Football

On four different calls Saturday when Illinois needed to move the chains at Duke, Luke Altmyer wasn’t targeting a play call but a player he trusts the most - fourth-year receiver Hank Beatty.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 7, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

DURHAM, N.C. — It’s becoming plainly obvious over the first two weeks that the Illinois pass offense isn’t centered so much around trustworthy play calls but trustworthy players on the field.

On five specific situations where Illinois needed to move the first-down markers, Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer didn’t necessarily run a specific go-to play but just knew that whatever was called, the football probably needed to quickly be in the hands of Hank Beatty.

The fourth-year receiver has quickly become the safety blanket option for Altmyer and Illinois offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. when No. 11 Illinois (2-0) was in any kind of difficult situation or a momentum-changing spot.

Illinois moved up two spots following the 45-19 win […]

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 6, 2025

DURHAM, N.C. — Here are the grades coming out of the No. 11 Illini’s' road win at Duke

Run Offense
Illinois was trying to get its offensive linemen on the move to get alleys and creases against an aggressive Duke front and blitzes. The problem was Illinois’ offensive linemen were slow on pulls and slow to get to the perimeter so Illinois couldn’t get its counter or off-tackle run game going at all in the first 30 minutes.

Illinois did a better job of

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 6, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

DURHAM, N.C. — So, here’s a dirty little secret of what you just watched this afternoon and what took place on this Saturday afternoon over three hours and 40 minutes in Durham, North Carolina.

That is what a veteran-based team with years of continuity in the coaching staff and ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, is supposed to do to an unranked team with no home crowd advantage.

Sure, it may seem like a foreign concept or a long-lost memory to many diehard followers of the orange and blue (well, actually, you should actually remember seeing it on the wrong end too many times at Memorial Stadium) but that may be a thing of the past now.

By IlliniGuys Staff September 6, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

On the eve of Illinois’ first road test of the 2025 season, fifth-year head coach Bret Bielema takes solace in the idea that his teams have thrived away from home.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 6, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

DURHAM, N.C. — Please don’t misunderstand Bret Bielema because he couldn’t appreciate the announced attendance of 10,735 students for Illinois’ season opener last Friday night.

The fifth-year head coach is just as pumped at the idea of Illinois already having sold out of three games in a single season for the first time since 2008 and for the third time in the last 35 years (2007, 2008). The University of Illinois athletics department announced Thursday that the game against Southern California on Saturday, Sept. 27, is sold out.

But as he enters his 17th season as a college football head coach, Bielema knows the barometer for how special his team is will be determined away from Memorial Stadium in Champaign-Urbana.

“I would say that one thing going on the road does for a big football team is the routine of road games really allows you to come together as a group,” Bielema said Monday in his weekly media conference at Memorial Stadium.

September 6, 2025 The Illini go on the road […]

No. 11 ILLINOIS AT DUKE

Records: Illinois 1-0; Duke 1-0.

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025: 11 a.m. CST, Wallace Wade Stadium, Durham, N.C.

Surface: Grass

Capacity: 35,018

Series notes: The all-time series is tied at 1-1. The last time the two schools have played is 1965 when the Illini won 28-14 seven years after Duke won 15-13 in the first-ever matchup in Durham. Illinois brings a five-game winning streak to Durham, tied for the longest active streak in the Big Ten with reigning national champion Ohio State.

TV: ESPN; Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (color analyst), Taylor McGregor (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 382, the SiriusXM App, and at FightingIllini.com/live.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 5, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The pre-game and post-game handshake on Saturday in Durham, North Carolina will be made between two men who certainly know what adversity looks like in a coaching career.

If one wasn’t aware beforehand that they barely knew each other personally, one might think Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and Duke head coach Manny Diaz have coordinated their messaging on their experience of being previously terminated as a power conference head coach. Bielema has spoken often about how his firing at the University of Arkansas after five seasons forced him to re-evaluate his perspective, confront his approach on things professionally and personally and reset himself with nearly three years in the National Football League “so I could be properly ready for this next opportunity”. Diaz’s words are no different after being terminated by Mack Brown as a defensive coordinator at the University of Texas and then let go as the head coach at the University of Miami (Fla.) while on a December recruiting trip after the 2021 season.

