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.
See Also:
-
IU Athletics announces several improvements around Memorial Stadium for 2022 season
-
Pulling back the curtain: A position-by-position guide when IU football takes the field on Friday
THE COMPLETE BIG TEN WEEK ONE SLATE
| Away | Home | Time | Location | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
8:00 P.M.
|
West Lafayette, Ind. (Conf.) | TV: FOX Stats Radio: WAZY (96.5 FM) Video | |||
|
9:00 P.M.
|
Huntington Bank Stadium | TV: BTN Stats Radio: KFAN 100.3 FM Video |
| Away | Home | Time | Location | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
7:00 P.M.
|
East Lansing, MI | TV: ESPN2 Stats Radio: Spartan Media Network Video | |||
|
8:00 P.M.
|
Bloomington, Ind. (Conf.) | TV: FS1 Stats Radio: IU Radio Network; Sirius 84, SXM App 84 |
| Away | Home | Time | Location | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12:00 P.M.
|
Iowa City, Iowa | TV: FS1 | |||
|
12:00 P.M.
|
College Park, MD | TV: BTN | |||
|
12:00 P.M.
|
Ann Arbor, Mich. | TV: ABC Stats Video | |||
|
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 | |||
|
3:30 P.M.
|
Lincoln, Neb. | Stats | |||
|
7:00 P.M.
|
Madison, WI | TV: FS1 Stats | |||
|
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
PREDICTIONS
Illinois’ offense doesn’t strike fear with big play ability, but their defense is pretty good. That sounds a lot like Indiana.
It looks like we’re in for a relatively low scoring game that comes down to the final drive.
TDH: INDIANA 24 ILLINOIS 23
Athlon: Illinois 20, Indiana 17
ESPN SP+ (Computer) Illinois 23 Indiana 23
ESPN FPI: Indiana 52.7 percent chance
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