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

November 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Brent Zinkmann/IlliniGuys)

The Illini beat UT Rio Grande Valley 87-73 on Monday night as they prepare for UConn on Friday, but they also showed they are far from a finished product. The ups and downs are normal for early season basketball, but this is different. The Illini have played 7 games but literally have only had a full roster available (sans Ty Rodgers) for three of those games and five practices. And even then, they are far from 100% and do not have conditioning up to speed.

So it makes sense that there are inconsistencies, some communication issues and even a coaching staff struggling to figure them out.

Things We Know:

Stojakovic Can Score 

While the talent, creativity and moments of athleticism from Mihailo Petrovica re impossible to ignore, Brad Underwood remains baffled on what to do with his 22-year-old point guard.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The biggest mystery for Illinois’ 2025-26 season continues to be 22-year-old Mihailo Petrovic.

Following what the layman might perceive as an uplifting effort from a player who was the last Illini option used off the bench, Petrovic remains this unlocked talent that his own leader admittedly doesn’t know how to properly use already seven games into this campaign.

“I don’t know. If you want me to be honest, we’re still working through all of that,” a perplexed Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said following the 87-73 win over Texas-Rio Grande Valley. “He was the first player off the bench on Saturday (in the 98-58 win over Long Island) and I think we have depth. It’s nice to have him and be able to go to him.”

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

November 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Every loss is tough when you've built a good football program. The Ohio State and Indiana losses hurt because they were the program's best chance to take a big leap forward, yet Illinois wasn't up to the task. The Washington loss hurt because the Illini probably had more talent but had some coaching mishaps and some bad luck. However, this loss hurt even more, because the thing Bret Bielema could really hang his hat on this year was that this was a physically and mentally mature group that came to play in every game and wasn't going to lose an easy one...or so we thought. The Illini players and coaches both came out flat on Saturday and, despite having the more talented and experienced team, lost by 17 points in Madison. There's no real excuse for this loss either, and even if there were, this is the one that has the potential to hurt the program more than the others.

I'm going to start with the offensive highlights this week, and while we spent a lot of time talking about the poor pass blocking that led to 5 sacks on Saturday night, on re-watch I have to say a couple of these sacks were the result of Luke Altmyer getting confused both because of good defensive scheming and Altmyer's own indecision. We saw Luke double and triple pump on plays on Saturday like we haven't seen before and that was the result of Wisconsin disrupting his passing lanes and flooding short zones with defenders. On this first play Altmyer has four seconds before he starts to run outside and you can see Cole Rusk come up just before Altmyer looks for him. You can see Altmyer start to dump it off to Rusk but Daryl Peterson, who would go on to deflect two passes and get two more sacks Saturday night, gets his hands up and causes Altmyer to hold the ball. Wisconsin had Altmyer off schedule all night and they deserve credit for the scheming. I marked this down as a coverage sack after re-watching.

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular Cover Photo Courtesy Wisconsin […]

By IlliniGuys Staff November 24, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema addressed the overlying feeling that the College Football Playoff spots has overtaken the whole sport assuring Illini fans that “we’ll get there”.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 24, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A 17-point loss to a sub-.500 Wisconsin team just two days earlier hasn’t at all dampened the long-term outlook for Illinois head coach Bret Bielema.

When asked Monday in his final weekly regular season media conference inside Gies Memorial Stadium what his viewpoint on a ‘College Football Playoff berth or bust’ mentality among nearly all power conference programs in the current landscape of the sport, the Illini fifth-year head coach wasn’t shy about making promises to his fanbase.

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

November 24, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

The Illini open their Thanksgiving Feast Week schedule with a bit of a test when they take on UT Rio Grande at the State Farm Center before they head to New York to take on the UConn Huskies at Madison Square Garden. It is sometimes easy to look ahead and this would be a game they definitely do not want to overlook.

Here’s a look at the matchup.

Setting the Stage
#8 Illinois (5-1) vs. UT Rio Grande Valley (2-3)
Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 // 7 p.m. CT // Champaign, Ill. // State Farm Center
TV: BTN – Jason Ross Jr. (Play-by-Play) & Bruce Weber (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play) & Doug Altenberger

Notable
*No. 8 Illinois (5-1) continues its stretch of four games in 10 days across three different cities, hosting UT Rio Grande Valley on Monday night at State Farm Center (7 p.m. CT/BTN). This is Illinois’ lone one-day prep of the regular season, following Saturday’s 98-58 win over Long Island.

*Monday marks Illinois’ sixth home date among its first seven games to start the season. The Illini will not play at State Farm Center for nearly three weeks following the UTRGV game, returning Dec. 13 vs. Nebraska. Illinois has won all five of its home games thus far by outscoring opponents by an average of 32.8 points. The Illini are shooting 52% at State Farm Center, including nearly 36% from 3-point range Illinois carries a seven-game home winning streak into Monday’s game vs. UTRGV. Under head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini have won 34 consecutive nonconference home games against unranked opponents.

