Game Balls: Illinois Football Standouts in Week 3 Win Over Western Michigan

No. 9 Illinois (3-0) faced Western Michigan (0-3) on Saturday night, seeking its third consecutive win to open the 2025 campaign – and got just that.

The Illini held just a 10-0 lead at halftime (and were lucky to even be up that much) but broke things open in the third quarter before tacking on two more scores in the fourth, ultimately knocking off the Broncos by a score of 38-0.

There were stars for Illinois on both sides of the ball, and even special teams (punter Keelan Crimmins was fantastic), but there were three key, head-turning performances that merit special commendation. Here are the three game ball recipients:

Xavier Scott

Xavier Scott, who unfortunately left the contest in the fourth quarter because of an apparent ankle injury, was spectacular Saturday, wrapping up exceptionally well and mirroring Western Michigan wideouts across the field in coverage.

Against the Broncos’ ground game, Scott set the edge on a handful of plays, even reaching the backfield and bringing down ball carriers on a couple of occasions. In coverage, he went step for step with WMU targets, and jumped passing lanes and forced incompletions.

The do-it-all defensive back finished up with three total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and two pass breakups.

Kenenna Odeluga

A senior inside linebacker, Kenenna Odeluga took over the keys to the Illini defense in the absence of injured star Dylan Rosiek – and Odeluga didn’t disappoint.

His stat line (four tackles, 0.5 TFLs) may not jump off the page, but Odeluga came up huge on the final play of the first half – the single most important play of the game.

On a fourth-and-goal at Illinois’ 1-yard line, Western Michigan ran the football on a tight-end sweep, feeding Michael Brescia, who had just one man to beat across the goal line. But Odeluga was a brick wall, stuffing Brescia and snuffing out any hope of a Western Michigan score.

Kenenna Odeluga made the goal line stop on the last play of the first half.

Huge, huge play. pic.twitter.com/T01XWkFug9
— Glenn Kinley (@glenn_kinley) September 14, 2025

Not only did it kill any potential momentum for the Broncos (a touchdown would have cut Illinois’ lead to three), but Odeluga single-handedly maintained the shutout for the Illini – which can’t be understated, as it may pay dividends down the road in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee.

Kaden Feagin

Kaden Feagin, Illinois’ starting running back in 2024 before he suffered a season-ending injury, was expected to split snaps with Aidan Laughery in 2025, and mostly has. But Feagin, coming off a 17-carry, 48-yard showing at Duke in Week 2, hadn’t exactly hit his stride.

But with Laughery sidelined due to an injury, Feagin grabbed the backfield reins for the Illini and quickly found his rhythm. He went for 100 yards and a score on 20 carries, but, most importantly, actually looked the part. Explosive, physical and churning out yards after contact, Feagin showcased his entire package in the Illini’s Week 3 win – especially on this run:

Kaden Feagin run.pic.twitter.com/1mBfu6fD0F
— ✶ Ⓜ️𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤 ▶️ ✶ (@_MarcusD3_) September 14, 2025