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Illinois late-game execution - especially defensively on Northwestern’s leading scorer Nick Martinelli - showed the Illini’s lack of experience and cohesion early in this 2024-25 season.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

December 7, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

EVANSTON, Ill. — Sometimes sports is as simple as letting your opponent walk themselves right into defending your best player over and over and over again.

This is how Northwestern head coach Chris Collins described the overtime period on Friday night that saw his leading scorer, Nick Martinelli score seven straight points in a two-and-a-half minute stretch to lead Northwestern to a 70-66 upset win over No. 19 Illinois in overtime.

By IlliniGuys Staff December 6, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]

By Brad Sturdy - IlliniGuys Insider/Analyst

December 6, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

The Illini have enjoyed their week off but they begin what is a high major gauntlet on Friday night as they head to Evanston to take on Northwestern for their Big Ten opener. The Cats are coming off a heartbreaking loss in their Big Ten opener at Iowa, while the Illini are coming off of a big win over Arkansas on Thanksgiving and have seen their national profile explode.

Let’s look at the particulars.

Setting the Stage

#19/17 Illinois (6-1, 0-0 B1G) at Northwestern (6-3, 0-1 B1G)
Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 // 8 p.m. CT // Evanston, Ill. // Welsh-Ryan Arena
TV: BTN – Kevin Kugler (Play-by-Play) & Robbie Hummel (Analyst)
Radio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network – Brian Barnhart (Play-By-Play), Doug Altenberger

Notable

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

December 6, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy player's page on X)

Illinois has been flipping players to the Orange and Blue all over the place this fall with the team's success on the field and they continued adding to their 21-man class of 2025 with Dylan Frechette from West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman by way of Rhode Island.  Frechette is a three-star left tackle with rare athletic ability, but he presents the wildest of wild cards because of his positioning, athletic ability, and level of competition.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema expresses excitement over the 2025 signing class being able to continue the Newton, Scott and Cox family names long after the older brothers leave the program.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 5, 2024

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Since Bret Bielema became the 26th head football coach in the history of the University of Illinois program, the idea of a family atmosphere has always been a marketing slogan.

In the Illini’s 2025 recruiting class, Bielema elected to turn the “FAMILLY” slogan into a reality of talent on the football by signing three younger brothers of players already on the 2024 roster.

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema confirms Thursday his leading […]

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

December 4, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

I hope you all enjoyed being able to continue Northwestern's futility at Wrigley Field as the mildcats are 0-5 in their home away from home.  On rewatching, I was just a little disappointed in Illinois' performance on Saturday, as I found that Northwestern was outclassed across the board aside perhaps from AJ Henning and Illinois allowed Northwestern to hang around just a little too much.  However, in the end it was still a 10 point win in what was nominally a road game and the venue made it more fun than it would have been at Northwestern's temporary lakefront home.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

December 4, 2024

Illinois made it two athletic crossover linebackers in two days when Ismael Kante of Iowa Central Community College committed to the Illini the day after Grant Beerman of Lakota West (OH) switched his pledge to Illinois.  Kante originally hails from Brooklyn Park Minnesota, but has made his way South and East all the way to Champaign to finish his amateur football journey.  He chose the Illini over late offers from Kansas State and California along with a few other mid major offers and makes the 19th addition to the Class of 2025.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting, Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst, and Larry Smith - Executive Producer & Co-Host, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

December 4, 2025

It's the most-anticipated day on the football calendar...without a single player putting on pads, no fans having tickets scanned, and no cheerleaders waving pom-poms.

Today is National Signing Day and, for Illinois head coach Bret Bielema, that means officially welcoming in the 20 young men who have previously given verbal pledges but now signing their National Letters of Intent to play for the Fighting Illini beginning in the 2025 season.

Let's take a look at the newest Illini:

Player: Grant Beerman

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Director of Recruiting

December 2, 2024

Champaign, IL – Illinois football added a late piece to its 2025 recruiting class Monday night when IlliniGuys learned that Dylan Frechette, a 6-foot-6, 300-pound offensive lineman from West Palm Beach, Florida, decommitted from FIU and made a silent commitment to the Fighting Illini.

Illinois used the bend-but-don’t-break concept on defense to prevent Northwestern’s ball-control philosophy from dominating the game at Wrigley Field.  

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 3, 2024

CHICAGO — The average number of offensive plays run in a game by a Football Bowl Subdivision program this season is around 69-70. The most offensive plays run per game by an FBS program is Texas Tech’s average of 80.6. The simple logic more tempo your offense is run with, the more plays you’re likely to run and the more fatigued the defensive players will get over some time. The Illinois defense beat back this logic on Saturday with one element: Red zone defensive efficiency. 

Northwestern ran 92 offensive plays on Saturday and scored just 28 points. The Wildcats held the ball for 20 minutes and 33 seconds of the 30-minute first half of play and the offensive result of that ball control before halftime was just three offensive points.

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Big […]

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) December 3, 2024 CHAMPAIGN, […]

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

December 3, 2024

The Illinois basketball team is off to a 5-1 start after their win over Arkansas on Thanksgiving Day and now will take the week to prepare for a daunting upcoming schedule and the beginning of Big Ten play. The Illini will travel to Evanston on Friday evening to take on the always tough Northwestern Wildcats before heading home to take on one of the biggest surprises in the country in the #11 Wisconsin Badgers on Tuesday in a key matchup of top 25 teams. Then #3 Tennessee comes to town on Saturday December 14th. A week off for finals and the Illini head to St. Louis to face a much improved Missouri team in a rivalry tussle at noon on December 22. All before Christmas.

By IlliniGuys Staff December 2, 2024 (Cover photo courtesy […]