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Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has repeatedly said he and his staff are using this off week to answer questions about specific problem areas of a his football team after seven straight games.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 20, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Let’s immediately start with what would have to be considered encouraging news for Illinois fans from regarding the running game.

According to his Wednesday afternoon Zoom media conference, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema confirmed he expects all personnel from his running back room to be healthy for its next game on Oct. 25 at Washington following this current off weekend. This would obviously include Ca’Lil Valentine, who injured his leg/ankle in the first half of the 34-16 loss to No. 1 Ohio State, along with Kaden Feagin, who injured his shoulder in the first half against the Buckeyes but returned to action after halftime and Aidan Laughery, who had been slow to fully recover from a severe ankle injury in the win at Duke over a month ago.

By Zeno Jo - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

October 19, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illini fans got their first taste of 17th-ranked Illinois basketball in a 92-65 exhibition victory over Illinois State, albeit with some unavailable players, with the likes of Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic, and Mihailo Petrovic all sitting this one out for various reasons.

While the Redbirds were without All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team selection Chase Walker and Second Team selection Johnny Kinziger, the game gave Illinois a chance to go up against the preseason No. 1 team in the MVC. Here are three quick takeaways from the win:

David Mirkovic: The Swiss Army Knife

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

October 19, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — According to a national recruiting site, the Illinois football program has offered 28 potential recruits, which speaks volumes about those players. Very few sophomores receive offers this early, and those who do are typically the type of difference-makers coaches recognize right away.

IlliniGuys subscribers, meet Avery Thompson, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound wide receiver from Paducah, Ky. The talented sophomore has quickly made a name for himself on the recruiting trail with his size, athleticism, and ability to make plays downfield.

By IlliniGuys Staff October 19, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

By IlliniGuys Staff October 19, 2025 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - […]

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

October 19, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

And we are back. The Illini open up the exhibition season with a matchup against in-state opponent Illinois State at the State Farm Center on Sunday afternoon. The ‘Balkan Illini’ will be short handed in this one as Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic and Mihailo Petrovic remain sidelined due to injury, tonsils and NCAA clearance, respectively. But the Illini will still tip off at 2:00pm Sunday as they get ready for the regular season in two weeks.

By Zeno Jo - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

October 18, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy coach's social media page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois has become a hotspot for international recruits in recent years, and one of the key figures at the center of that is assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Geoff Alexander.

In fact, in the days leading up to local media day earlier this month, Alexander was fresh off a trip to Europe. He said he was in five countries in seven days, visiting Berlin (Germany), Vilnius and Kaunas (Lithuania), Belgrade (Serbia), Lyon (France), and Madrid (Spain). Alexander explained that the process for recruiting outside of Europe is different, but that the program has an advanced network of scout-like parties that it relies on. This system makes the job of international recruiters like himself and associate head coach Orlando Antigua easier.

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has repeatedly said he and his staff are using this off week to answer questions about specific problem areas of a his football team after seven straight games.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 18, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The obvious lesson from the 63-10 loss at Indiana for Illinois offensive line coach Bart Miller was something he says he learned at six years old when dealing with a school bully.

Miller says one day after school he told his parents that he got physically dominated by the bully and instead of punishing him for being in a fight, his mother gave him a quick directive.

“You have to deal with it and she told me ‘Do you think the fight is over just because you got knocked down?’,” Miller said on Sept. 30 just days following the Illini’s 34-32 win over Southern California. “I thought our guys were pretty resilient in learning from that experience and responding like the veteran mature group that we thought they were.”

As Illinois (5-2, 2-2 in Big Ten Conference) finally approaches its first off weekend of the 2025 season, they went into Friday night still last in the 18-team Big Ten Conference in sacks allowed with 23 in seven games. However, this statistic may not adequately represent the improvement of Miller’s veteran five-man operation in the last three games following the 53-point blowout loss in Bloomington.

By Zeno Jo - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

October 17, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Entering his second year in the Orange and Blue and his fourth overall as a college basketball player, Kylan Boswell has had a unique journey. An Urbana native with family ties to the University of Illinois, Boswell’s basketball career has taken some twists and turns, but staring down his senior year of college basketball, he says he wouldn’t have wanted it to play out any differently.

