Football

With 12 FBS job openings before Halloween, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema acknowledges Monday his profession “is a hard deal” and he’s reached out to some of the terminated men in this 2025 season.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 20, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Every time he sees that somebody in his coaching fraternity is terminated, Bret Bielema can’t help but recall the one and only time he was terminated from a job.

After a 48-45 loss to Missouri, Bielema was walking off the playing surface of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas when his interim boss, Julie Cromer, handed him termination papers immediately ending his five-year run as the Arkansas head football coach before he got to the tunnel of the home locker room of the season finale.

“Some of these guys (who have been fired) are guys I would consider friends. I know that when I was handed papers saying I was no longer wanted, I know I liked hearing from people even though I really, at the time, didn’t want to hear from them,” Bielema said Monday.

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has repeatedly said he and his staff are using this off week to answer questions about specific problem areas of a his football team after seven straight games.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 20, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Let’s immediately start with what would have to be considered encouraging news for Illinois fans from regarding the running game.

According to his Wednesday afternoon Zoom media conference, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema confirmed he expects all personnel from his running back room to be healthy for its next game on Oct. 25 at Washington following this current off weekend. This would obviously include Ca’Lil Valentine, who injured his leg/ankle in the first half of the 34-16 loss to No. 1 Ohio State, along with Kaden Feagin, who injured his shoulder in the first half against the Buckeyes but returned to action after halftime and Aidan Laughery, who had been slow to fully recover from a severe ankle injury in the win at Duke over a month ago.

By Kedric Prince - IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

October 19, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — According to a national recruiting site, the Illinois football program has offered 28 potential recruits, which speaks volumes about those players. Very few sophomores receive offers this early, and those who do are typically the type of difference-makers coaches recognize right away.

IlliniGuys subscribers, meet Avery Thompson, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound wide receiver from Paducah, Ky. The talented sophomore has quickly made a name for himself on the recruiting trail with his size, athleticism, and ability to make plays downfield.

By IlliniGuys Staff October 19, 2025 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - […]

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has repeatedly said he and his staff are using this off week to answer questions about specific problem areas of a his football team after seven straight games.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 18, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The obvious lesson from the 63-10 loss at Indiana for Illinois offensive line coach Bart Miller was something he says he learned at six years old when dealing with a school bully.

Miller says one day after school he told his parents that he got physically dominated by the bully and instead of punishing him for being in a fight, his mother gave him a quick directive.

“You have to deal with it and she told me ‘Do you think the fight is over just because you got knocked down?’,” Miller said on Sept. 30 just days following the Illini’s 34-32 win over Southern California. “I thought our guys were pretty resilient in learning from that experience and responding like the veteran mature group that we thought they were.”

As Illinois (5-2, 2-2 in Big Ten Conference) finally approaches its first off weekend of the 2025 season, they went into Friday night still last in the 18-team Big Ten Conference in sacks allowed with 23 in seven games. However, this statistic may not adequately represent the improvement of Miller’s veteran five-man operation in the last three games following the 53-point blowout loss in Bloomington.

By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

October 16, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Four-star offensive tackle Cameron Wagner, one of the top prep prospects in Illinois’ 2027 class, continues to draw major attention on the recruiting front. The 6-foot-6, 300-pound standout from St. Joseph-Ogden High School in St. Joseph, Illinois, has quickly become one of the most sought-after linemen in the Midwest.

Wagner, who recently visited Memorial Stadium to watch then-No. 17 Illinois take on Ohio State, said the trip was another reminder of how close he is to home, and how much the Illini mean to his community.

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has repeatedly said he and his staff are using this off week to answer questions about specific problem areas of a his football team after seven straight games. We’ll first start with an issue Bielema has mentioned multiple times as a point of impact during this off weekend - third-down defense.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 16, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Bret Bielema can still clearly see Ohio State’s first third-down conversion in his mind from last weekend’s loss.

On a third-and-8 situation, Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin found Jeremiah Smith on a crossing pattern for 18 yards on a play that allowed the Buckeyes to cross midfield for the first time during what would eventually be a 34-16 victory over the Illini for the top-ranked team in the country.

“You just can’t ask for a better scenario on an opening drive than a third-and-8,” Bielema said on Wednesday. “In my opinion, we did some things in the rush and we did some things in the coverage that are just little details that result in big things in the end.”

As we detailed earlier this week in the IlliniGuys.com Film Review, Ohio State did an excellent job of taking away Illinois pass rusher Gabe Jacas and challenged the rest of his Illini teammates near the line-of-scrimmage to make plays.

