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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 6 104 L ovie Smith appears sold on a continued youth movement in Year 2, and that could mean another year of growing pains at Illinois. The Illini lost most of their starters from last season's team that won only three games, two in the league, and Smith appears to be OK with underclassmen to fill some of those key spots. "While playing the youngsters could pay dividends down the road, it probably doesn't bode well for the upcoming season," said Doug Buschon, who covers the Illini for OrangeandBlueNews.com, the Rivals site. "Illinois will be young in the trenches on both sides of the football. That's not usu- ally a recipe for success. "The upside of being young is the playing experience, and the Illini does have some underclassmen who are legit Power 5 athletes. It's hard to im- prove (being on) the bench. Lovie is taking the long-view approach. This 2016 Results (3-9) 2017 Schedule 9/3 MURRAY STATE . . . . . . W, 52-3 9/2 . . . . . . . . . BALL STATE 9/10 NORTH CAROLINA . . . L, 48-23 9/9 . .WESTERN KENTUCKY 9/17 WESTERN MICHIGAN L, 34-10 9/16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . at USF 10/1 at Nebraska . . . . . . . . L, 31-16 9/23 . . . . . . . . . NEBRASKA 10/8 PURDUE . . . . . . . . . . . L, 34-31 9/30 . . . . . . . . . . . . at Iowa 10/15 at Rutgers . . . . . . . . . . W, 24-7 10/5 . . . . . . . . . . RUTGERS 10/22 at Michigan . . . . . . . . . L, 41-8 10/14 . . . . . . . at Minnesota 10/29 MINNESOTA . . . . . . . . L, 40-17 10/21 . . . . . . . WISCONSIN 11/5 MICHIGAN STATE. . . . W, 31-27 10/28 . . . . . . . . . .at Purdue 11/12 at Wisconsin . . . . . . . . L, 48-3 11/11 . . . . . . . . . . INDIANA 11/19 IOWA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L, 28-0 11/18 . . . . . . . at Ohio State 11/26 at Northwestern . . . . . L, 42-21 11/25 . . . NORTHWESTERN U of I Athletics Malik Turner is the Illinois' go-to returning receiver with 48 catches in 2016. Illinois Fighting Illini NOV. 4 ROSS-ADE STADIUM TIME: TBA ∙ TV: TBA COACH: LOVIE SMITH RECORD AT ILLINOIS: 3-9 (ONE SEASON) RECORD VS. PURDUE: 0-1 G O L D A N D B L AC K 'S E A R LY L I N E : P U R D U E - 4 In 2017, and for the first time in school history, Purdue faces three former NFL coaches who are now in the college game in Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, Illinois' Lovie Smith and Nebraska's Mike Riley. Here's how the Boilermakers have fared previously: John Mackovic (Chiefs) Illinois, Arizona: 1-4 Dan Devine (Packers) Notre Dame: 1-5 Lou Holtz (Jets) Minnesota, Notre Dame, 1-12 Mike Riley (Chargers) Nebraska, 1-1 Purdue can possess the Cannon for the 10th time in 13 years, which will be the best stretch in a trophy game since winning 11-of-13 Old Oaken Bucket matches from 1997- 2009. 2017 Opponent Preview 9 Back to School Special