Preview: Rutgers at Illinois

[October 14, 2017]  Illinois coach Lovie Smith has fully embraced the youth movement in his second season at the helm, which sometimes means "progress" doesn't always immediately show up in the win column. The host Fighting Illini will try to change that narrative by ending a three-game skid and continue Rutgers' misery in Big Ten play Saturday when the teams meet in Champaign.

"We did make progress last week. Same result, but we made progress in getting players some valuable reps, and eventually some of the things that we're doing to make you lose football games will hopefully disappear," Smith said after his team hung around for three quarters before losing 45-16 at Iowa last weekend. Illinois started eight true freshman against the Hawkeyes, have played 20 true freshman this season and seen 22 players draw their first start - the last two marks tied for most in FBS. Smith got his first win in conference action almost a year to the day in a 24-7 victory at Rutgers, which is coming off a bye week after getting drilled 56-0 at home by No. 8 Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights have dropped each of their last 16 Big Ten contests since a 55-52 thriller at Indiana on Oct. 16, 2015.

TV: Noon ET, Big Ten Network. LINE: Illinois -2.5.

ABOUT RUTGERS (1-4, 0-2 Big Ten): Robert Martin (209 rushing yards) became the 14th player in program history to reach 2,000 for his career in the loss to the Buckeyes, while fellow senior Gus Edwards paces the team in rushing (302) and all-purpose yards (325). Although the Scarlet Knights have yielded only four sacks and committed one fumble, quarterback Kyle Bolin has thrown one touchdown versus six interceptions over his last four games and hasn't topped 200 yards passing since throwing for 362 as a sophomore for Louisville in 2015. Junior tight end Jerome Washington is one of 15 Rutgers players with at least one reception and paces the Scarlet Knights with 16 catches and 141 yards.
 

ABOUT ILLINOIS (2-3, 0-2): The Illini churned out a season-high 200 rushing yards against Iowa, including 83 on seven carries from Mike Epstein, who is tied for seventh in the nation in touchdowns among true freshmen (four) and ranks eighth in the nation among true freshmen in rushing yards per game (69.2). Sophomore Jeff George Jr. guided the team to a season-best 446 total yards in his first start of the season at quarterback in place of Chayce Crouch, but he was also intercepted three times, extending the team's streak of throwing at least one to eight games. Sophomore defensive back Patrick Nelson is tied for the Big Ten lead and tied for ninth in FBS with two forced fumbles.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Rutgers (21.8 points, 303.2 yards) and Illinois (17.8, 303) rank second-to-last and last, respectively, in the conference in scoring and total offense.

2. Since playing a pair of one-possession games against Minnesota and Indiana late last season, the Scarlet Knights have been outscored 202-30 over their last five conference contests.

3. The Illini have blocked three kicks to lead the conference and rank third in the nation in blocked kicks per game (0.60).

PREDICTION: Illinois 24, Rutgers 14

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