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By IlliniGuys Staff November 23, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Illinois wide receiver Pat Bryant scored a 40-yard touchdown reception with four seconds left to lift No. 25 Illinois over Rutgers 38-31. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 23, 2024

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — A 40-yard touchdown pass from Luke Altmyer to Pat Bryant on a 4th-and-13 play with four seconds remaining allowed Illinois to escape with a 38-31 victory at Rutgers. 

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst & Co-Host, IlliniGuys […]

Both Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano have been shaped by a past experience working in the National Football League. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 23, 2024

No. 25 Illinois at Rutgers

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024: 11 a.m. CST, SHI Stadium, Piscataway, New Jersey.

Surface: Field Turf

Capacity: 52,454

Records: Illinois 7-3, 4-3 in Big Ten; Rutgers 6-4, 3-4 in Big Ten

Betting Line: Rutgers by 1

Series notes: Illinois leads the all-time series 5-3 and has won three of four in Piscataway. Rutgers remains one of the few Big Ten programs that Illini head coach Bret Bielema has failed to get a win against since arriving in Champaign prior to the 2021 season as the Scarlet Knights defeated Illinois 20-14 on Oct. 30, 2021. Illinois has been underdogs in four of the eight one-score wins over the past two seasons, including three as road dogs.

TV: Peacock; Andrew Siciliano (play-by-play), Michael Robinson (analyst) and Caroline Pineda (sideline reporter)

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (play-by-play), Carey Davis (analyst), Michael Martin (sideline), and Steve Kelly (pre/half/post).  The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio, SiriusXM, the SiriusXM App, and at FightingIllini.com/live.

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One of the many reasons Illinois head coach Bret Bielema respects the way the Rutgers program is run by Greg Schiano is the two men actually worked together on the same staff for over a month.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 22, 2o24

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Contrasting styles do not make for a competitive fight on the basketball court when it comes to Shauna Green’s Illini women’s basketball squad.

Smaller teams have tried to run with the Illini and failed. Oregon State brought in a frontline of 6-foot-2, 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-7 and attempted a slow-down halfcourt affair. The only simularity between the two styles was the result for the Illinois opponent: Loss.

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 […]