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By IlliniGuys Staff November 22, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

November 22, 2024 The Illini stopped a 2-game losing […]

Illinois defensive tackle Gentle Hunt transferred as a All-SWAC player from Florida A&M but suddenly bought into a transition plan to the Big Ten that will likely include a redshirt season.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 22, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Gentle Hunt came to Illinois as one of the better defensive lineman in the Southwest Athletic Conference after being an integral piece for a 2023 Celebration Bowl champion and HBCU national championship program.

Nothing about the transition from Florida A&M to Illinois suggested a reset of expectations was on the horizon but 305-pound nose tackle learned very quickly that progress isn’t exactly linear when making a change in the transfer portal.

Before the 38-16 victory over Michigan State on Saturday, Hunt had played a grand total of one snap of defense in a game and hadn’t contributed at all compared to his own internal expectations for the 2024 season. During the first bye week of the season, Hunt had a meeting with Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and according to the fourth-year leader of the Illini program, the meeting was anything other than contentious.

Illinois head coach Shauna Green says her team’s practice plan has changed but not the intensity of how they prepare early on in this 2024-25 season.

Game Notes:

#22 Illinois vs, Oregon State
State Farm Center, Champaign, Ill.
7 p.m. CST (BTN Plus)

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Less than a month into this 2024-25 regular season, the first question by Illinois head coach Shauna Green in the early morning staff meetings is the same: Who is available?

Not even before the Thanksgiving holiday, No. 22 Illinois has seen themselves down to as little as nine active players for practice and games. The Illini (4-0) have already seen All-Big Ten guard Makira Cook and Genesis Bryant miss extended time with minor injuries while already announcing the season-ending injury to 6-foot-7 transfer center Lety Vasconcelos from Baylor and continue to monitor the ongoing back issues of reserve forward Shay Bollin. Then, Illinois saw freshman wing/forward Berry Wallace, a former McDonald’s All-America honoree, be placed in a splint after suffering a fracture in her right hand.

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

November 22, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — During last weekend’s Michigan State football game, Illinois hosted one of the top running backs in the 2026 class, Chase Enlow, a 5-foot-9, 185-pound prospect from Princeton, N.J.

Illinois is anticipating the possibility of 2024 four-star junior college signee Daniel Brown could be an integral part of this weekend’s plan for the game at Rutgers. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 22, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Bret Bielema is essentially anticipating making a trade on his active roster for Illinois’ next game. 

Illinois fifth-year center Kendall Bostic is not only an All-Big Ten player but a multiple-year student teacher making the annual ‘Field Trip Game’ extra special for her.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 21, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Maybe more than anybody else on the Illinois roster, Kendall Bostic’s favorite game of a season has become the ‘Field Trip’ game.

The fifth-year senior, who has now experienced four straight starts at State Farm Center during the annual game where buses of students come to watch an 11 a.m. free admission game, has a special connection to this game as she continues her graduate school work as a teacher in training. Bostic, a three-time All-Big Ten player, is currently pursuing a master's degree from Illinois in special education while doing student teacher work this semester at Urbana Middle School.

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

November 21, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The Illini were beat up by the Alabama offense Wednesday night in Birmingham in the Bama Beatdown. No, this was no Albert Bandura experiment, this was a new fashioned 3 point barrage and analytics dream by the Crimson Tide in a 100-87 win over the youthful Illini.

Although the Illini made a charge in the second half to get within 8 points, the simple fact of the matter is that, at this point in the season, and in Birmingham, Alabama is the better team.

These 3 Things:

Illinois wide receiver Pat Bryant set a Memorial Stadium record for single-season receiving touchdowns (six) and career receiving scores (13) in his final game in Champaign.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 21, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Pat Bryant started playing flag football at 3 years old and last weekend was the first time a certain thought crawled inside his mind - don’t cry.
Bryant, who will turn 22 years old on December 10, spent the entire morning before his final home game at Illinois trying to intentionally avoid the emotions of what Senior Day can be for a four-year starter and then the tradition of Illinois wide receivers Justin Stepp ended all of that hope.

“I kept thinking the whole time since we went to the team hotel on Friday that I wasn’t going to cry and then Coach Stepp handed me my letter before the game,” Bryant said. “Before this one, my letter from him was more personal. It included stuff about how much of a pleasure it was to coach me and I had to let it out. Coach Stepp got me.”

