Duke Is Hosting 11th Ranked Illinois Saturday At Noon In Durham
Duke is hosting 11th ranked Illinois Saturday at noon in Durham.
Where?
On the gridiron!
Duke is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference while Illinois is a member of Big Ten Conference!
Duke comes into the game with 11th ranked Illinois with record of 1-0 because Duke, Elon were tied at 10 at halftime because Elon quarterback Landen Clark ran for 2 yard touchdown, Luke Barnes kicked, made extra point!
Though,
Duke, Elon were tied 10-10 at halftime Thursday night in Durham Duke kicked off 2025 season in winning way with 45-17 win.
As Duke kicked off 2025 season Sahmir Hagans caught 15 yard pass from quarterback Darian Mensah, Todd Pelino kicked, made extra point while Andrel Anthony caught 27 yard pass from Darian Mensah , Todd Pelino kicked, made extra point putting Duke ahead of Elon 17-10 extending Duke’s lead over Elon 24-10 in 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter Sahmir Hagans caught 6 yard pass from from Darian Mensah , Todd Pelino kicked, made extra point extending Duke’s lead over Elon 31-17 before Duke would go on to extend their lead to 38-17 as Que’Saun Brown would return a punt for touchdown , Todd Pelino kicked, made extra point before Peyton Jones would extend Duke’s lead yet again over Elon this time 45-17 as Peyton Jones would rush for 5 yard touchdown.
According to espn app
Following Duke kicking off 2025 season with 45-17 win over Elon had this to say about the corrections his team needs to make!
There’s going to be a lot you need to correct and will correct,”
“But it’s always better to correct it when you’re 1-0.”It was a nervy start to the game,”We felt a little edge and it took us awhile to settle down.” The first half was back and forth, punch and counterpunch, ending 10-10. “We talked a lot about not knowing a lot about their personnel or schemes,” Diaz said. “They had us chasing shadows a little bit defensively early in the game. We had come in at halftime and dial in on what they were doing and I thought made good adjustments defensively.”
According to Chip Alexander News & Observer article https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article311838254.html
Like Duke,
Illinois also comes into the game with record of 1-0 because they beat Western Illinois 52-3 Friday night in Champaign Illinois where their offense included 7 touchdowns!
Their first touchdown came in first quarter when Tanner Arkin caught 3 yard pass from Luke Altmyer, David Olano kicked, made extra point before Justin Bowick caught 3 yard pass from Luke Altmyer David Olano kicked, made extra point extending Illinois lead over Western Illinois 7-0 14-0. In the 2nd quarter Illinois would continue to extend their lead to 21-0 , 24-0, 31-0 as Aidan Lauhery would run for 25 yards , David Olano would kick, make extra point before David Olano would kick, make 25 yard field goal before Justin Bowick would catch 13 yard pass from Luke Altmyer. In the 3rd quarter Illinois would extend their lead yet again this time to 38-0 as Hank Beatty would return a punt 69 yards David Olano would kick, make extra point extending Illinois lead yet again over Western Illinois this time 38-0. In the 4th quarter Kaden Feagin would run for 7 yard touchdown, David Olano would kick, make extra point extending Illinois lead over Western Illinois 45-3 before winning the game 52-3 on Aidan Laughery 57 yard run David Olano kick, make extra point.
Following Illinois rout of Western Illinois Friday night Head Coach Bret Bielema had this to say for his opening statement about wide receiver Hank Beatty about offensive lineman Gabe Jacas!
We had a long night, but it was very productive, I was excited. We had three keys for us. First, build our routine this week as best as humanly possible. I thought our guys were really locked in, even though, obviously, we knew we were playing an FCS team in Western Illinois, I thought our guys handled this week well. We talked about respect to all, fear none, and I thought they did a good job of prepping that. Our second thing tonight was just go out and play clean and communicate. I know there were a couple penalties, but I thought our guys, for the most part, played pretty clean. There's a couple things we got to clean up. I didn't love the end of the half series with our one offense, we were able to win the toss and defer. We were trying to double dip coming out of the end of the half and start of the second. That is something we need to continue to improve on. The third thing was just to start fast and physical and finish the same way. I got a lot of guys out there, and I thought they all kind of did their best to hold their end of the rope. I'm super excited, we stayed pretty clean and health wise, didn't have anybody of significance so get this one to bed tomorrow. With the holiday weekend, we can build an advantage with the work week on Monday and get a good jump on Duke. I'm excited to get into this week. Obviously, a very talented team that won their opener as well. So we got a tremendous task on the road at Duke this week.
