Football

Alec Bryant, who was the first transfer signee in the Bret Bielema era, will play in his final game at Gies Memorial Stadium today after six years in college football.

NORTHWESTERN at ILLINOIS

Records: Northwestern 6-5, 4-4 in Big Ten; Illinois 7-4, 4-4 in Big Ten

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025: 6:30 p.m. CST, Gies Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Ill.

Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 60,670

ODDS: Illinois by 7.5

Series notes: Illinois leads the all-time series 58–55–5 and Saturday will be the 17th battle for the relatively new rivalry trophy. Illinois is 6-10 against Northwestern since the beginning of the Land of Lincoln Trophy. The Illini own Land of Lincoln Trophy wins in 2024, 2022, 2021, 2014, 2011 and 2010.

TV: FOX; Connor Onion (play-by-play), Mark Helfrich (analyst)

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 137/195, the SiriusXM App, and at FightingIllini.com/live.
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By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 29, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — As he started this 2025 season, Alec Bryant nearly needs all five of the fingers on his right hand to count the amount of position coaches he’s had in his college football career.

November 29, 2025 The Illini face a Northwestern team […]

Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst November 28, 2025 […]

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

November 27, 2025

(Cover photo player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — If you’re an Illinois fan, Thanksgiving delivered a double dose of good news. Earlier in the day, Brad Underwood and the men’s basketball program secured a commitment from Quinton Kitt, a 6-foot-7 forward from East Peoria, Ill. Not long after, Bret Bielema made sure the football program joined the celebration when cornerback Jakwon Morris decommitted from USC and pledged to Illinois.

Morris, a 6-foot-0, 175-pound cornerback, is exactly the type of player Illinois needed in its secondary. Considered one of the nation’s top 3 junior college cornerbacks, he will suit up for the Illini after originally committing to the Trojans. He comes from Northwest Mississippi CC, a program known for producing defensive backs.

By Zeno Jo - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Zeno Jo/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – We’ve all heard of “two birds, one stone,” but the Illini coaching staff may be looking to take down three birds with one Illinois-shaped stone.

Head coach Bret Bielema has taken a liking to in-state recruiting since arriving in 2021, and as of late has also been heavy in recruiting players who have family ties to the program. His next target? A player playing football right out of Northwestern’s backyard.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

November 26, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois’ most recent loss to Wisconsin left a sour note across Illini Nation, but the future of the program remains steady. The recruits who have pledged themselves to the Orange and Blue are standing firm, none more than quarterback Michael Clayton.

Clayton, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound quarterback from Edison High School in Miami, Fla., is slated to arrive on campus in 2026. Even with the ups and downs of the current season, he’s excited to get his college career going.

Clayton said his commitment is rooted in his belief in the staff and the direction of the program. "Coaching and development that I know I’ll get there, and I believe we’ll be able to bring Big Ten championships to Champaign," he said.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

November 26, 2025

Bart Miller and Bret Bielema love their offensive line play, and with four of five starters leaving this offseason, we've seen quite a few recruits coming through Champaign this season to make sure there are enough quality options to ensure that the Illini have the quality line play in 2026 to which we've become accustomed.  To that end, Northeast Mississippi tackle Alfred Washington flipped his commitment from Marshall to the Illini last week after a prior visit to the Illini.  I like what I see from Washington, but I'd hold off on buying this jersey because he's a real wild card.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

IlliniGuys.com uses a film review this week to show how the scheme wasn’t necessarily the problem but a lack of execution and effort was the culprit in Wisconsin.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 26, 2025

MADISON, Wis. — In the midst of the obvious disaster that was Illinois’ 27-10 loss at Wisconsin, the two most troublesome items of concern were likely offensive line play and the defense’s inability to get third-down stops. Therefore, we’ll attempt to address both of those issues in depth in this film review piece.

Let’s start with the offensive line issues that allowed Wisconsin to generate five sacks and pressure on Luke Altmyer in 22 of the quarterback’s 42 dropbacks on Saturday night. Illinois head coach Bret Bielema painted the picture on Saturday night that Wisconsin’s edge rushers (Darryl Peterson and Mason Reiger) just flew around and won way too many 1-on-1 battles on the outside against the Illini’s tackles and tight ends. Of course, a further in-depth look at what transpired realizes that, as is usual, it’s not at all that simple.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

November 25, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Every loss is tough when you've built a good football program. The Ohio State and Indiana losses hurt because they were the program's best chance to take a big leap forward, yet Illinois wasn't up to the task. The Washington loss hurt because the Illini probably had more talent but had some coaching mishaps and some bad luck. However, this loss hurt even more, because the thing Bret Bielema could really hang his hat on this year was that this was a physically and mentally mature group that came to play in every game and wasn't going to lose an easy one...or so we thought. The Illini players and coaches both came out flat on Saturday and, despite having the more talented and experienced team, lost by 17 points in Madison. There's no real excuse for this loss either, and even if there were, this is the one that has the potential to hurt the program more than the others.

