Raiders take on Illinois Saturday

Saturday, September 26

Urbana-Champaign, IL

3:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

University of Illinois (ESPNews)

9/25/2015 6:00:00 AM | Football

Kickoff set for 3:02 PM on ESPNews

By: @MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO – Middle Tennessee returns to the road and steps back out of conference play to take on Big Ten foe Illinois this Saturday. The Blue Raiders and Fighting Illini will be meeting for the third time in school history and first since 2000.

Kickoff is set for 3:02 PM central time from Memorial Stadium and will be shown nationally on ESPNews (DirecTV 207, Campus Cable 33.2, Comcast 1608, Dish 142, AT&T U-Verse 1604).

The Blue Raiders (2-1; 1-0) are coming off a 73-14 win over Charlotte in the Conference USA opener while the Fighting Illini (2-1: 0-0) fell to North Carolina on the road, 48-14, in their last outing.

Middle Tennessee and Illinois have met twice on the football field with the Fighting Illini winning both games in 1998 and 2000.

GAME INFORMATION
(FULL GAME NOTES)

(GAMEDAY CENTRAL)

Hashtag: #MTvsILL, #BlueRaiders
Twitter: MT_FB
Instagram: @MTAthletics
Facebook: Blue Raider Athletics

Game Captains: LB James Roberson, OL Jaylen Hunter and S Xavier Walker.

Date: Saturday, Sept. 26
Time: 3:02 PM
Teams: Middle Tennessee (2-1) vs Illinois (2-1)
Location: Champaign, IL
Stadium: Memorial (60,670)
Weather Forecast: Mostly Cloudy, 79°
Gates Open: 1:30 p.m.
TV: ESPNews
Radio: WMOT-FM (89.5), WGNS (1450 AM/100.5 FM/101.9 FM), Game 2 (102.5/94.9/95.1)
Play-by-Play: Chip Walters
Analysis: Chris Johnson

Live Audio/Live Streaming | Live Stats

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Illinois leads 2-0
At Middle Tennessee: 0-0
At Floyd Stadium: 0-0
At Champaign: 0-2
At Neutral Site: 0-0
Rick Stockstill vs Illinois: 0-0
Bill Cubit vs MT: 0-0
Last MT Win: NA
Last Illinois Win: 2000 (35-6)

QUICK HITTERS

Middle Tennessee's Rick Stockstill and Illinois head coach Bill Cubit coached on the same UCF staff in 1985.
MT ranks 9th nationally in third down conversion percentage (.510).
WR Richie James is averaging 7.3 receptions a game this season as a freshman to tie for 10th nationally.
Cody Clark's consecutive made PAT streak of 113 ranks as the third longest nationally.
MT's 73 points scored in the conference opener against Charlotte went down as the second most scored in school history and came on the heels of a 70-point outing in game one.
MT had 42 points in the first quarter in win over Charlotte which was a school record for points in a quarter.
When Brent Stockstill started against JSU, he became just the second head coaches son in C-USA history to start at quarterback. In 1997-98, Tyson Helton started at Houston when his dad, Kim Helton, was the head coach.
In their last 25 conference games, MT has a mark of 18-7.
Kevin Byard is 3rd among NCAA's active players in interceptions per game at 0.40. He also ranks 1st in total interceptions with 16.
RB Shane Tucker has scored at least one touchdown in 12 of his last 18 regular season games.
Over the last 33 games, the Blue Raider defense has come up with 44 interceptions. The team had 15 picks in 2013 by eight different players, 13 in 2014 and seven already in 2015 .
Kevin Byard has 327 career interception return yards to own the MT record and rank first on the NCAA active list. The NCAA all-time record is 501 by FSU's Terrell Buckley.
Consecutive Starts Leader: T.T. Barber at 31.
Under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders have been involved in 16 games that were decided in the final minute of regulation or overtime. The team is 10-6 in those games and have won six in a row.
Head Coach Rick Stockstill is third on the school's all-time wins list with 59 victories.
MT has scored a touchdown on its opening drive of the game 27 times under Stockstill.
In 115 games under Rick Stockstill, the Blue Raiders are +28 in turnover margin.
The longest offensive drive in the Rick Stockstill era was 9:33 at North Texas in 2006. It resulted in a TD.
Middle Tennessee has scored 30 or more points 48 times under Rick Stockstill. The most 30-point games in a season under Stockstill is nine (2009).

COACH TO CURE MD
The Middle Tennessee coaching staff will be wearing Coach to Cure MD patches on Saturday at Illinois to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. Fans are encouraged to donate online at www.CoachtoCureMD.org or donate $5 by texting CURE to 90999.

BLUE RAIDERS VS BIG TEN
The Illinois game will mark just the sixth game in school history for the Blue Raiders against the Big Ten. Middle Tennessee is 0-5 all-time against the Big Ten with two losses coming to Illinois, two to Minnesota, and one to Purdue. MT fell to the Illini in 1998, 48-20, and then again in 2000, 35-6. The Blue Raiders opened the 2010 season at home against the Golden Gophers and fell 24-17 and lost the 2011 opener at Purdue in the final seconds, 27-24. MT lost at Minnesota last year, 35-24.

ON THIS DATE
Middle Tennessee has a mark of 8-4-1 all-time on Sept. 26, but are a perfect 2-0 under Rick Stockstill. Both wins under Stockstill have come on the road.

MT-ILLINOIS COACHING CONNECTIONS

Rick Stockstill and Bill Cubit were on the same staff at UCF in 1985.
Illini Co-Defensive Coordinator Tim Banks was on Tommy West's staff at Memphis in 2001 and 2002. MT's Rick Mallory was on the same staff.

RAIDERS GETTING OFFENSIVE
Middle Tennessee has been very effective offensively the early part of the season by averaging 525.0 yards a game to rank 17th nationally. The unit put up a school record 695 yards against Charlotte and 73 points, which was the second most in school history. With a 70-point game in their opener vs JSU, the 2015 Raiders are the first in school history to score 70 or more points twice in a season.

DEFENSE NOT TOO SHABBY EITHER
Middle Tennessee gets a lot of praise for its offense but the defense is quietly having a solid season as well. Through three games, MT shares the national lead in defensive scores (3), interceptions (7) and turnovers gained (10). The unit is allowing just 342.3 yards a game and 21.7 points.

NEXT UP
Middle Tennessee will return home to face neighboring rival and SEC foe Vanderbilt on Oct. 3. Kickoff is set for 6 PM on CBS Sports Network.