 The Illini scored their first points at the 10:28 mark of the first
quarter on a 4-yard TD pass from O'Toole to Ryan Lankford, but Miles
Osei's wild pass failed to garner the ensuing 2-point conversion.
Lankford caught another 4-yard TD pass about 7 minutes later that
put Illinois up 13-0. The Illini only scored once more in the half,
on a nifty 28-yard run by freshman Dami Ayoola. Ayoola hit the line
of scrimmage, bounced off a couple of tacklers, put his hand on the
turf, did a half-spin and scampered the rest of the way to excite
the fans in the south end zone!It was more of the same in the
third quarter as Spencer Harris got free for a 24-yard TD reception
with 11:04 to play. Taylor Zalewski barely made a 47-yard field goal
that just scraped over the bar to make it 30-0. Jon Davis hauled in
a 20-yard pass from O'Toole with about 2:50 to play, and that
completed the third-quarter scoring.
Donovonn Young made a nice play on a 23-yard pass from O'Toole
and converted it into a touchdown to complete the scoring, making it
44-0 Illinois.
With the win, Illinois moves to 2-1 on the season as Charleston
Southern fell to 0-3. Next week the Illini will host Louisiana Tech
at 7 p.m.
Notes
For those unhappy with playing teams like this, the LDN can only
say that that's what all the quality teams do. IF you look at the
major bowl participants, you will see their schedules littered with
teams like this… They will have two to four wins over what some fans
and scribes call inferior competition. However, don't say that too
loudly to the big-shot BCS teams who recently got beat.
You need games like this for your players to establish a comfort
level. Look how much more comfortable O'Toole looked in this game
than he did the first two weeks. Yes, the competition was different…
but, you still need games to establish confidence and the comfort
level you are seeking. Nothing is a substitute for game situations.
Did you catch Illinois coach Tim Beckman shaking hands with those
honored during the game at midfield? Other coaches have probably
done it, but I was really touched that Beckman took off his headset,
jogged out on the field and made sure to shake everybody's hand.
Maybe it's just me, but that has "CLASS" written all over it.
The final section below comes from the Fighting
Illini website.
[By JEFF MAYFIELD]
Respond to the writer at
jmayfield@ctitech.com.
___
From
FightingIllini.com
(Copy)
Memorial Stadium // Sept. 15, 2012 // Attendance:
45,369
Team Notes
1. With today's win over Charleston Southern, Illinois is now 12-0
all-time again FCS teams (formally I-AA), with an average margin of
victory of 33 points per game. All but one of those wins have been
by at least 21 points.
2. Illinois recorded its first shutout since beating Western
Illinois 21-0 on Sept. 8, 2007. The 44-0 win today was the largest
margin of victory in a shutout since beating Wisconsin 51-0 on Nov.
13, 1965.
3. In addition to the shutout, Illinois' defense held Charleston
Southern to 125 yards on the day, the fewest by an opponent in a
year, since South Dakota State had 96 yards on Sept. 10, 2001.
Fifty-four of the Buccaneers' 125 yards came on one play, and CSU
had just 29 yards passing despite 17 attempts. Illinois also held
its opponent to less than 100 yards rushing for the second time in
three games this season. [to top of second column] |
4. Illinois held CSU to an 0-for-13 effort on third down, improving
the Illini's third-down defense for the season to a 24.3 percent
conversion rate (9-for-37).
5. The Orange and Blue recorded 365 passing yards today, the most
since UI passed for 391 against Northwestern on Oct. 1, 2011, a span
of 11 games. Illinois also racked up 479 total yards, its most since
posting 518 at Indiana on Oct. 8, 2011.
Individual Notes
1.
Sophomore quarterback
Reilly O'Toole
had a record-breaking day while making his second career start,
setting the Illini single-game completion record of .839 (26-of-31).
O'Toole also passed for five touchdowns, the first UI quarterback to
do so since
Juice Williams
vs. Missouri on Aug. 30, 2008. O'Toole had a career-high 333 passing
yards as well, shattering his previous career high of 63 yards last
season at Minnesota.
2. Junior receiver
Ryan Lankford
had a career game as well, with two touchdown receptions and seven
catches for 97 yards. Lankford's previous best reception total was
64 yards against Western Michigan in the 2012 opener.
3. True freshman
Justin Hardee
posted career highs of five catches for 98 yards, including a
career-long 48-yarder in the third quarter, which was Illinois'
longest of the day.
4. Freshman
Dami Ayoola
rushed for the first touchdown of his career on a 28-yard run in the
second quarter. Ayoola led Illinois with a career-high 55 yards
rushing on eight carries.
5. Illinois spread the wealth offensively, as 10 different players
had at least one catch and seven different players had at least one
carry. In addition, four different Illini players caught a touchdown
pass, marking the first time that had happened since Illinois' 44-10
win over Purdue on Oct. 30, 2010.
6. Freshman linebacker
Mason Monheim
recorded the first interception of his career, picking off
Charleston Southern's Derek Hatcher in the first quarter and
returning it for 20 yards to set up the Illini's first touchdown.
Monheim also had a career-high five tackles.
7. Sophomore
Ralph Cooper
tied for the team lead in tackles, registering a career-high six
stops, with two TFLs.
Ashante Williams
equaled Cooper with six tackles.
8. Redshirt freshman kicker
Taylor Zalewski
scored the first points of his career today. He had four PATs and
made a 47-yard field goal in the third quarter in his first career
attempt.
9. Sophomore
Justin DuVernois
had a solid day as well, posting a career best-tying 43.8-yard
average on four punts, including a long of 54 yards and two downed
inside the 20.
10. Ten Illini played in their first game for the Orange and Blue
today, one true-freshmen (Ta'Jarvis
Fuller),
seven redshirt-freshmen (Peter
Bonahoom,
Patrick Flavin,
Zepheniah Grimes,
Scott McDowell,
Nick North,
John Valentine,
Jeremey Whitlow),
one redshirt sophomore (Nick
Forzley)
and one senior (James
Hallendorff).
11. Illinois had two players make their first career start today in
junior
Jake Feldmeyer
and freshman
Mason Monheim.
[Notes copied
from
FightingIllini.com]
 |