I'm going to start with the offensive highlights this week, and while we spent a lot of time talking about the poor pass blocking that led to 5 sacks on Saturday night, on re-watch I have to say a couple of these sacks were the result of Luke Altmyer getting confused both because of good defensive scheming and Altmyer's own indecision. We saw Luke double and triple pump on plays on Saturday like we haven't seen before and that was the result of Wisconsin disrupting his passing lanes and flooding short zones with defenders. On this first play Altmyer has four seconds before he starts to run outside and you can see Cole Rusk come up just before Altmyer looks for him. You can see Altmyer start to dump it off to Rusk but Daryl Peterson, who would go on to deflect two passes and get two more sacks Saturday night, gets his hands up and causes Altmyer to hold the ball. Wisconsin had Altmyer off schedule all night and they deserve credit for the scheming. I marked this down as a coverage sack after re-watching.

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular Cover Photo Courtesy Wisconsin […]

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema addressed the overlying feeling that the College Football Playoff spots has overtaken the whole sport assuring Illini fans that “we’ll get there”.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 24, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A 17-point loss to a sub-.500 Wisconsin team just two days earlier hasn’t at all dampened the long-term outlook for Illinois head coach Bret Bielema.

When asked Monday in his final weekly regular season media conference inside Gies Memorial Stadium what his viewpoint on a ‘College Football Playoff berth or bust’ mentality among nearly all power conference programs in the current landscape of the sport, the Illini fifth-year head coach wasn’t shy about making promises to his fanbase.

If you want to place blame to why Saturday night’s disaster in Madison happened, look no further than the man who has his hands in every single aspect of the program - Bret Bielema.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

MADISON, Wis. — The cold, harsh reality of what transpired on Saturday night inside Camp Randall Stadium is the person most responsible can’t and logically shouldn’t be replaced.

Bret Arnold Bielema is the one who has to wear every bit of this three-score loss to a then-three win Wisconsin football team because everything that happened is something the head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign not only allowed to happen but was the one who encouraged and championed it to happen.

You want to play the blame game after this 27-10 debacle? Lord knows the IlliniGuys.com football message boards are saying “hell yes” to that request. Well, you better start with the guy who carries an $8.2 million salary and has a current buyout of his contract that totals $49,491,667 - the guy with that big corner office inside the Smith Family Football Complex next to Gies Memorial Stadium. Yeah, that guy who Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman is financially tied to and is incapable of (and, of course, has no desire toward) replacing anytime soon.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois football program remains firmly in the chase for one of the nation’s top young tight ends. A few days ago, Jack Brown of Francis Howell Central in St. Charles, Missouri, Class of 2027, announced that he has narrowed his recruitment to six schools.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pound prospect is considered one of the best at his position. According to Rivals and On3, Brown is the No. 7 tight end in the country for his class, the No. 107 overall recruit, and Missouri’s top-ranked player.

Run game, game management and special teams all get failing marks in a 17-point loss to a 4-win Wisconsin squad in Madison.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

MADISON, Wis. — Bret Bielema’s ‘Football 101’ that he immediately implemented after being named the 26th head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was failed miserably in every facet on Saturday night in his old stomping grounds of Camp Randall Stadium.

At this point in Bielema’s Illini tenure, we know what his three principles are: 1) Run the ball; 2) Stop the run and 3) Cover kicks (play solid special teams).

In a perplexing 27-10 loss at Wisconsin Saturday night, Illinois did none of those three things Bielema holds so dear to his winning football philosophy. Illinois had just 89 sack-adjusted (meaning without yards subtracted to Luke Altmyer’s total on Wisconsin’s five sacks) yards on the ground. Despite those five sacks, Altmyer still led Illinois (7-4, 4-4 in Big Ten Conference) in rushing with 20 yards.

“We certainly didn’t run the ball and I think that’s the most frustrating thing about today is we never got into a rhythm with the run game at all,” Bielema said dejectedly in the post-game media conference.

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema concluded following the fourth loss of the 2025 regular season that he must “do a better job of building a roster around (his coaching staff)”.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

MADISON, Wis. — Following what might be considered the worst effort and execution considering the opponent of the 61-game Bret Bielema tenure at Illinois, the fifth-year head coach promised a philosophy change in how he constructs the 2026 roster.

After the 27-10 loss at a Wisconsin team that arrived Saturday night with a 3-7 overall record, Bielema said “there's obviously going to be offseason adjustments and corrections”.

With the high school and junior college early signing period being just 10 days away and the 15-day transfer portal windows opening on Jan. 3 - one day after College Football Playoff quarterfinals conclude, Bielema knows his plan to reshape an Illini roster that has fell short of many preseason expectations inside and outside the Smith Family Football Complex is rapidly approaching.