Football

Eight years ago, Larry Gies told Illinois AD Josh Whitman he’d never donate to Illini athletics. In 2025, Gies has his name on Memorial Stadium after a $100 million gift.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 12, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Maybe the lesson for the several Gies School of Business students in attendance on the Memorial Stadium field Friday afternoon was the idea of never using the word ‘never’ in negotiations.

About a year into Josh Whitman being the athletics director at the University of Illinois, he sat across a dinner table from Larry Gies in 2017 as the billionaire alum made a directly awkward promise.

“I told him ‘Josh, I just want to be honest with you that I will never give any money to University of Illinois athletics’. True story,” said Gies, a billionaire booster and CEO of Madison Industries.

Approximately eight years later, Gies found himself standing in front of a block ‘I’ podium talking about his $100 million gift to Illini athletics that will fund a future renovation to a stadium that features a permanent name change to ‘Gies Memorial Stadium’.

By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

September 12, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's Hudl page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – This weekend, Illinois will host several recruits, including 2027 safety Jake Thies of Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois.

Thies, a 6-foot-0, 185-pound defensive back, will be in attendance Saturday when the No. 9 Illini face Western Michigan in a sold-out matchup at Gies Memorial Stadium.

For Thies, the opportunity to visit Champaign carries special significance.

Editor's Note: We want to welcome Zeno Jo to […]

The $100 million gift to University of Illinois athletics from Larry Gies announced Tuesday should not be overlooked. However, the bigger picture of having Gies in the mix could a game-changer.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 10, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — I need to ask Larry Gies, Josh Whitman and everybody else involved in Gies’ historic nine-figure donation to University of Illinois athletics for forgiveness. Because the absolute last thing I want to do is downplay or minimize the singular importance of a $100 million gift.

However, Whitman, who is in his 10th year as the athletics director at Illinois, elected to tell the story of what he believes was the genesis of Gies’ further generosity.
While sitting in an office with Whitman and Illini athletics exceutive Howard Milton, Gies had a challenge for those two men and everybody inside the Illinois athletics department to “think big”.

“He said he wanted us to take advantage of our most compelling opportunities,” Whitman said on Tuesday in the media conference inside what is now titled Gies Memorial Stadium. “He wanted to know where he could fit to help us accelerate this program in the most important and impactful way.”

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

September 9, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Ashley Ray/Illinois Athletics)

I hope everyone is enjoying the afterglow of the biggest Illini non-conference road victory in a generation.  Duke is a pretty good team, picked for 6th in the 17-team ACC, and the Illini ran away from the Blue Devils and generally outclassed the Dukies in a 45-19 laugher.  I was especially impressed by the coaching staff's adjustments on both sides of the ball.  Duke likes to run a scheme based on quickness and penetration on defense and the Illini adjusted mid-first half and changed the game quickly.  And on defense, despite missing their leader, the Illini shut down the Duke running game and packed the middle of the defense to take control of the game on that side of the ball too.

I'm going to start this week's breakdown on the offensive side with a play that exemplifies the difficulties that Illinois had early on.  Under Barry Lunney Jr., the Illini don't like to run up the middle unless they've spread out the defense, but to do that you have to be able to test the edges of the defense running and passing, and that didn't work very well on Saturday.  Even though Aidan Laughery had a great individual effort here to earn five yards, this is an example of what didn't work for the Illini on Saturday.  Illinois earned only 2.9 yards per carry on Saturday and most of that was in the second half after the Illini overcommitted to running up the gut while assigning its tight ends to block Duke's undersized defensive ends one on one.  Illinois likes to run reach and combo blocks in order to run off tackle, but that doesn't work when the defender can get to the edge before the blocker.  Illinois' blockers lose across the board on this one as they try to run a simple stretch play and Laughery bails them out.  As an aside, we're going to need Laughery to heal quickly because as much as I love Kaden Feagin and CaLil Valentine, Lunney has done his best work when he has several skillsets to choose from, and the Illini don't know what they have in Cedric Wyche.  I would look for the Illini to install a play or two specifically for Wyche in practice this week to try out against Western Michigan.

The $100 million gift from Larry Gies announced Tuesday […]

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular September 8, 2025 College […]

IlliniGuys.com discusses specific details of the 45-19 win at Duke this past Saturday. 

By Matt Stevens -  IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 8, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy ESPN)

DURHAM, N.C. — The difference in the first and second half for Illinois’ offensive game plan becomes easier to understand if you envision the Illini’s key components being on a time crunch. 

The proper analogy to describe what Illinois offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. and his third-year starting quarterback Luke Altmyer were able to accomplish after getting 30 minutes to look at a Duke defensive front was that they realized it wasn’t so much about what play they called but instead needed to focus on how long Altmyer had the football after the snap. 

The bomb that needed to be defused on Saturday was Duke’s defensive line, specifically Vincent Anthony Jr. - who was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Lineman of the Week on Monday following a 3.0-sack performance this weekend in the first 16 minutes of action. Anthony Jr.’s speed rushing logged a career-high three sacks where of the first 10 offensive plays that Lunney Jr. called.

To counter the blitzes, and specifically middle blitzes of Duke, Lunney Jr. clearly decided that the play-action and RPO action he had in the first 15-play script was just not being honored by the Blue Devils defense - and when you evaluate the below average performance of the Illini run game, why would Duke pause at the RPO fake? 

“I think the key for us moving forward isn’t to ditch (the RPO or play-action fakes) but just make our runs look like passes and our passes look more like runs pre-snap,” Lunney said. “And that’s going to take more reps as we go along here in the season. I want it clear that there’s no magic pill that we took at halftime to have more success. That’s not how this works. The adjustments that people talk about are more about figuring out what’s working and getting matchups we liked in the first half more times in the second half.” 

By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

September 8, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's Hudl page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois football program has climbed to No. 9 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll, its highest ranking since December 2001. With national attention on the program and Memorial Stadium expected to be packed Saturday night, the Fighting Illini staff is taking full advantage of the opportunity to host a strong group of recruits for its matchup against Western Michigan.

At 2-0 on the season, Illinois is drawing increased exposure on and off the field. Attendance has skyrocketed, the buzz around the program is louder than ever, and now recruits from across the Midwest are answering invitations to visit Champaign. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

Here’s the list of prospects expected to be in attendance this weekend. The list is likely to grow as the week continues.

By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

September 8, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's Hudl page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The recruitment of Oconee County (Ga.) standout Mason Hall is quickly gaining steam as the 6-foot-4, 210-pound tight end continues to impress in the 2027 class. Hall has already pulled in nearly 20 scholarship offers from across the country, including attention from Illinois.

“I have 19 or 20 I think,” Hall said when asked about his current offer list. “Texas Tech, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, Texas, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Wake Forest are some of the other bigger ones.”

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

September 8, 2025

Being an Illini football fan has been a labor of love, something that it’s almost impossible to give up and almost impossible to not feel some form of anxiety no matter how far and fast the hype train goes. Even national pundits still doubted the Illini despite the #11 ranking and the 18 returning starters.

They picked Duke, one by one, heading into the game. Duke had the $4 million dollar quarterback, won 9 games a year ago and were at home, of course. And be honest, even Illini fans, despite the bravado, had a fear in the back of their minds, an almost expectation that they would disappoint and let us down once more.

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.