IU football game day: Illinois at Indiana primer and predictions

Indiana kicks off its 138th season of football on Friday night in Bloomington, and the Hoosiers will be looking to get the bad taste of 2021 out of their mouths.

But to do it, they’ll have to knock off a Big Ten foe in a critical season-opener that could swing the season.

Illinois is fresh off an impressive 38-6 rout of Wyoming, and now the fun begins with a week one Big Ten matchup.

It’s the Hoosiers and Illini under the Friday night lights.

ILLINOIS (1-0) at INDIANA (0-0)

Kickoff: 8:05 p.m. Eastern
Location: Bloomington, Ind., Memorial Stadium (52,656; field turf)
Television: FS1 — Tim Brando (pbp), Spencer Tillman (analyst)
Stream: Fox Sports
Radio: IU Football radio network
Odds: Indiana is a 1.5-point favorite
Weather at kickoff: 81 degrees, mostly cloudy, wind 3 mph, 2% chance of precipitation.
Series: Illinois leads the overall series, 45-25-2. IU leads 15-13-1 in Bloomington. IU has won three straight and won last meeting 24-14 in 2017.
The Coaches:

Tom Allen is in his sixth year as head coach at IU. He holds a 26-32 record.

Bret Bielema is in his second year as head coach at Illinois. He holds a 6-7 record there, and a 103-65 mark in 14 seasons as a head coach.

THE COMPLETE BIG TEN WEEK ONE SLATE

Thursday, September 1, 2022 Football
	Away	Home	Time	Location	Links
	Penn State	Purdue	8:00 P.M.	West Lafayette, Ind. (Conf.)	TV: FOX Stats Radio: WAZY (96.5 FM) Video
	New Mexico State	Minnesota	9:00 P.M.	Huntington Bank Stadium	TV: BTN Stats Radio: KFAN 100.3 FM Video

Friday, September 2, 2022 Football
	Away	Home	Time	Location	Links
	Western Michigan	Michigan State	7:00 P.M.	East Lansing, MI	TV: ESPN2 Stats Radio: Spartan Media Network Video
	Illinois	Indiana	8:00 P.M.	Bloomington, Ind. (Conf.)	TV: FS1 Stats Radio: IU Radio Network; Sirius 84, SXM App 84

Saturday, September 3, 2022 Football
Away	Home	Time	Location	Links
South Dakota State	Iowa	12:00 P.M.	Iowa City, Iowa	TV: FS1
Buffalo	Maryland	12:00 P.M.	College Park, MD	TV: BTN
Colorado State	Michigan	12:00 P.M.	Ann Arbor, Mich.	TV: ABC Stats Video
Rutgers	Boston College	12:00 P.M.	Chestnut Hill, Mass.	TV: ACC Network Stats Radio: WFAN 101.9-FM/660-AM, FOX Sports New Jersey 93.5-FM/1450-AM, SiriusXM 203, Audacy app, Scarlet Knights app Video
North Dakota	Nebraska	3:30 P.M.	Lincoln, Neb.	Stats
Illinois State	Wisconsin	7:00 P.M.	Madison, WI	TV: FS1 Stats
Notre Dame	Ohio State	7:30 P.M.	Columbus, Ohio	TV: ABC

ILLINOIS’ WEEK ZERO AND LEADERS

• Illinois beat Wyoming, 38-6, last week for a Week 0 win in its second straight season. Last season,
Illinois beat Nebraska, 30-22, in Week 0.

• The Illini opened the game with a bang with a two-play touchdown drive and never trailed. Chase
Brown took his first carry of the season 38 yards up the right sideline before senior Tommy DeVito
connected with Brown for a 14-yard TD pass one play later on his first pass attempt as an Illini.

• Illinois allowed just 30 passing yards against Wyoming, its fewest passing yards allowed since
Sept. 15, 2012 when the Illini held Charleston Southern to 29 passing yards.

• Illinois has held opponents to 20 points or less in five of its last six games, dating back to Oct. 23,
2021.

• Illinois held the Cowboys to 1-for-12 on third down. Wyoming started the game by going 0-for-11
on third down before picking up a third down in the fourth quarter against the Illini backups.

• Illinois’ 477 yards of total offense were the Illini’s most under Bret Bielema (most since 490 at
Nebraska 11/21/2020).

2022 STATISTICAL LEADERS
Passing – Tommy DeVito: 27-of-34, 194 yds, 2 TD
Rushing – Chase Brown: 19 for 151 yds, 2 TD
Receiving – Pat Bryant: 3 for 44 yds, 1 TD
Tackles – Jartavius Martin: 7 tkls, 3 PBU
Sacks: None
Interceptions – Devon Witherspoon: 1