No. 9 Illinois expects winless Western Michigan's best shot

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Illinois coach Bret Bielema is wary of a trap game against winless Western Michigan on Saturday night.

“We’re going to get their best shot,” he said.

Illinois (2-0) enters the game ranked No. 9 — its highest AP poll ranking since 2001 — and riding a six-game winning streak dating to last season.

Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor is confident the Broncos can give the Illini a battle, just like they did in a 33-30 overtime loss last week to North Texas.

“We laid it on the line and showed a lot of grit, but we made too many mistakes and had too many penalties in critical situations,” he said. “I thought up until the last play that we were going to win that game.”

Receiver and punt return specialist Hank Beatty has been a breakout star for the Illini.

He broke Red Grange’s 102-year-old single game punt return record with 133 yards on four returns vs. Western Illinois in Illinois’ opener, caught eight passes for 128 yards and scored on a 25-yard run as a quarterback last week vs. Duke, and he leads the nation with 394 all-purpose yards.

Western Michigan's offense relies on its running game, led by Jalen Buckley, the 2024 Mid-American Conference freshman of the year, who ran for 112 yards on 30 carries vs. North Texas.

Saturday’s game will be the first played in the newly renamed Gies Memorial Stadium.

The name addition was announced Tuesday by Illinois officials in conjunction with the announcement that Illinois alumnus and philanthropist Larry Gies made a $100 million donation to the school's athletic department, the largest gift in department history.

Gies’ gift will mainly benefit the Illinois football program and 101-year-old stadium.

The Western Michigan-Illinois game is sold out (60,670). The USC and Ohio State home games for the Illini also are sold out. It’s the first time since 2008 that Illinois has sold out as many as three games in a season.

“Three straight sellout football games is something we couldn’t imagine not that long ago, and now we’re living in that reality,” said Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman.

The Illinois offense hasn’t committed a turnover, and the defense is doing its job in that department too. It leads the nation with five fumble recoveries and is second in turnover margin with plus-3 per game, behind only Arizona (plus 3.5).

Broc Lowry and Brady Jones are competing for the No. 1 quarterback job for Western Michigan. Lowry took a step toward securing the spot when he scored three TDs, two on the ground, vs. North Texas.

“I’d really like to name a full-time starter at some point this season,” Taylor said.

Western Michigan redshirt senior defensive tackle Mustafi Al-Garawi has his surname in Arabic on the back of his jersey. It’s believed he’s the first NCAA athlete to do that.

Al-Garawi transferred to Western Michigan from East Tennessee State after last season. He asked Western Michigan officials this summer about wearing his surname in Arabic in his final collegiate season, and his request was approved.

Decisions on the display of surnames on uniforms are made by schools and conferences.

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