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Western Kentucky visits Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, as the Illini look to improve to 2-0 on the season. The Hilltoppers are coming off of 31-17 win over in-state opponent Eastern Kentucky.

Orange and Blue News kicks off game week with a notebook of things to know from Lovie's Smith weekly press conference.

Lovie Smith said he was proud of the way the team finished against Ball State. The staff wanted the players to go through adversity and see how they respond. Ball State had momentum and it wasn't looking good, but guys stepped up.

The Offensive line didn't play as well as they needed to. The staff feels like with the five they're going with this week, they can take some positive steps. We can probably expect some personnel changes on the offensive line this week.

The Illinois defense had favorable third down situations early in the game, but didn't perform the way they needed to. They won the last six situations when they had to get stops on third down.

Former JUCO transfer Del'Shawn Phillips had 16 tackles. Linebackers have opportunity to make plays, but they still left some on the field. Still, it was a good showing for Phillips the first time out. When you go the JUCO route you have to scratch and fight for everything you have, so you can handle adversity.

Mike Epsgtein didn't pay like a freshmen. He wanted the ball, whether it was catching the ball out of the backfield, returning kicks, or producing at the running back position. He "couldn't have had a better day". Epstein had 11 carries for 54 yards and two touchdowns.

Kendrick Foster didn't have one of his better games. Illinois will play multiple running backs. Some days it's not quite there. Foster is a good football player, but sometimes you aren't at the top of your game, so you have to look at option 2. And option 2 is pretty good with Mike Epstein.

Defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson said they made adjustments throughout the game, and the defense settled in. They need to fix some things like rush lanes and coverage on the back end, but he's encouraged about the way they finished. Nickerson said the linebackers were active and all over the field.

Lovie Smith said he can't yet talk in detail about injuries from Saturday. Center Doug Kramer went down with a knee injury and they don't know if he will be back this week or not. There's also still no update on senior cornerback Jaylen Dunlap, who missed all of training camp and didn't play against Ball State.

Defensive end James Crawford was suspended for game 1, and his status for the Western Kentucky game is still unknown.

Nick Allegretti finished at center last week. They have options, with three guys who can snap the ball. A couple of snaps were off, but they now have a week to prepare.

Based on what they saw in week 1, even more freshmen could play meaningful snaps against WKU. At the end of the game, freshmen were contributing.

Two freshmen shared cornerback duties opposite Cameron Watkins. Tony Adams practiced more than Nate Hobbs. It's tough playing cornerback and to be a true freshman there is a lot thrown at you. Lovie said Hobbs handled it well. He only had one week of practice due to an illness, but he held up.

Mike Dudek is going to get one-on-one situations, and he's going to win most of those. It's hard to double team players. Most of the time it comes down to a one on one situation. You can get some help over the top, but it's hard to isolate on one guy. Lovie said its the coaches' job to get him the ball more.

Offensive coordinator Garrick McGee expects quarterback Chayce Crouch to play better this week. Crouch went 10-19 for 145 yards with one touchdown and one interceptions. McGee said he thinks Crouch was nervous in week 1 and had tunnel vision. He had his eyes on the defensive line and didn't see down the field. McGee also said Crouch didn't set his feet enough.

Western Kentucky struggled to run the ball effectively last week against Eastern Kentucky, with 100 yard on 40 carries (2.5 ypc). Its longest run from scrimmage was for 12 yards.

Sophomore Marquez Trigg and junior D'Andre Ferby shared the carries with 16 and 19 respectively. The Hilltoppers had to replace their three top offensive linemen from last season, and it showed on Saturday.

WKU finished the 2016 season with an 11-3 record, including a win over Memphis in the Boca Raton Bowl. All-Conference quarterback Mike White returns for the Hilltoppers. Lovie Smith said when a starting quarterback is coming back, you know you are going to have some issues to look at on film.

Illinois is an 8-point underdog at home against the Hilltoppers. Lovie Smith was asked if that's a motivating factor for the Illini, but he said the team has enough motivation trying to get to 2-0 on the season.

Lovie Smith said Western Kentucky runs a traditional type of offense. Mike White is a pro style quarterback who can make all of the throws from the pocket. White had a huge season in 2016, passing for 4,363 yards and 37 touchdowns.

The WKU defense held Eastern Kentucky to just 25 yards rushing last week. The Hilltoppers return six starters and 27 lettermen on a unit that was second in C-USA in total defense last season. EKU did have some success through the air. QB Tim Boyle passed for 320 yards and two touchdowns.