By IlliniGuys Staff November 20, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

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

November 20, 2024

The Illini have their first major test of the season on Wednesday night when they head to Birmingham to take on the #8 Alabama Crimson Tide in the CM Newton Classic. The illini have a tough task in front of them against an Alabama team that is coming off a tough loss at Mackey Arena to the Purdue Boilermakers.

Here are the particulars:

Setting the Stage

C.M. Newton Classic
#25/#20 Illinois (3-0) vs. #8/#7 Alabama (3-1)
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 // 8 p.m. CT // Birmingham, Ala. // Legacy Arena
TV: SEC Network – Tom Hart (Play-by-Play), Jimmy Dykes (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Doug Altenberger

Notable

*No. 25 Illinois (3-0) opens a stretch of four games in nine days across three different cities on Wednesday night vs. No. 8 Alabama (3-1) at the C.M. Newton Classic (8 p.m. CT/SEC Network) at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. The Fighting Illini are off to a 3-0 start with home wins over Eastern Illinois (112-67), SIUE (90-58) and Oakland (66-54). Wednesday’s game is the Illini’s first away from State Farm Center. Illinois entered the Top 25 of the AP poll, at No. 25, for the first time this season, and remained ranked No. 20 in the coaches poll. Head Coach Brad Underwood now has the Fighting Illini program ranked for a sixth consecutive season.

Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry unleashed a third-down package that had been prepared for several weeks but required several key misfit pieces to perfectly fit in this scheme. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 20, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The package unleashed on Michigan State by the Illinois defense is simply called “dime” but is anything but a basic six-man secondary coverage package. 

Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry spent the first bye week of preparation trying to evaluate his calls and schemes to self-scout the Illini defensive unit and admitted afterwards that he and his coaching staff actually outsmarted itself by adding too many calls to the playsheet. This scouting mistake was exploited by Purdue head coach Ryan Walters as the career defensive coach took over the offensive play-calling duties for that week because he was betting on the idea that Henry would go away from the simplicity of what was working for Illinois through the first month of the 2024 season. 

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

November 19, 2024

Illinois turned in a very good senior day performance last Saturday against Michigan State and managed to surge back into the rankings as a result.  I thought it was a great, business-like game for the Illini and on second watch I thought the mature play and coaching of the Illini staff made all the difference in the game. To underscore that conclusion, I chose several highlights that proved the theme.

I'm starting on the defense this week because statistically the pass rush was the difference in the game.  Illinois turned in five sacks on the day and eight tackles for loss that were the result of similar penetration by the defensive front to the successful pass rushes.  I cut off the video just a bit early, but Gabe Jacas has a tight end lined up over his outside shoulder to start this play, but the tight end makes it clear that he isn't going to block and the result is Jacas ignores him entirely.  He dominates right tackle Ashton Lepo with a long arm move due to a really poor pass blocking set which basically invites Jacas to take Lepo's left shoulder and run unimpeded to quarterback Aidan Chiles.  That's just back coaching across the board.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

November 19th, 2024

(Photo courtesy player's page on X)

Champaign, IL – Late last week, Perry Cole, a standout three-star defensive lineman from Trinity Valley Community College in Palestine, Texas, announced his final four schools. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound athlete has narrowed his options to Illinois, UNLV, Minnesota, and TCU, attracting major interest among Illinois football followers.

By Larry Smith - Co-Host & Executive Producer, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

November 19, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

(Editor's Note - Larry has covered 12 Final Fours and hosted more than 3,000 shows for CNN Sports, Turner Sports, and NBATV. The Emmy, Peabody, and Murrow Award winner is currently the studio host for the WNBA on Ion Friday night show.)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - When the Illinois football team returned home from its record-setting 63-21 victory over Virginia in the Micronpc.com Bowl in Miami on New Year's Eve, 1999, they had no idea they were about to make school history.

A few days later, Florida State defeated Virginia Tech and its dazzling freshman quarterback named Michael Vick to win the national championship. And when the Associated Press unveiled its final rankings the next day on January 5th, they rewarded the Illini with their only spot in the polls all season at #24.

Illini sports history was made on that day.