Murray State 3
Illinois 52
Saturday, September 3, 2016 03:30 PM
(ET)
Illinois rolls in Smith's first game as coach
The Sports Xchange
Sep 3, 2016
Kendrick Foster rushed for two second-quarter touchdowns, each covering 56 yards, and quarterback Wes Lunt threw for two first-period touchdowns as Illinois crushed Murray State 52-3 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.
Saturday also marked the return to college football of Illinois head coach Lovie Smith, who was hired in the offseason to replace Bill Cubit. Smith's last game on a college sidelines was as an assistant with John Cooper at Ohio State in 1995.
Smith, along with his assistants, have brought nearly six decades of NFL experience to Champaign, and it showed early and often against the Racers.
Murray State, an FCS school, won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. The Racers' first possession lasted all of two plays.
On the second play, Julian Hylton intercepted quarterback KD Humphries to give the ball to Illinois deep in Murray State territory. Eight plays later, Lunt and wide receiver Malik Turner connected on a 5-yard scoring toss to put the Illini (1-0) up 7-0 and Smith's squad was off and running.
On the Racers' next series, Humphries was picked off again, this time by Taylor Barton at the Illinois 32.
In a blink of an eye, Lunt hit Turner again for a score, this time covering 68 yards and the Illini were up 14-0.
Ke'Shawn Vaughn's 2-yard burst put Illinois up 21-0 at the 9:36 mark of the second half.
The Racers tried to answer with a long 10-play drive, but Connor Mitchell's 50-yard field-goal attempt was no good.
Four plays later, Foster broke into the secondary on a 56-yard burst to put Illinois up 28-0.
Murray State finally got on the board after another 10-play drive, only this time Mitchell was good on his 34-yard field-goal attempt.
Foster answered with another 56-yard scamper to put Illinois up 35-3 at halftime.
The only question remaining when the second half started was if the Racers would be able to get into the end zone.
They weren't.
Lunt, a transfer from Oklahoma State, who as a junior threw for 2,761 yard and 14 touchdowns, was stellar, finishing the day 15-for-21 and three scores.
His Murray State counterpart went 18 of 31 for 163 yards and no touchdowns.
Illinois held the Racers to a total of minus-10 yards rushing while the Illini accounted for 287 yards on the ground.
Illinois plays host to No. 20 North Carolina on Sept. 10 while the Racers of the Ohio Valley Conference play host to Missouri State on that same day.
Sep 3, 2016
Kendrick Foster rushed for two second-quarter touchdowns, each covering 56 yards, and quarterback Wes Lunt threw for two first-period touchdowns as Illinois crushed Murray State 52-3 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.
Saturday also marked the return to college football of Illinois head coach Lovie Smith, who was hired in the offseason to replace Bill Cubit. Smith's last game on a college sidelines was as an assistant with John Cooper at Ohio State in 1995.
Smith, along with his assistants, have brought nearly six decades of NFL experience to Champaign, and it showed early and often against the Racers.
Murray State, an FCS school, won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. The Racers' first possession lasted all of two plays.
On the second play, Julian Hylton intercepted quarterback KD Humphries to give the ball to Illinois deep in Murray State territory. Eight plays later, Lunt and wide receiver Malik Turner connected on a 5-yard scoring toss to put the Illini (1-0) up 7-0 and Smith's squad was off and running.
On the Racers' next series, Humphries was picked off again, this time by Taylor Barton at the Illinois 32.
In a blink of an eye, Lunt hit Turner again for a score, this time covering 68 yards and the Illini were up 14-0.
Ke'Shawn Vaughn's 2-yard burst put Illinois up 21-0 at the 9:36 mark of the second half.
The Racers tried to answer with a long 10-play drive, but Connor Mitchell's 50-yard field-goal attempt was no good.
Four plays later, Foster broke into the secondary on a 56-yard burst to put Illinois up 28-0.
Murray State finally got on the board after another 10-play drive, only this time Mitchell was good on his 34-yard field-goal attempt.
Foster answered with another 56-yard scamper to put Illinois up 35-3 at halftime.
The only question remaining when the second half started was if the Racers would be able to get into the end zone.
They weren't.
Lunt, a transfer from Oklahoma State, who as a junior threw for 2,761 yard and 14 touchdowns, was stellar, finishing the day 15-for-21 and three scores.
His Murray State counterpart went 18 of 31 for 163 yards and no touchdowns.
Illinois held the Racers to a total of minus-10 yards rushing while the Illini accounted for 287 yards on the ground.
Illinois plays host to No. 20 North Carolina on Sept. 10 while the Racers of the Ohio Valley Conference play host to Missouri State on that same day.
