Coming off their first win of the season last weekend against Western Illinois, the Illinois football team is confident going into the game this Saturday at Syracuse. The key again will be the Illini defense and the rushing attack.

Running back Rashard Mendenhall had a break out game last week and looks to continue the progress.

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“We take a lot of pride in our rushing attack and we’re gonna goin in there with the intent to run the ball like we do every game,” Mendenhall said. “And I heard they gave up a few yards on the ground but we’re not gonna worry about that, we’re just gonna try to take care of our game plan, execute our game plan the best we can and we look forward to doing a lot on the ground.”

Similar to home games, the Syracuse game at the Carrier Dome will have the stands covered in orange.

“That’s really weird that it’s a different type of orange than we’re mostly going to see,” cornerback Vontae Davis said. “It’s Syracuse but we’re so used to seeing orange.

The game starts at 11:00 this Saturday and can be seen on ESPN-U.

Check out Daily Illini.com for updates about the Illini football team this weekend.