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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
After playing four of its first five games at night this season, Kaden Feagin and the rest of the Illinois football team will play a mid-afternoon game on Oct. 12 when Purdue visits Memorial Stadium in Champaign for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. The first game in October for the Illinois football team will feature the first mid-afternoon kickoff at Memorial Stadium in Champaign this season. The Illini (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) host reeling Purdue (1-3, 0-1) at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 12, the Big Ten announced on Monday.
➜ 2. Former Illini Chase Brown had the most productive game of his brief NFL career on Sunday, with the Bengals running back rushing for 80 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns during Cincinnati’s 34-24 road win against the Carolina Panthers.
➜ 3. Former Illini Michael Massey gets his first shot at the MLB playoffs when he and the Royals begin postseason play at 3:08 p.m. Tuesday in the first game of an AL Wild Card series against the Orioles.
Raina Terry is closing in on the Illinois volleyball all-time kills record.
Numbers game: 1,827
Career kills Raina Terry brings for the Illinois volleyball team into Thursday’s 6 p.m. home match against No. 2 Nebraska at Huff Hall in Champaign. The fifth-year middle blocker from Marengo, Ohio, is third in program history in that category and is seven away from surpassing Laura DeBruler for second on the all-time list. She only needs 146 to move past all-time leader Jocelynn Birks.
Illinois men’s basketball coach Brad Underwood speaks during Big Ten Media Days in 2023 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Big Ten basketball media days. The Illini women, with coach Shauna Green, point guard Makira Cook and guard Adalia McKenzie, will represent the program on Wednesday during the 18-team event in Rosemont. Then, on Thursday, coach Brad Underwood, point guard Kylan Boswell and wing Ty Rodgers take center stage for the Illini men.
➜ 2. Nebraska at Illinois volleyball. It’s Stuff Huff on Thursday night when the Cornhuskers (12-1) visit the Illini (8-4) for the first Illinois home match since Sept. 3.
➜ 3. Parkland at Illinois Central volleyball. The fourth-ranked Cobras (27-2) head to East Peoria to play the 12th-ranked Cougars (16-6) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Prairie Central girls’ track and field coach Jason Welch.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with Prairie Central girls’ track and field coach Jason Welch:
âžœ 1. My favorite sports team is … the Green Bay Packers.
âžœ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Tom Willard, Chris Parno and Dick LeBeau.
âžœ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … when we see potential in our athletes, bu they don’t want to see it or they don’t think they have it, so they don’t try to get there. They want results now rather than putting in the work to see those results exponentially increased later.