
Lunney: Hudson Clement Finding Form Late in Preseason Practices
By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst
August 26, 2025
(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)
CHAMPAIGN — The closer we get to the 2025 season beginning, the less interested the folks who work inside the Smith Family Football Complex sound about making their play evaluations complicated.
While nobody surrounding the University of Illinois football program would deny Hudson Clement has found some adversities since arriving in Champaign-Urbana from West Virginia this past spring. Clement himself during the on-campus media day two weeks ago would admit the transition has had setbacks on and off the field including adjustment to the Barry Lunney Jr. offensive scheme and some nagging injuries that hampered not only his confidence but his summer conditioning program before entering preseason practices this month.
And after all of the meetings, practices, film work, conditioning drills and every analytical tool used to evaluate skill position players on a football field, Lunney Jr.’s answer to what he likes most about Clement since his arrival from the transfer portal was a back-to-the-basics formula that practically everybody can and should understand.