Illinois is preparing for a home game against Purdue, after losing 31-16 on the road over the weekend to Nebraska.

An old saying in football is that the game is won or lost in the line. On Saturday, Western Michigan's line outplayed Illinois on both offense and defense. The outcome, a 34-10 drubbing of the home team, demonstrated that the Lovie Smith rebuild will take some time.

The one-and-one Illinois football team is looking ahead to this Saturday’s game with Western Michigan, as it tries to shake off Saturday’s 48 to 23 loss to North Carolina.  

University of Illinois trustees have approved a contract with football coach Lovie Smith that will pay him at least $21 million over six years. At their meeting Thursday, trustees also signed off on a $100,000 performance bonus for President Tim Killeen. Under his contract, the bonus was the maximum Killeen could have received for reaching performance goals.

Wes Lunt threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns and Kendrick Foster ran for a pair of 56-yard touchdowns to give new Illinois coach Lovie Smith his first win, 52-3 over Murray State.