The Illinois Fighting Illini are 1-0 on the season and preparing for a 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday kickoff against the Duke Blue Devils at Gies Memorial Stadium.

Coach Bret Bielema's team has been given an outside chance to win the Big Ten championship this season, which would be the team's first since the 2001 season.

One member of the 2001 championship team, Brandon Lloyd, will be on hand Saturday, a surprising development according to the former NFL and college star, that will come with two separate well deserved honors. 

Lloyd played three seasons with the Fighting Illini in Champaign, recording back-to-back 1,000-plus yard seasons to close out his career before heading to the NFL. 

He played 11 years in the NFL and had a career-best 1,448 yards with the Denver Broncos in 2010, putting his stamp on the league while showing off his sticky hands, excellent leaping ability and world class body control to haul in difficult passes. 

Lloyd received a phone call from Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman as Whitman broke the news that he would be inducted into Illinois' Hall-of-Fame and serve as honorary captain for Saturday's game. 

"I was, I was very joyful, Josh was actually surprised, he called and was kinda like, c'mon man, you had to know that I was calling for this," Lloyd said in an interview with Carson Gourdie of FOX Illinois. 

"And I was like, 'No, I thought you were just calling for me to be honorary captain or something." 

"So, I was definitely shocked and caught off-guard," Lloyd added. 

The Fighting Illini were listed as 8.5-point favorites by Draft Kings on Friday morning against the Blue Devils for Saturday's game coming off of a strong first game against the UAB Blazers. 

Illinois started slow last week before a Hail Mary catch by Ty Robinson helped blow the game open for Bret Bielema's team en route to a 42-23 win. 

Duke beat Tulane 17-3 in a game that showcased the bright defensive mind of head coach Manny Diaz, Penn State's former defensive coordinator. 

The Fighting Illini are a little over two weeks out from a gargantuan road game against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio, and know they need to be firing on all cylinders to score an upset against the preseason Big Ten favorites.

By the same token, Bielema's team knows Duke is no pushover and will do everything in its power to focus on the task at hand, beating Diaz's team, this weekend in an effort to go 2-0 in front of Lloyd and over 60,000 other fans.