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Illinois vs. Western Kentucky | Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 pm

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Going into the season, Head Coach Lovie Smith didn't mince words about the youth of this year's Fighting Illini football team.

"You'd like to have guys that have played an awful lot, but it's the best players [who play]," Smith said early in the week. "For us, our best players are a lot of our younger players and we're going to let them go immediately."

Illinois played 24 student-athletes for the first time in their careers, including 12 true freshmen. Three of those started on defense - safety Bennett Williams , cornerback Tony Adams and defensive end Bobby Roundtree . It's an historic anomaly for the Illini. In the previous 42 years, Illinois started a total of 12 true freshmen.

Some of the growing pains showed. Ball State converted 12 of its first 17 third downs. The Illini mustered only 128 yards of offense through three quarters and faced a four-point deficit going into the final frame.

"As a coach, you want to put the guys in as many tough situations as possible," Smith said. "It pays off late. Guys were tired, but we had a little more."

Illinois got a spark late in the fourth quarter on Mike Dudek 's 52-yard punt return. It was Dudek's first game since 2014 - a span of 981 days - after suffering season-ending leg injuries in back-to-back training camps.

"It's been a long time coming for Mike," Smith said of Dudek. "Those punt returns say an awful lot. When you have a good football player you have to get his hands on the ball as often as possible."

"When the clock struck zero, I got a little teary eyed," Dudek admitted. "Thinking about where I've been. Thinking about all my teammates and coaches that have had my back through this entire process."

Meanwhile, another Mike - true freshman Mike Epstein - was making a statement in his first collegiate game. Following Dudek's big punt return, Epstein punched in a 1-yard touchdown - his second score of the game - to put the Illini up for good. The excitement of every touch from the Fort Lauderdale, Florida native was comparable to Dudek's electrifying 2014 freshman All-American season.

"It's not a total shock to us," Smith said of Epstein's play. "He has been good since he's been on campus. He hasn't missed a rep throughout training camp and put himself in a position to get playing time."

To say Epstein was eager to get on the field for his first collegiate game is an understatement. His 6-yard touchdown in the second quarter was the next in a string of firsts for Epstein: He was the first verbal commit of the 2017 recruiting class and the first to send in his National Letter of Intent on signing day back in February.

"I've dreamed of this since I was a little kid," Epstein said. "When I stepped out there I thought 'this is what I dreamed of and it's here' so I just wanted to take advantage of it."

After that, it was up to the Illinois defense to hold, and another true freshman rose to the occasion. Defensive end Isaiah Gay 's sack sent Ball State's momentum backwards. Just as Epstein was the first recruit in the 2017 class, Gay was the last.

"He's another one of those young freshmen we're going to love seeing," Smith said of Gay. "He was the last recruit we offered. Someone sent in a tape and we looked at it. For me, whenever you see a defensive end with 12 and a half minutes of highlights you got to look at him a little bit closer."

After the sack, the Cardinals never recovered, and a desparation 54-yard field goal to send the game to overtime was blocked by Jamal Milan as time expired.

"Having to reach down and pull out a win said an awful lot about our young team," Smith said after the game. "We wanted to be 1-0 after our first game and we have that. I like the way the team finished. We realize we have a long ways to go and we will. We will get ready for Western Kentucky next week."

The 24 Players that Made their Illini Debut on Saturday

» True-Freshmen (12): DB Tony Adams , OL Larry Boyd , TE Louis Dorsey , RB Mike Epstein , DL Isaiah Gay , P Blake Hayes , DB Nate Hobbs , DB James Knight , DL Bobby Roundtree , WR Ricky Smalling , Kendall Smith , DB Bennett Williams .

» Redshirt Freshmen (8): DL Christion Abercrombie , RB Christian Bobak , DB Harvey Clayton Jr. , OL Doug Kramer , QB Cam Miller , LS Sean Mills , LB Ayo Shogbonyo , LS Ethan Tabel

» Sophomores (2): OL Zeke Martin , LB Jimmy Marchese