Looking to continue their hot start to the 2024 season, the Fighting Illini will take on Central Michigan of the Mid-American Conference on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff at 11 a.m. is the final event in the week-long Homecoming festivities in the Champaign-Urbana community.

Illinois, which will wear Arched Illini throwback helmets against the Chippewas, recorded its first ranked home win since 2019 in front of a sellout crowd after the Orange and Blue defeated No. 19 Kansas last week. With the stands at Memorial Stadium filled with orange for the program’s Hail to the Orange Out game, the Illini forced four turnovers and outscored the Jayhawks, 10-0, in the fourth quarter en route to victory.

“There are a lot of positives,” said head coach Bret Bielema after the game. “To go out there and play the way we did, make it a four-quarter game and have that environment and celebration at the end, it’s something memorable. You just can’t replace moments. We’ve got to build on this now.”

The Illini will look to continue their positive momentum against Central Michigan, who travel to Champaign after a 52-16 road loss to Florida International last week. CMU outscored the Panthers 369-309, recorded more first downs (22-15) and had longer time of possession (34:18-25:42), but the Chippewas couldn’t overcome a -6 turnover margin in their 36-point rout.

Central Michigan is looking to turn things around on Saturday and Bielema knows his Illini team will have to be ready for a hungry CMU squad this weekend.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for their head coach, Jim McElwain, who I know pretty well,” Bielema said. “It’s just a really impressive staff. I think they’re doing a good job overall. I know they’re going to come in here with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of buzz.

“It’s a great feeling to be a 2-0 football team here at Illinois. The opportunity to play a Homecoming game against Central Michigan and hopefully get that crowd back to a similar state should be exciting. It’ll be an 11 o’clock kickoff, which will be the first time for us this year, so that’s a challenge for our guys. There’s a lot to be excited about.”

Here are three things you need to know before the Fighting Illini and Chippewas face off for the first time in series history.

Winning the Turnover Battle

Through the first two weeks of the 2024 college football season, the Illini have committed just one turnover, the fewest through their first two games since 2018. Illinois has found success taking good care of the ball, posting the best turnover margin (+7, tied with Cal and Oklahoma) so far this season.

“I was proud of the boys and the way we went about our preparation throughout the week,” said the defensive coordinator Aaron Hendrik as he reflected on his unit’s performance against No. 19 Kansas. “Their mentality going into that week, I thought they prepared the right way. When you go through all that, you see the preparation behind the scenes and you see it come to life, it’s because we have a group of guys in that building that are really invested in it.”

The Chippewas have struggled with turnovers, owning the sixth-worst turnover margin (-4) in the FBS through the first two weeks of the season. CMU’s six turnovers against FIU last week are tied for the most in a game between FBS programs so far this year.

In the Chippewas’ 2022 and 2023 seasons, Central Michigan ranked among the four worst teams in the nation in turnovers. Through the first two games of the 2024 series, CMU has forced one turnover, one of 36 teams with one or fewer forced turnovers this season.

Central Michigan has won the last four games in which it won the turnover battle, a trend that dates back to the 2021 season.

Homecoming History

Saturday’s game is the first Homecoming game in Illinois history and marks the first time since 2007 that the Illini will face a non-league opponent during Homecoming weekend.

The Orange and Blue have a 47-62-2 record in Homecoming games, with the first game dating back to 1910. The Illini’s last Homecoming win came in 2022, when No. 24-ranked Illinois defeated Minnesota 26-14 before a crowd of 45,683.

Illinois is one of the first universities to celebrate Homecoming, a tradition on almost every campus. It was conceived in 1909 by students C. F. Williams and W. Elmer Ekblaw, members of the Shield and Trident senior society. They joined with another society, Phoenix, to organize the three-day event.

Opponent Scout

Central Michigan is 1-1 on the season after opening the campaign with a 66-10 home win over Central Connecticut State in Week 1. The Chippewas fell to visiting FIU in Week 2, 52-16. CMU will be hoping to win a non-conference road game for the second straight season after defeating South Alabama on Sept. 23, 2023.

The Chippewas’ last win against a Big Ten opponent came in 2014, when CMU defeated Purdue 38-17 on the road. Since then, CMU has fallen to B1G teams in six straight meetings.

Offensively, quarterback Joe Labas – a transfer from Iowa – has totaled 493 passing yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 60 percent of his passes. The Chippewas have seen four different rushers reach double figures thus far, though running back Myles Bailey has team-highs in rushing (17), rushing yards (122) and rushing touchdowns (2). Two receivers have topped 100 in receiving yards – Solomon Davis and Chris Parker – in two games, while four different pass-catchers have hauled in touchdowns through the air.

Defensive back Elijah Rikard is the team’s leading tackler (14.0), while defensive lineman and Illinois native Jonah Pace has the highest tackles for loss at 3.5.

The Chippewas have scored two touchdowns on special teams this season: Stephon Bracey Jr. had an 87-yard kickoff return and Donte Kent had a 68-yard punt return in CMU’s Week 1 win over CCSU.

Kickoff on Saturday at 11am can be seen on Peacock.