*After leading the Big Ten in scoring last season (83.6 ppg), Illinois is currently averaging 95.8 points. If able to maintain this early pace, it would surpass the program’s all-time scoring average of 92.2 ppg set in 1964-65.

*The Illini have opened with six straight games of 80+ points for the first time since the 1988-89 Flyin’ Illini did so in each of its first 12 contests.

*The Fighting Illini offense features six players – Kylan Boswell (17.8 ppg), Andrej Stojakovic (17.4), Keaton Wagler (16.2), David Mirkovic (16.0), Tomislav Ivisic (11.0), and Ben Humrichous (10.0) – averaging double-figures scoring, tied for the second-most in the nation.

If you want to place blame to why Saturday night’s disaster in Madison happened, look no further than the man who has his hands in every single aspect of the program - Bret Bielema.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

MADISON, Wis. — The cold, harsh reality of what transpired on Saturday night inside Camp Randall Stadium is the person most responsible can’t and logically shouldn’t be replaced.

Bret Arnold Bielema is the one who has to wear every bit of this three-score loss to a then-three win Wisconsin football team because everything that happened is something the head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign not only allowed to happen but was the one who encouraged and championed it to happen.

You want to play the blame game after this 27-10 debacle? Lord knows the IlliniGuys.com football message boards are saying “hell yes” to that request. Well, you better start with the guy who carries an $8.2 million salary and has a current buyout of his contract that totals $49,491,667 - the guy with that big corner office inside the Smith Family Football Complex next to Gies Memorial Stadium. Yeah, that guy who Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman is financially tied to and is incapable of (and, of course, has no desire toward) replacing anytime soon.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois football program remains firmly in the chase for one of the nation’s top young tight ends. A few days ago, Jack Brown of Francis Howell Central in St. Charles, Missouri, Class of 2027, announced that he has narrowed his recruitment to six schools.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pound prospect is considered one of the best at his position. According to Rivals and On3, Brown is the No. 7 tight end in the country for his class, the No. 107 overall recruit, and Missouri’s top-ranked player.

Run game, game management and special teams all get failing marks in a 17-point loss to a 4-win Wisconsin squad in Madison.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

MADISON, Wis. — Bret Bielema’s ‘Football 101’ that he immediately implemented after being named the 26th head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was failed miserably in every facet on Saturday night in his old stomping grounds of Camp Randall Stadium.

At this point in Bielema’s Illini tenure, we know what his three principles are: 1) Run the ball; 2) Stop the run and 3) Cover kicks (play solid special teams).

In a perplexing 27-10 loss at Wisconsin Saturday night, Illinois did none of those three things Bielema holds so dear to his winning football philosophy. Illinois had just 89 sack-adjusted (meaning without yards subtracted to Luke Altmyer’s total on Wisconsin’s five sacks) yards on the ground. Despite those five sacks, Altmyer still led Illinois (7-4, 4-4 in Big Ten Conference) in rushing with 20 yards.

“We certainly didn’t run the ball and I think that’s the most frustrating thing about today is we never got into a rhythm with the run game at all,” Bielema said dejectedly in the post-game media conference.

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

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The Illini did exactly what they needed to do on Saturday afternoon when they dismantled the Long Island Sharks 98 to 58. Andrej Stojakovic led the way with 20 points, 18 of those coming after intermission. Freshman Keaton Wagler bounced back from a rough outing against Alabama with 19 points in this one as he continues to be one of the best unheralded freshmen in the country. David Mirkovic added 12 and Kylan Boswell tallied 11 as the Illinois placed four in double figures. Perhaps more importantly starting center Tomislav Ivisic is beginning to round into form playing 20 minutes and scoring nine points in his return to action.

Here’s what we saw.

These 3 Things

Putting the Pieces Together -

By IlliniGuys Staff November 23, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema concluded following the fourth loss of the 2025 regular season that he must “do a better job of building a roster around (his coaching staff)”.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

MADISON, Wis. — Following what might be considered the worst effort and execution considering the opponent of the 61-game Bret Bielema tenure at Illinois, the fifth-year head coach promised a philosophy change in how he constructs the 2026 roster.

After the 27-10 loss at a Wisconsin team that arrived Saturday night with a 3-7 overall record, Bielema said “there's obviously going to be offseason adjustments and corrections”.

With the high school and junior college early signing period being just 10 days away and the 15-day transfer portal windows opening on Jan. 3 - one day after College Football Playoff quarterfinals conclude, Bielema knows his plan to reshape an Illini roster that has fell short of many preseason expectations inside and outside the Smith Family Football Complex is rapidly approaching.

(From Illinois Sports Information Office)   Illinois at Florida […]

By IlliniGuys Staff November 22, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]