three of the Big Ten in receptions (Simmie Cobbs Jr. - 59, T-1st; Luke Timian - 54, 3rd).
• Cobbs (T-13th) and Timian (26th) are also one of four tandems nationally (Houston, Syracuse and Washington State) to rank inside the top 30 in catches.
• Fifth-year senior kicker Griffin Oakes is one of 20 semifinalists for the 2017 Lou Groza Award.
• Oakes 65 makes stand tied for seventh in Big Ten history and his 331 points are three points shy of 10th.
• Indiana (3-6, 0-6 B1G East) heads to Illinois (2-7, 0-6 B1G West) for the first time since 2012 on Saturday, Nov. 11. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CST/Noon EST at Memorial Stadium (60,670; FieldTurf) on BTN.
• The teams are meeting for the first time since 2013.
• IU has won the last two games in the series: 31-17 on Oct. 27, 2012 (A), and 52-35 on Nov. 19, 2013 (H).
• The Fighting Illini lead the overall series, 45-24-2.
The Coaches
• Tom Allen made his debut as Indiana head coach at the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl. He was named IU's 29th head coach on Dec. 1, 2016. The New Castle, Ind., native joined the Hoosiers as associate head coach/defense on Jan. 15, 2016. A 2016 Broyles Award nominee, Allen engineered one of the top defensive turnarounds in the country, as Indiana improved substantially in every major statistical category. (full bio on page 17)
• Lovie Smith is 5-16 (.238) in his second season as Illinois head coach. Smith compiled an 89-87 (.506) career record with the Chicago Bears (2004-12) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014-15).
News & Notes
• Indiana is the only program in the country to face three top five opponents and one of two (West Virginia) to meet five ranked foes this season.
• The Hoosiers have taken on three top five opponents for the second time (1961) in school history.
• This is the second straight year and the 11th time in program history IU has met five ranked opponents.
• Indiana has faced 15 top 20 foes in its last 31 ballgames, the most in the conference.
• Fifth-year senior safety Chase Dutra collected a career-high with 15 tackles and matched his career-best with 12 solo stops against No. 4 Wisconsin last weekend.
• Dutra, who is third in the Big Ten with 48 solos, has reached double-digit tackles in three of the last four games, leading all tacklers in each of those three contests. He has totaled 42 stops, 33 solo, in the stretch.
• Since the start of the 2016 season, senior linebacker Tegray Scales is first among all defenders nationally with 139 solo tackles, is second with 34.0 TFLs and shares fifth with 12, 10-plus tackle games.
• The Hoosiers are the only team with two pass-catchers in the top three of the Big Ten in receptions (Simmie Cobbs Jr. - 59, T-1st; Luke Timian - 54, 3rd).
• Cobbs (T-13th) and Timian (26th) are also one of four tandems nationally (Houston, Syracuse and Washington State) to rank inside the top 30 in catches.
• Fifth-year senior kicker Griffin Oakes is one of 20 semifinalists for the 2017 Lou Groza Award.
• Oakes 65 makes stand tied for seventh in Big Ten history and his 331 points are three points shy of 10th.
Players Mentioned
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