I think even last year, you know, just a great example of how one thing affects another, he started to have some success in the punt returning game, and it really helped him at the line of scrimmage as a wide receiver, and going into bowl prep last year, I could see a really big jump coming. He played well in the bowl game and all spring, just the confidence he had, and then to go out there today. I was talking with the head coach beforehand, and Hank went right in front of me, and I'm like, I really like that player from Rochester, Springfield, an Illinois player. We definitely don't want to punt to him, but they obviously punted to him, and played extremely well. There is a lot of really good effort to get that ball in the end zone. It was really high-level play.Gabe is a very gifted player, and I would say since we came back in January, he's been a highly motivated player for success, but everything he does right now and then to see him get elected captain, I think that just builds even more confidence in him. He obviously is a freak of nature, and now he's getting coached extremely well. I brought in Joe Kim who has really helped him in some of his pass rush stuff. So I'm super excited with his skill set and highly motivated. He's a big playmaker. He's a guy that's never satisfied. It's fun to see his energy and just fun kind of fall out to other people as well.
According to https://fightingillini.com/news/2025/8/29/illinois-rolls-western-illinois-in-season-opener.aspx
Kickoff is set for 12:00pm from Brooks Field At Wallace Wade Stadium!
The game is going to be televised on ESPN with Dave Pasch , Dusty Dvoracek , Taylor McGregor commentating!
Dave Pasch serves as a play-by-play commentator for ESPN and ABC, primarily calling NBA, men’s and women’s college basketball and college football games. Pasch, who joined the network in 2003, has also worked WNBA, Arena Football, the Great Outdoor Games and the Little League World Series events.
Since 2002, he has also been the radio voice of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. Pasch also called select college basketball, NFL and golf events for CBS Radio/Westwood One from 1999-2003. From 1999-2002, he was the radio voice for Syracuse football and basketball. Pasch also called select NFL and NFL Europe games for Fox Sports in 2002 and 2003, and did the Buffalo Bills preseason telecasts in 2001.
Before his work at Syracuse, Pasch worked for WMAQ-AM in Chicago. His duties included hosting a talk show and the Chicago Blackhawks’ pre-game show, as well as calling play-by-play on select Blackhawks broadcasts. From 1995-1997, Pasch worked for WDFN-AM in Detroit, serving as a sports anchor, talk show host and play-by-play commentator for International Hockey League, Detroit Vipers, broadcasts.
Pasch worked for West Virginia Radio Corporation from 1994-1995 as a news and sports anchor, and he called high school football play-by-play. From 1990-1994, he worked at WAER-FM, the Syracuse University student station.
Dusty Dvoracek is a college football analyst on ESPN and ABC Saturday games, working alongside play-by-play commentator Dave Pasch and reporter Taylor McGregor. His prior assignment included ESPN Friday Night Primetime Series and ESPNU college football games on Saturdays in his earlier seasons with the network. In addition to his duties with ESPN, he is the co-host of ‘Dusty and Danny’ on Sirius XM Ch 84 and the sports radio host of ‘Monsters of the Mid-Day’ on 98.1FM in Oklahoma City.
Dvoracek played for the Oklahoma Sooners from 2001 – 2005, where he was a two-time captain and two-time Big 12 champion. During his time at Oklahoma, he earned the Jay Myers Award (Outstanding Freshman Student Athlete), the Sooner Schooner Scholastic Award (Outstanding Student Athlete), and was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Team and the All Big 12 and AP All American teams.
In 2006, Dvoracek was drafted 73rd overall in the third round of the NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, and played with the team for four years.
Prior to joining ESPN, Dvoracek was a college football analyst for Fox Sports Southwest and Fox Sports Oklahoma.
Taylor McGregor is a college football and UFL sideline reporter for ESPN, joining the network in September 2019. McGregor currently teams up every Saturday with Dave Pasch and Dusty Dvoracek to call games around the country, primarily on ESPN and ABC. McGregor also serves as a host for Marquee Sports Network in Chicago, where she is also the lead reporter on Cubs games through the MLB season.
McGregor has had previous stints at AT&T SportsNet in Denver, Colo., THV-11 in Little Rock, KCWY-TV in Wyoming, as well as internships with SEC Network, RazorVision at the University of Arkansas, MLB Network, FOX Sports Kansas City, ROOT Sports, and KNWA-TV.
A proud University of Arkansas alumna, McGregor graduated in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. A Colorado native, McGregor grew up around sports with her late father’s career as an NFL tight end, collegiate athletics administrator, and former president of the Colorado Rockies.
McGregor currently resides in Chicago, Ill.
According to https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/pasch_dave/
https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/dusty-dvoracek/
https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/taylor-mcgregor/