Illini Fall to Cornhuskers, EIU Beats Austin Peay

Quarterback A.J. Bush, Jr. had a historic performance on the ground Saturday, as the senior rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries (7.5 yards per carry), breaking Juice Williams' record for single-game rushing yards by a quarterback (174 vs. Eastern Illinois 9/6/2008).

Corbin Eclipses 1,000

Prior to exiting the game with an injury in the second quarter, running back Reggie Corbin carried the ball nine times for 59 yards, pushing his rushing total over 1,000 yards on the season.

The junior is the first Illini to hit the milestone since Mikel Leshoure in 2010 (1,697).

Career Day for Roundtree

Defensive lineman Bobby Roundtree added to his stellar sophomore season on Saturday, tying a career-high with two sacks and totaling 3.0 TFL's. The Largo, Florida, native finished the day with eight tackles and also added a forced fumble and a pass breakup.

Team Notes

    Illinois ran for 383 yards on 49 carries (7.8 yards/carry), the Illini's ninth time rushing for more than 200 yards in the first 10 games this season.
    Illinois' 383 rushing yards were its second-most this season (430 vs. Minnesota).
    Illinois opened the game with a 76-yard scoring drive on seven rushing plays and no pass attempts.
    Illinois started three true freshmen, all in the defensive secondary (SS Sydney Brown, CB Jartavius Martin, NB Delano Ware).
    Illinois started three true freshmen defensive backs for the fifth time in program history and the fourth time this season. (11/10/18 at Nebraska, 11/3/18 vs. Minnesota, 10/16/18 at Rutgers, 9/1/18 vs. Kent State, 9/15/17 at South Florida).
    Illinois' true freshmen have combined for 29 starts, tied for the fourth most in a season in Illinois history. Last year, Illinois set the program record with 86 cumulative true freshmen starts.
    Illinois captains: OL Nick Allegretti, QB AJ Bush Jr., LB Dele Harding, LB Del'Shawn Phillips

Individual Notes

    Senior QB AJ Bush Jr. ran for 187 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries (7.5 yards per carry), breaking Juice Williams' record for single-game rushing yards by a quarterback (174 vs. Eastern Illinois 9/6/2008).
    Junior RB Reggie Corbin ran nine times for 59 yards to total 1,011 rushing yards this season, becoming the first Illini to rush for 1,000 in a season since Mikel Leshoure in 2010 (Illini record 1,697). He also had a 34-yard reception.
    Sophomore RB Ra'Von Bonner had a career-high 81 rushing yards and one touchdown on 10 carries (8.1 yards per carry).
    Sophomore DE Bobby Roundtree had eight tackles, 2.0 sacks, 3.0 TFLs and one pass breakups.
    Sophomore FS Tony Adams had his second career interception and led Illinois with nine tackles.
    Freshman SS Sydney Brown started for the ninth time this season, tied for the third most by a true freshman defensive back in Illinois history (11 Vontae Davis 2006, 10 Nate Hobbs 2017, 9 Craig Swoope 1982)
    Freshman CB Jartavius Martin started for the eighth time this season, tied for the fifth most by a true freshman defensive back in Illinois history (11 Vontae Davis 2006, 10 Nate Hobbs 2017, 9 Sydney Brown 2018, 9 Craig Swoope 1982)
    Senior OL Nick Allegretti started for the 34th straight game.
    Sophomore OL Alex Palczewski started for the 21st straight game.

EIU 52, Austin Peay 21

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois was 7-of-7 in the red zone on Saturday afternoon as the Panthers rolled to a 52-21 win over Austin Peay on senior day at O’Brien Field.

EIU improved to 3-7 on the season, 3-4 in the OVC.  APSU dropped to 4-6 overall, 2-5 in the OVC.

The Panthers jumped out to a 14-0 run in the first quarter as Clarksville native Isaiah Johnson began his big rushing day with a pair of touchdowns from ten and 14 yards out.  Johnson would add a third score in the fourth quarter as he rushed for 187 yards on 23 carries.  His long run of the day was 76 yards which set up a second quarter touchdown.

Quarterback Johnathan Brantley extended the Panthers lead to 28-0 with back-to-back rushing touchdowns early in the second quarter.  Brantley scored from 11 yards on both runs with his second rushing touchdown at 10:21 pushing EIU’s lead to 28-0.

Brantley connected with Alexander Hollins on a 38-yard touchdown pass following an Austin Peay turnover to make it 35-0 with 2:36 to play in the first half.  Brantley was 16-of-26 passing for 152 yards and the touchdown.  Harry Woodbery would add 36 yards through the air and a touchdown pass to Aaron Gooch in the fourth quarter.

EIU finished the day with 216 yards rushing and 404 yards of total offense.

Austin Peay got on the board at the end of the second quarter on a Jeremiah Oatsvall 6-yard pass to Gorel Soumare.   Oatsvall would connect through the air in the third quarter with DJ Montgomery for a 21-yard pass which made it 38-14 EIU with 4:50 to play in the third quarter.  Oatsvall passed for 188 yards with Montgomery his favorite target of the day with seven catches for 165 yards.

Five EIU players recorded eight tackles on the afternoon with Dytarious Johnson making eight stops with three tackles for loss.  EIU had three turnovers gained with Edwyn Brown getting an interception while Joe Caputo and Austin Johnson both had fumble recoveries.  Josh Price had eight tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

Gunnar Scholato led the Governors defense with 12 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.  Jaison Williams had two sacks for APSU.