The Sports Xchange
Sep 12, 2015

Junior quarterback Wes Lunt passed for 316 yards and one touchdown Saturday as Illinois rolled to a 44-0 victory over visiting Western Illinois in non-conference play at Champaign, Ill.

Sophomore Marchie Murdock scored two touchdowns, one coming after he scooping up a blocked punt, and Josh Ferguson rushed for a touchdown for Illinois (2-0). Senior receiver Geronimo Allison had eight catches for 124 yards, and senior kicker Taylor Zalewski booted three field goals for the Illini.

Freshman running back Steve McShane rushed for 41 yards for the Leathernecks (1-1) of the FCS. Western Illinois forced four turnovers but accumulated only five first downs, was 1-for-15 on third-down conversions and was outgained 500-141.

Illinoius blew the contest open with a 20-point second quarter, which highlighted by a play in which sophomore Jaylen Dunlap raced in to block the punt of Western Illinois junior Nathan Knuffman and Murdock picked up the ball and scored on a 12-yard return with 2:57 left in the first half. Zalewski kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired to give Illinois a 30-0 halftime bulge.

Junior running back Henry Enyenihi scored on a 1-yard run on the first play of the final quarter as the Illini continued the onslaught. Backup redshirt freshman quarterback Chayce Crouch tossed a 5-yard scoring pass to Murdock to increase the margin to 44 with 8:48 remaining.

Ferguson rushed for a 1-yard score in the opening quarter to make it 10-0. Lunt teamed with junior tight end Tyler White on a 1-yard scoring pass to boost the lead to 17 less than five minutes into the second quarter.