Eye on the Illini: Wide receiver Geronimo Allison

Allison is the Big Ten leader in receiving yards (453) and receptions (32). Those numbers rank in the top-20 nationally. His 91 yards in the Illini’s last game against Nebraska helped him surpass 1,000 career receiving yards (1,051). The receiver caught the game-winning touchdown against the Cornhuskers — it was his second of the season and seventh of his career. Allison continues to be Wes Lunt’s top target with Mike Dudek and Justin Hardee still out with injuries — neither have played a game this season.

Eye on the Enemy: Cornerback Desmond King

King collected his fourth and fifth interceptions of the season in Iowa’s last game against Big Ten foe Wisconsin — King also had a multi-interception game against Pittsburgh in Week Three. The cornerback recorded 10 total tackles in the 10-6 victory. Those efforts led him to be named Big Ten Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week. His five interceptions lead the conference. King has shown he can be dangerous in the return game as well — he had 180 return yards in Week 4 against North Texas.

Illinois’ Ke’Shawn Vaughn

Vaughn rushed for 98 yards on 24 carries versus Nebraska. Starting running back Josh Ferguson exited that game in the second quarter due to suffering a shoulder injury, resulting in Vaughn to take on the majority of the workload. Head coach Bill Cubit said it is very unlikely that Ferguson returns to action against Iowa. If Ferguson is unavailable to play, Vaughn will once again be the Illini’s go-to back. Vaughn has 325 rushing yards on the year.

Iowa’s C.J. Beathard

Beathard only threw for 77 yards with one touchdown pass against Big Ten foe Wisconsin. The junior quarterback has thrown for 1,039 on the year to go along with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Beathard has led his team to undefeated record thus far.

Last week for Iowa:

The Hawkeyes defeated the Badgers 10-6 at Camp Randall. Iowa took the lead in the second quarter and held it for the rest of the game. The Buckeyes had 221 yards of total offense. All of Iowa’s points came off of a Wisconsin turnover.

Illinois Depth Chart:

Offense

QB Wes Lunt 12RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn 5

-OR- Josh Ferguson 6

WR-X Geronimo Allison 8WR-T Marchie Murdock 16WR-Z Malik Turner 11TE Tyler White 87LT Austin Schmidt 57LG Chris Boles 55C Joe Spencer 71RG Ted Karras 69RT Christian DiLauro 67K Taylor Zalewski 17DefenseDE Jihad Ward 17NT Chunky Clements 93DT Rob Bain 16LEO Dawuane Smoot 91WLB Mason Monheim 43MLB T.J. Neal Jr. 52STAR Eric Finney 14

-OR- James Crawford

CB V’Angelo Bentley 2SS Taylor Barton 3FS Clayton Fejedelem 20CB Eaton Spence 27P Ryan Frain 13

Iowa Depth Chart

Offense

QB C.J. Beathard 16

RB Jordan Canzeri 33

FB Macon Plewa 42

WR Matt VandeBerg 89

WR Jacob Hillyer 17

TE Henry Krieger-Coble 80

SE Jerminic Smith 9

LT Cole Croston 64

LG Sean Welsh 79

C Austin Blythe 63

RG Jordan Walsh 65

RT Ike Boettger 75

K Marshall Koehn

Defense

LE Nate Meier 34

LT Jaleel Johnson 67 

RT Nathan Bazata 99

RE Drew Ott 95 

OLB Ben Niemann 44

MLB Josey Jewell 43

WLB Cole Fisher 36

LC Greg Mabin 13

SS Miles Taylor 19

FS Jordan Lomax 27

RC Desmond King 14

P Dillon Kidd 16

IOWA SCHEDULE

Sept. 5 vs. Illinois State (W 31-14)

Sept. 12 at Iowa State (W 31-17)

Sept. 19 vs. Pittsburgh (W 27-24)

Sept. 26 vs. North Texas (W 62-16)

Oct. 3 at Wisconsin (W 10-6)

Oct. 10 vs. Illinois — 11 AM

Oct. 17 at Northwestern — 11 AM

Oct. 31 vs. Maryland — TBD

Nov. 7 at Indiana — TBD

Nov. 14 vs. Minnesota — 7 PM

Nov. 21 vs. Purdue — TBD

Nov. 27 at Nebraska — TBD

Iowa Leaders:

Passing

C.J. Beathard

84-for-131, 1,039 yards, 7 TD

Rushing

Jordan Canzeri

89 carries, 441 yards, 8 TD

LeShun Daniels
52 carries, 226 yards, 0 TD

Receiving

Matt VandeBerg

31 catches, 303 yards, 2 TD

Jordan Canzeri

14 catches, 159 yards, 0 TD

Tevaun Smith

12 catches, 235 yards, 2 TD

Henry Krieger-Coble

10 catches, 105 yards, 0 TD

Illinois Leaders

Passing

Wes Lunt 111-for-191, 1,107 yards, 8 TD

Rushing

Josh Ferguson

71 carries, 381 yards, 3 TD

Ke’Shawn Vaughn

76 carries, 325 yards, 2 TD

Receiving

Geronimo Allison

32 catches, 453 yards, 2 TD

Marchie Murdock

20 catches, 194 yards, 3 TD

Desmond Cain

19 catches, 141 yards

Josh Ferguson

12 catches, 78 yards, 1 TD

History:

Last time the teams met:

Iowa is the last Big Ten team to beat Illinois. The Illini are on a three-game conference win streak.

Did you know?

The Illini last beat the Hawkeyes in 2008. The last time Illinois won at Kinnick Stadium was 1999. Illinois leads the all-time series 38-30-2.

Big Ten Schedule:

Maryland @ Ohio State 11 AM

Ilinois @ Iowa 11 AM

Indiana @ Penn State 11 AM

Northwestern @ Michigan 2:30 PM

Wisconsin @ Nebraska 2:30 PM

Minnesota @ Purdue 2:30 PM

Michigan State @ Rutgers 7 PM

Big Ten Standings

FIRST RECORD IS CONFERENCE SECOND RECORD IS OVERALL THANKS LOVE PETER

East Division:

Michigan State 1-0, 5-0

Ohio State 1-0, 5-0

Michigan 1-0, 4-1

Penn State 1-0, 4-1

Indiana 0-1, 4-1

Rutgers 0-1, 2-2

Maryland 0-1, 2-3

West Division

Northwestern 1-0, 5-0

Iowa 1-0, 5-0

Illinois 1-0, 4-1

Wisconsin 0-1, 3-2

Minnesota 0-1, 3-2

Nebraska 0-1, 2-3

Purdue 0-1, 1-4

Illini Schedule

Sept. 5 vs. Kent State — (W 52-3)

Sept. 12 vs. Western Illinois — (W 44-0)

Sept. 19 at North Carolina — (L 48-14)

Sept. 26 vs. Middle Tennessee State — (W 27-25)

Oct. 3 vs. Nebraska — (W 14-13)

Oct. 10 at Iowa — 11 AM

Oct. 24 vs. Wisconsin — 2:30 PM

Oct. 31 at Penn State — TBD

Nov. 7 at Purdue — 11 AM

Nov. 14 vs. Ohio State — TBD

Nov. 21 at Minnesota — TBD

Nov. 28 vs. Northwestern (Chicago) — TBD