Akron Falls at Illinois, 42-3

Saturday, August 31

Urbana-Champaign, IL |Memorial Stadium

Noon ET (11 AM CT)

University of Akron

0-1

Illinois

1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

AKRON

Illinois

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

August 31 | Football

Box Score

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STATS | STATS IN PDF | POSTGAME NOTES | PHOTO GALLERY | VIDEO

Champaign, Ill. – Akron football opened the Tom Arth Era on the road against Big Ten Conference opponent Illinois at Memorial Stadium where the Fighting Illini posted a 42-3 win on Saturday afternoon.

The new look Zips (0-1) played 16 freshmen throughout the 60-minute contest, while junior QB Kato Nelson (Hollywood, Fla.) led Akron's offense with 122 yards passing on a 10-of-24 effort. Nelson found junior WR Nate Stewart (Bethlehem, Pa.) five times for 79 yards, including a 28-yard strike. Freshman WR Michael Mathison (Covington, Ga.) was also a familiar target in his collegiate debut. Mathison corralled three passes for 22 yards and a career-long 15-yard reception on his first catch.

Senior RB Deltron Sands (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and sophomore RB Brandon Lee (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) collected the bulk of rushing yards. Sands gained 47 yards on 14 carries, while Lee had 34 yards on 10 carries.

Sophomore LB Bubba Arslanian led the defensive unit with a career-high 11 tackles for five yards of loss, including his first career sack. Senior LB John Lako (Monroe, Mich.) followed with eight stops, while freshman DL Eric Bentley (Akron, Ohio) and senior DB Shawn Featherstone (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had six stops each. Featherstone recorded a sack along with freshman LB Quevan Lawson (Ashburn, Ga.).

The Fighting Illini (1-0) scored on opening drive as senior RB Reggie Corbin capped a 10-play, 63-yard drive with a three-yard run into the endzone. Corbin had five carries for 35 yards in the opening drive, including a 23-yard effort on the second play of the game. He finished with 36 yards on six carries.

The Zips responded with an 11-play, 50-yard scoring drive that ended on the foot of junior Jerry Fitschen (Orange, Calif.). Mathison moved the chains for the first time of the season for Akron, securing a 15-yard pass from Nelson. Nelson followed with a 15-yard strike to Stewart, but the Illini defense held their ground, forcing Fitschen split the uprights from 42-yards away on his first collegiate attempt, 7-3 Illinois.

Illinois retaliated with its second touchdown of the game as junior RB Ra'Von Bonner crossed the goalline to complete a nine-play 75-yard drive for a 14-3 advantage.

Before time expired in the first quarter, the Fighting Illini defense stripped the ball from Nelson to setup their third scoring drive. Illinois scored on the first play of the second frame, increasing the lead 21-3.

The Illini defense continued to cause problems for the Zips, halting three consecutive Akron drives. Illinois did not capitalize on the first two stops, but found pay dirt after the third stop and established a 28-3 advantage by halftime.

Illinois started the scoring in the second half, using a nine-yard completion to cap a nine-play, 63-yard drive in 3:23 for a 35-3 lead. The final seven points were also recorded in the third quarter as Illinois orchestrated 70-yard drive using 3:34 on 10 plays for a 42-3 advantage.

Akron returns to action at InfoCision Stadium–Summa Field for its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 7, against UAB for the Hometown Heroes game. Kickoff is set for Noon on the CBS Sports Network.