Sports Desk: Full Coverage of the U of I Football Team's Decimation of EIU, Plus H.S. Volleyball

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] now the fox Illinois sports desk sponsored by Route 66 solar so hey we're outside Illinois up 31 nothing and so far I think a lot of the students said we had enough I think they're about to head over to Red Line they're about to head out to camps but this has been a great performance so far by Illinois you know Vegas they came in they were only 28 and 1 Half Point favorites but so far Luke Alm has looked very good in his first start in over a year people remember Illinois fans he was benched last year after the Minnesota game because John Paddock played so well but he's back and he played well hitting those 50/50 shots with Pat Bryan deep and also engineering a really good running game first off it started off well for Eastern Illinois in the first quarter when they're running the ball but Illinois was able to force a turnover and that changed the entire momentum of the game so far Eastern Illinois was confident coming into this game last year they finished eight and three for their best record in O since 2013 but so far the Big 10 speed the Big 10 line and just the Big 10 quarterback play has been just a little too much so far for the Panthers I'm Carson Gordy we're going to send it off to Sammy thanks Carson now Williams of volleyball also in action they reached a program milestone in their first win of the season the bullet volleyball program's 900th win now a sense of accomplishment felt for the current team and for all their past coaches and players it's it's a great feeling because I think it's just a testament to all the coaches and players that came before our current group I was able to learn from her and Pam Allen was here a long time before her who also had a huge chunk of those wins I'm just very lucky to consider them both mentors and Friends feels really special I want until like we've definitely had our up and downs with the volleyball programs but to finally just claim that 900 and keep going it's definitely a big deal and and this team coming off an undefeated conference run in 2023 the bullets remain hungry in 2024 as they returned two unanimous Hall conference selections our goal is definitely to win as many games as we can to start off but also one conference again and hopefully make it as far as we can so we've said from the beginning all in and we're hungry this year we want a Regional Title we won conference we want all the things and so we're in the gym three hours a day right now and we're just really putting in all hard work to get there now Williamsville picking up a win in their match against St Teresa today in straight sets as well but we'll keep you up updated on that game over in Champagne as well as have more on Williamsville volleyball up on our website but for now that is it for sports I'm Samy stene now the fox Illinois sports desk sponsored by Route 66 solar Nick Illinois College football kicking off last night with the season opener U ofi taking on Eastern Illinois in Champagne theine ey cruise to an easy victory over your Panthers wasn't great wasn't great Mark we kind of have the colors for it almost perfectly we got it down here by pure chance uh big 45 nothing win for the Ali night early lead never gave it back 31 nothing at half time now interesting set something that you and I both didn't know Brett beum of four years in Illinois he's won every season over so he's always got off to a win but you were saying obviously this year a better start than last year yeah cuz last year's win was by just the Skin of Their Teeth it's set the tone especially after two years ago Illinois was good they just needed really a win at the back half of that year two years ago to get into some maybe Big 10 Championship contention played Michigan really well and then last year was not good so allaround victory for U ofi Luke almeer was great 23 yards four touchdown passes uh Kaden Fagen uh 1038 yards rushing in a touchdown the big physical running game from ill uh Illinois was fantastic last night also give a shout out to the UI defense yep two picks four turnovers total really I felt really old watching the game because all of a sudden I'm like wait who's at Center for Illinois that named cruts wait a minute is that ol crout's son yes the Chicago Bears Legend his son Josh cruts U ofi starting center that's crazy he was my favorite player growing up on I played offensive line so I loved i d bearon so I loved ow crw so that made me feel very old but a big win for U ofi over eiu and we have more football this weekend on Fox uh the fox game of the week Penn State they are the big benefit offici Aries of the expanded college football playoff uh they have always just been stuck outside looking in that game against West Virginia will air right here on Fox Illinois for the first time since 1935 a New York Giant will be wearing the number one when rookie Malik neighbors joined the team he needed a new number he worn the number nine though through spring training and the number eight in college but both numbers already owned by other players that's when neighbors asked if he could wear the number one it hasn't been used since Ray flare retired 89 years ago in fact Flare's jersey number became the first to be retired in professional football Flare's family they agreed to neighbors the star first round pick using the number they sees an opportunity to reintroduce the NFL to the champion uh and new generation of Giants fans which certainly feels that way for me don't miss a video subscribe to our YouTube channel today for more Central Illinois news