After graduating from Urbana Middle School, Boswell moved to AZ Compass Prep in Chandler, Arizona, and committed to play for the Arizona Wildcats, classing up a year early to play as a freshman in college when he would have been a senior in high school. After competing for the Wildcats for two years, Boswell entered the transfer portal and committed to play for his hometown team in Illinois.

By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

October 16, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Four-star offensive tackle Cameron Wagner, one of the top prep prospects in Illinois’ 2027 class, continues to draw major attention on the recruiting front. The 6-foot-6, 300-pound standout from St. Joseph-Ogden High School in St. Joseph, Illinois, has quickly become one of the most sought-after linemen in the Midwest.

Wagner, who recently visited Memorial Stadium to watch then-No. 17 Illinois take on Ohio State, said the trip was another reminder of how close he is to home, and how much the Illini mean to his community.

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has repeatedly said he and his staff are using this off week to answer questions about specific problem areas of a his football team after seven straight games. We’ll first start with an issue Bielema has mentioned multiple times as a point of impact during this off weekend - third-down defense.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 16, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Bret Bielema can still clearly see Ohio State’s first third-down conversion in his mind from last weekend’s loss.

On a third-and-8 situation, Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin found Jeremiah Smith on a crossing pattern for 18 yards on a play that allowed the Buckeyes to cross midfield for the first time during what would eventually be a 34-16 victory over the Illini for the top-ranked team in the country.

“You just can’t ask for a better scenario on an opening drive than a third-and-8,” Bielema said on Wednesday. “In my opinion, we did some things in the rush and we did some things in the coverage that are just little details that result in big things in the end.”

As we detailed earlier this week in the IlliniGuys.com Film Review, Ohio State did an excellent job of taking away Illinois pass rusher Gabe Jacas and challenged the rest of his Illini teammates near the line-of-scrimmage to make plays.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

(Editor's note: Ked delivered this on the IlliniGuys premium message boards on Tuesday.)

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The season is right around the corner, and here’s an IlliniGuys exclusive message board update on how things are looking. The players mentioned below are the ones I was able to gather information on.

The first two names were senior Kylan Boswell and freshman Keaton Wagler

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

October 16, 2025

Player Biography: Gisela Segura, a 5-foot-11 guard, arrives in Champaign as a transfer student from Franklin Pierce and LIU. At LIU, she totaled 112 points, 67 rebounds, 28 assists, 23 steals, and 11 blocks. Before that, at the Division II level with Franklin Pierce from 2020-24, Segura appeared in 60 games, scoring 414 points while adding 263 rebounds, 119 assists, and 107 steals.

What we know:

With seven games already played before its first off weekend, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema had to go to some ‘Plan B’ decisions on first-year talents showing special teams contributions.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 15, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — After a month-long preseason camp and seven consecutive regular season games before its first off week, Bret Bielema knew he’d long have to decisions made on the four-game redshirt threshold for first-year players.

In his Wednesday Zoom media with media, Bielema confirmed that he and his coaching staff have made up their minds on which freshman will likely be participating in more than four regular season games and obviously not be receiving a redshirt season.

The fifth-year head coach gave examples of linebacker Grant Beerman and defensive back Andre Lovett Jr. as players who have impressed so much they’ve reached the status of being on the 74-player travel roster as depth pieces in their positional groups but more so on specific special teams units.

By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

October 15, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - One of the most coveted four-star recruits in the country was on campus when Illinois hosted defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Ohio State this past weekend. Jordan Haskins, a 5-foot-11 cornerback from Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Kentucky, was among the visitors.

Rivals.com/On3 lists the 2027 prospect as the fourth-best player in the state of Kentucky for his class and the No. 32-ranked safety in the nation. Co-Host of the IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular syndicated radio show, Mike Cagley, said previously, “Illinois recruits well, but if they want to take the next step, they must recruit more speed. All of the really good college football teams have it.”