Illinois Athletics

October 1, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois has announced detailed plans for the upcoming Memorial Stadium Rededication weekend, set for Thursday, Oct. 17-Saturday, Oct. 19. The Fighting Illini are in the middle of a season-long celebration of the Memorial Stadium 100th Anniversary, including hosting Purdue on Oct. 12 before welcoming Michigan for the Rededication Game on Oct. 19.

Symposium: "Ghost Stories at Memorial Stadium" - Red Grange & the Game of the Century

Memorial Stadium 77 Club

Thursday, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m. CT

Illinois will host a symposium on Red Grange and his impact to football and Illinois on Thursday, Oct. 17 leading up to the 100th Anniversary of his legendary performance against Michigan. The event will take place in the 77 Club, which dons Grange's famous #77, inside of Memorial Stadium.

Chris Willis, author of "Red Grange – the Galloping Ghost" (2019), will join the event as a special guest. Willis is one of the top football historians in the nation and the head archivist and producer at NFL Films.

The event is free and open to the public.

Rededication Ceremony

Grange Grove

Friday, Oct. 18 at 11 a.m. CT

Exactly 100 years after Red Grange's historic performance in the Memorial Stadium Dedication Game against Michigan on Oct. 18, 1924, the

University of Illinois will host the Memorial Stadium Rededication on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024.

Illinois' Rededication Ceremony will be free and open to the public inside Grange Grove. After previously being announced as an afternoon start, the event is now scheduled to commence at 11 a.m. CT.

The ceremony will feature a program that honors the many uses of Memorial Stadium over the last century and an unveiling of new historic features around the stadium.

100th Anniversary Gala

Memorial Stadium Colonnades Club

Friday, Oct. 18 at 5:30 p.m. CT

A sold-out 100th-anniversary gala will be hosted inside the Colonnades Club inside Memorial Stadium at 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 18.

The event, themed "The Story of the Stadium", will feature some of the greatest players to wear the Illinois uniform sharing stories and reliving memories of the past 100 years.

Illinois vs. Michigan

Memorial Stadium

Saturday, Oct. 19 (Time TBA)

100 years and one day after Red Grange's historic performance against Michigan in the Memorial Stadium Dedication Game, Illinois will face off against that same opponent, Michigan, for the Memorial Stadium Rededication Game on Saturday, Oct. 19.

During game day, special ceremonies and performances will be featured inside Memorial Stadium throughout pregame and during the game, including a special game-ball presentation by some of Illinois' most legendary players, and a memorable 3-in-1 performance that will involve family members of Illinois' athletic architects of the era – Athletic Director George Huff, Head Football Coach Robert Zuppke and star player Red Grange.

The kickoff time and broadcast information will be announced at a later date. Fewer than 2,000 tickets remain at FightingIllini.com.

About Grange's Legendary Performance in the 1924 Dedication Game

On Oct. 18, 1924, Red Grange put together one of the greatest performances the college football world has ever seen. On the day of Memorial Stadium's Dedication Game and against a Michigan team that arrived in Champaign on a 20-game unbeaten streak, Grange glided through the Wolverine defense with ease. He set the tone early with a 95-yard return on the opening kickoff, and he was only just getting started.

Five minutes later, he recorded his second score of the game, this time on a 67-yard rush. Within the opening 12 minutes of play, he amassed four touchdowns, and he finished the contest with six total scores and over 400 total yards of offense.

The Wolverines allowed only 32 points during their 20-game unbeaten run. In the Illini's 39-14 win over Michigan, Red Grange accounted for 36 points on his own.

Earning the now-iconic "Galloping Ghost" nickname following a performance that remains unrivaled one century later, Grange cemented himself in college football history forever.

"Michigan never knew Red Grange, the Illinois wildcat, until today. Now Michigan knows him well," wrote James Crusinberry of the Chicago Tribune in 1924. "He stamped himself as one of the greatest football stars of all time, East or West."