(From Illinois Sports Information Office) COLUMBIA, Mo. – Illinois soccer […]

Illinois will not have cornerback Jaheim Clarke this weekend […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

September 4, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois football staff continues to line up potential prospects for game day visits as they build toward the future. Next week, when the 11th-ranked Fighting Illini host Western Michigan on Sept. 13, defensive tackle Emmett Easton will be in attendance as a guest.

Easton, a 6-foot-1, 275-pound defensive tackle from Coal City, Illinois, is beginning to generate more attention on the recruiting trail. He already made a visit to Northwestern for a spring practice, and Purdue has shown early interest as well. At this point, however, no offers have been extended.

Illinois is the fourth program in as many seasons […]

Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry believes Duke’s 20-year-old quarterback Darian Mensah will be eventually be playing on Sundays in the three-letter league.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 2, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Amy Zhang/Duke Chronicle)

CHAMPAIGN — Illinois gets a true taste of competing in the pay-for-play era of the 2025 season as they will face one of the best transfer portal quarterbacks money could buy this past offseason.

While it showcased their brand-new toy last Thursday in a 45-17 victory over Elon, a regional Football Championship Subdivision opponent, the matchup against the No. 12 Illini is where it is expected the $4 million quarterback, Darian Mensah, is expected to be fully unleashed Saturday (11 a.m. CST, ESPN).

“He's special. This dude is going to play on Sunday,” Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry said. “I think they give him freedom in the offense. It's going to be a tall task to limit his explosives...they're paying him a lot of money, they probably don't want to get him hit."

After losing his starting role last weekend following his tartiness to a team meeting, Illinois third-year offensive lineman Brandon Henderson is back in starting five for matchup at Duke.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 3, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN — When asked by a local reporter if the Illinois status of projected starting right guard Brandon Henderson was back to normal, offensive line coach Bart Miller had a very direct answer.

“Yeah, it should have been back to normal in the first game,” Miller said. “But we have a standard here and we’re going to uphold that standard. When guys make a mistake, it hurts everybody and that was the message to the group.”

Henderson was held out of the Illini’s starting lineup last Friday in the 52-3 win over Western Illinois after the third-year offensive lineman was late for a team/positional meeting inside the Smith Family Football Complex days earlier during the game preparation week. Henderson was replaced in starting lineup by the second-year talent who he was battling during preseason camp, Brandon Hansen, but Henderson still managed to be on the field for 36 of the 64 offensive snaps in the contest.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

September 2, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

While Western Illinois' football program has improved markedly in the last few years under new head coach Joe Davis, the opening contest with the Fighting Illini wasn't a fair fight.  However, as I said on the I on the Illini post-game, this turned into a good night for the Illini because they generally looked ready to play yet also revealed a few opportunities to improve.  So, take these highlights with a grain of salt and set aside the fact that the Illini players are just too strong and fast for their Leatherneck opponents.

Starting on the defensive side of the ball, I wanted to include a WIU highlight just to memorialize the early string of good plays that WIU put together based on Joe Davis' scheming.  He had a nice gameplan early the game that was based on Illini overpenetration and it worked.  However, where Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry had terrible trouble adjusting to schemes 2 years ago in his first year as a DC, he showed that he's ready to make in-game adjustments.  First, an example of the WIU offense.  This was a nice outside-in WR screen that WIU executed pretty well.  It presumes that the Illini will send at least five at the QB and be out of position for a ball carrier to come in behind them and that's just what happened.  This was only a 10 yard gain, but take note of how well WIU executes here.  The blocks are well-timed and the right guard does a great job passing off the pass rusher and then getting out to make a block.  This had me wondering how much longer Joe Davis will be at WIU before he moves up.  However....