Football

I hope all of you enjoyed Saturday's beating of Northwestern as much as I did.  After enduring so many last game beat downs by the Wildcats in recent years it was nice to have the shoe on the other foot for once.  If anyone in purple dares to show any arrogance to any member of Illini Nation for the next year, you should feel free to do what Casey Washington did when a defender confronted him on Saturday night:

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Joseph becomes the first Illinois defensive back to be […]

Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

November 29th. 2021

Magnus Moller courtesy his Twitter

Magnus Moller, a 6-foot-9, 300-pound OT picked Illinois over Louisville, Cincinnati, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and went wire to wire with the Cardinals to get this verbal.

IlliniGuys football beat writer/analyst Matt Stevens does not have an Associated Press Top 25 ballot this season but if he did, this is how he'd fill it out.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 28. 2021

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- We have ourselves the potential for a real Midwest party in the College Football Playoff. 

For the first time since the adoption of it, Illinois will hold the Land of Lincoln Trophy after a convincing victory over Northwestern.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 28, 2021

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Owen Carney has certainly accomplished a lot in his five-year college career but his legacy as an Illinois football player might just be what he wrote on a white dry erase board. 

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- If this is the last image for Brandon Peters as an Illinois football player, it is most certainly a good one.

The sixth-year quarterback finished his final collegiate regular season game with 242 yards through the air and a touchdown in a 47-14 victory in the annual in-state rivalry game vs. Northwestern. After his final performance as a player in Champaign, Peters also got to joke that the other university that he earned a bachelor’s degree from in 2019 won a relatively big rivalry game on Saturday referencing in a low-key way Michigan’s 42-27 win over Ohio State. 

“Don’t get wrong because I’ll always consider myself an Illini but yeah, I think I’m the only guy in that locker room that went 2-0 today,” Peters said. 

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The proof of the University of Illinois football program heading in a positive direction can come from nothing more than where Samuel M'Pemba started his weekend. 

M'Pemba, a five-star athlete in the 2023 recruiting class, was on the Illinois campus Friday for an unofficial visit as he begins to narrow down the many scholarship offers he’s received since last spring. 

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound multi-talented athlete currently plays at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., while being listed as a wide receiver while lining up mostly as a tight end or H-back for the nationally-recognized prep school but most college programs are recruiting him at the next level as a stand-up pass rusher. 

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(From Fighting Illini Sports Information Department) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The […]

The Illini are playing to finish 5-7 and have […]

The Fighting Illini Football team is now starting to compete. It's not a thing of beauty, that's for sure. But teams no longer view Illinois as the team they want to schedule for Homecoming. With two big wins on the road in recent weeks - at then number seven Penn State and recently 20th ranked Minnesota, teams are taking notice.

But you're only as good as your roster. Illinois coaches have spent their off-weeks on the road recruiting, well aware that they will be losing more than 20 seniors this year and you can expect a few others to leave the program to seek playing opportunities elsewhere. Filling those voids will be necessary to the program moving forward. Unlike years past, college sports teams no longer have to worry about junior college players or playing freshman too early. The NCAA Transfer Portal could be one of the best weapons to keep the Illini train moving forward. 

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting  November […]

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema still expects to be on the sidelines for the rivalry game against Northwestern this weekend. 

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 22, 2021

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Bret Bielema has high hopes to leave his isolation room around the Thanksgiving holiday.