WKU (1-0) at Illinois (1-0)
Saturday, Sept. 9 | Memorial Stadium | 7 p.m.
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Saturday, Sept. 9 | Memorial Stadium | 7 p.m.
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WKU is in the first season of the Mike Sanford era which began at home with a 31-17 victory over Eastern Kentucky. The nation's second-youngest head coach, Sanford's youth is deceptive. When he was hired on December 14, Sanford was, in fact, more experienced at that point in his coaching career than either of WKU's previous two "first-timers" in Jeff Brohm and Willie Taggart. He was one of just four rookie head coaches (out of 10) in 2017 to win his debut and one of only 12 new coaches overall (out of 24) to win his season opener.
Sanford has 12 years of FBS coaching experience while his predecessors had just 11 when they landed their first head coaching job on The Hill. Additionally, the head Hilltopper has been to five Bowl Championship Series (BCS) or New Year's Six bowl games, compared to just one combined with the previous two first-timers.
The Matchup
The Hilltoppers are seeking their first victory in program history of a program from the Big Ten Conference. WKU first played Illinois in 2014 and carried a lead into the fourth quarter before ultimately falling 42-34 on the road.Â
Under second-year head coach Lovie Smith, the Fighting Illini are 1-0 on the year as well, having defeated a common opponent for both teams this year, Ball State, in their home opener 24-21. The Cardinals had a chance to tie the game late with a field, but the Illini blocked the kick to seal the victory.
WKU is seeking its first win in program history over a member of the Big Ten Conference. The Hilltoppers are 0-6 all-time against the conference's current alignment (Illinois, 0-1; Indiana, 0-3; Wisconsin, 0-1; Nebraska, 0-1).
Road openers have proven unsuccessful for the Hilltoppers, who are just 5-15 over the last 20 years in true road openers. WKU will look to buck that trend against the Fighting Illini.
2017 Team Captains
WKU's season-long team captains were voted on at the end of fall camp, entirely by the players. Under Sanford, the team has one offensive captain, one defensive captain, one "trenches" captain (from either offensive or defensive line) and a rotating special teams captain.
Offenive Captain: QB Mike White
Defensive Captain: LB Joel Iyiegbuniwe
Trenches Captain: DL Derik Overstreet
Tough Out of Conference
After going 0-12 against non-conference foes in their first three years as an FBS team (2009-11), WKU has turned it around and has been on a hot streak against teams from outside their conference.
Since 2012, the Hilltoppers are 17-8 against non-conference opponents with their only losses coming at No. 1 Alabama and vs. Vanderbilt (2016), at Indiana and No. 5 LSU (2015), at Illinois (2014), at Tennessee (2013), at No. 1 Alabama (2012) and vs. Central Michigan in the 2012 Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl. WKU is 14-1 over that same span against teams from outside the Power 5 conferences. However, against the Power 5 which includes Illinois this week, the Tops are just 3-7 since 2012.
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The 2017 WKU Football season is presented by LifeSkills, a part of your community for the last 50 years.  As a non-profit, community mental health center, LifeSkills supports people who experience mental illness, addictions and developmental disabilities as they build meaningful and independent lives. With the widest array of services for both adults and children in south central Kentucky, LifeSkills gives you greater choice, easy access, and proven quality. When it comes to your health, experience matters.
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