CHAMPAIGN, IL— After last weekend’s unexpected loss to Minnesota on Homecoming, many Illinois fans were unsure how the Illini were going to respond to being beaten in Memorial Stadium. Well, the Illinois football team made a resounding statement in the first half of Saturday night’s contest against Indiana entering the locker room with a 28-7 lead.

The Orange and Blue offensive attack got started early, as its first play went for 60 yards on a Juice Williams pass to Will Judson. It then took the Illini only one more play to put points on the board with Williams’ one-yard TD pass to tight end Michael Hoomanawanui.

The unit wasn’t done there either, as Illinois scored three more times before the halftime gun.

Belleville native and freshman running back Jason Ford has gotten in on the offensive onslaught as well, racking up 87 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

The explosive Illini attack was also a record-breaking one. Quarterback Juice Williams had three touchdown passes to give him 15 for the 2008 season. That total after seven games surpasses his totals for each of 2006 and 2007.

And that’s not all:  sophomore receiver Arrelious Benn was another key cog in the Illini offensive barrage. Benn caught six balls for 119 yards and a touchdown, marking his fourth straight game with 100 yards receiving. He is the first Illinois player to ever do that.

Alex Symonds is a student at the University of Illinois