FACTS & STATS: Site: Waldo Stadium (30,200) -- Kalamazoo, Michigan. Television: ESPN Plus. Home Record: Illinois 4-1, WMU 4-0. Away Record: Illinois 1-2, WMU 3-2. Neutral Record: Illinois 0-1, WMU 0-0. Conference Record: Illinois 3-3, WMU 5-1. Series Record: Illinois leads, 2-0.

GAME NOTES: The Illinois Fighting Illini step out of conference to take on the Western Michigan Broncos at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo. The Illini are coming off a 27-24 win over Iowa despite playing without their leading rusher. Illinois needed a 46-yard field goal in the closing seconds to stave off a fourth-quarter rally by the Hawkeyes. The Illini host Ohio State next weekend and then close out their schedule at Northwestern. Meanwhile, Western Michigan comes in on the heels of last weekend's 31-10 win over Eastern Michigan. The Broncos played well coming out of a bye week after falling to Central Michigan on October 18th. Following this tilt, they'll close out their Mid-American Conference schedule with Toledo and Ball State. Illinois won both previous meeting with Western Michigan.

Illinois' leading rusher Daniel Dufrene (539 yds, 5.6 ypc) did not play last week and the running game suffered immensely. The offense managed just 60 yards on 28 attempts (2.1 ypc) against the Hawkeyes. Coach Ron Zook said Dufrene was not with the team during the week due to unspecified personal reasons. Dufrene's status for this week is still uncertain. Dual threat quarterback Juice Williams was held in check for much of the day. He gained just 30 yards on the ground, with a long of six yards. In the passing game, Williams threw for 272 yards and a touchdown, but he was also intercepted twice. Arrelious Benn finished with seven catches for 96 yards. On the season, Illinois ranks 16th in the nation in total offense (448 ypg). Williams has steadily improved his passing throughout his career and over the course of this season. Currently, he is the Big Ten's second-rated passer and leads the conference in total offense (328 ypg).

Last weekend, the Illinois defense sacked Hawkeyes quarterback Ricky Stanzi six times. The Illini lead the Big Ten in sacks and now rank fifth nationally. One of those sacks resulted in a touchdown when defensive back Dere Hicks knocked the ball loose, picked it up and dashed into the end zone to give Illinois a 24-9 lead early in the fourth quarter. But later in that period, the defense allowed Iowa to tie the game on two touchdown drives. Kicker Matt Eller bailed them out with his game-winning 46-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining. On the season, Brit Miller has been the leader of this defense with 93 tackles (14 for loss) and five sacks. Defensive end Corey Liuget (1.5 TFLs, two fumble recoveries) is questionable for this weekend with an ankle injury.

Western Michigan will surely be tested by the Illini pass rush. However, the Broncos bring the nation's sixth-ranked pass offense into this matchup. Quarterback Tim Hiller has a firm grasp of coach Bill Cubit's offense and is quick with his reads. Last week against Eastern Michigan, Hiller completed 24- of-36 passes for 339 yards and threw touchdowns to three different players. He did not throw an interception, and was sacked only once. Hiller is completing 68.5 percent of his passes this season and is averaging 317 passing yards per game. He has thrown 28 touchdowns, with only five interceptions. In last week's win over EMU, he had some help out of the backfield from Brandon West, who carried 29 times for 166 yards and a touchdown. Schneider Julien caught 10 passes for 90 yards and a score, while Jamarko Simmons finished with 128 yards on six catches.

The Bronco defense yielded 405 total yards last week, but allowed only 10 points. Throughout the season, one of the team's biggest struggles has been defending the pass. They are allowing 242 passing yards per game, which ranks 11th in the MAC and 93rd in the nation. EMU quarterback Andy Schmitt threw for 272 yards last week, though the WMU defense came away with two fourth-quarter interceptions. E.J. Biggers accounted for one of those picks and nearly had another one in the first quarter. For his efforts, he was named MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week. Louis Delmas paced the defense with 11 tackles (1.5 TFL). He leads the team with 75 tackles and four interceptions. Boston McCornell (53 tackles) also highlighted the box score with seven stops, a sack and an interception.

The Illini have the pass rushing ability to put some serious pressure on Hiller, something he has not had to deal with a whole lot against MAC defenses. On the other side of the ball, Illinois needs Williams to be sharper throwing the football. Last week, he seemed to try and put the whole offense on his shoulders with Dufrene out of the lineup.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Illinois 27, Western Michigan 21

Saturday, November 8th, 12:00 p.m. (et).