With seven games already played before its first off weekend, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema had to go to some ‘Plan B’ decisions on first-year talents showing special teams contributions.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 15, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — After a month-long preseason camp and seven consecutive regular season games before its first off week, Bret Bielema knew he’d long have to decisions made on the four-game redshirt threshold for first-year players.

In his Wednesday Zoom media with media, Bielema confirmed that he and his coaching staff have made up their minds on which freshman will likely be participating in more than four regular season games and obviously not be receiving a redshirt season.

The fifth-year head coach gave examples of linebacker Grant Beerman and defensive back Andre Lovett Jr. as players who have impressed so much they’ve reached the status of being on the 74-player travel roster as depth pieces in their positional groups but more so on specific special teams units.

By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

October 15, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Kedric Prince/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - One of the most coveted four-star recruits in the country was on campus when Illinois hosted defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Ohio State this past weekend. Jordan Haskins, a 5-foot-11 cornerback from Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Kentucky, was among the visitors.

Rivals.com/On3 lists the 2027 prospect as the fourth-best player in the state of Kentucky for his class and the No. 32-ranked safety in the nation. Co-Host of the IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular syndicated radio show, Mike Cagley, said previously, “Illinois recruits well, but if they want to take the next step, they must recruit more speed. All of the really good college football teams have it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra6r-J1FwDE    

A major factor in the Illinois being unable to get any kind of pass rush Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin is the Buckeyes doubled and sometimes tripled-teamed Gabe Jacas.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 14, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Give credit to Ohio State’s trio of coaches that scheme up their passing attack including head coach Ryan Day, offensive coordinator Brian Hartline and co-offensive coordinator & tight ends coach Keenan Bailey.

What these three coaches do so very well when they’re playing the likes of Illinois, Washington or another opponent where they’re a significant favorite (mostly because the Buckeyes have acquired a severe talent advantage on its roster) is identify and initially slow down the defensive disruptor who can individually wreck a drive, quarter and game on that underdog team.

The identification part is relatively easy. As No. 1 Ohio State approached the preparation for a road test at Illinois, Gabe Jacas had Plan A, B and probably C to converting big plays and staying on the field on third down. It’s also likely most of the sold-out capacity crowd at Gies Memorial Stadium knew Jacas was the player who needed to be highlighted and kept out of the Buckeyes backfield for a large portion of success for the road team to consistently happen.

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

October 14, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

Not ready for prime time. That was my and most people's take after the painful loss to Ohio State Saturday. Illinois outgained the Buckeyes. They played them evenly on the line of scrimmage and held their own at the skill positions. Luke Altmyer probably outplayed Julian Sayin. But Illinois lost 34-16 and was generally out of reach of the win because of 3 turnovers and a punting foible that was basically a turnover too. In other words, Ohio State looked like a CFP team, while Illinois looked like a team that isn't quite good enough for that. Still though, despite the odd voting that left Illinois out of the AP poll with losses to the 1st and 3rd best teams in the nation, Illinois continued to look like a top 20 type of team. And really, if they take the right lessons away from Saturday's loss, they can still reach that next level.

This play was destined for a loss from the start. Sometimes you can get away with not blocking the end man on the back side of a running play if you create a threat with the quarterback. However, that works a lot better on the wide side of the field, and more importantly, Ohio State's Kenyatta Jackson is just too athletic to be delayed by that type of minor influence. He eats this TFL up like he's back in high school. Note that Collin Dixon has a rare lack of effort on this one. Ohio State's Davison Igbinosun takes inside leverage on this one so it's going to be a tough block, but Dixon lets him free after a token shove.

IlliniGuys.com football writer/analyst gives his outlook of the college football world as we enter the month of October.

October 13, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — We’ve reached the first off weekend for the Illinois football team and after a month-long preseason camp and seven straight weeks of games, the proverbial pause button has likely come at the perfect time for Bret Bielema’s bunch in Champaign-Urbana.

However, without an immediate game to look forward toward and discuss, IlliniGuys.com realizes with its midseason Top 25 poll and College Football Playoff projections realizes that the there is still potential for a best case scenario for the Illini (5-2, 2-2 in Big Ten Conference) regarding the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game. Is it the Illini being a participant for the first time in school history? No…not directly.

With losses to both No. 1 Ohio State and No. 3 Indiana, two programs that failed to play each other in the regular season, there is a multiverse world (for all my comic book lovers out there) that could easily become a reality where the undefeated Buckeyes and undefeated Hoosiers meet in Indianapolis in the final game of the college football regular season to decide who will likely be the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff bracket when it’s revealed on the next afternoon. If that scenario were to play out,

Illinois likely had to play extremely well to pull off a memorable upset of No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday and everybody saw today that certainly didn’t happen.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 11, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Bret Bielema watched the entire campus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign prepare for what he called “a moment”. Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer circled this game on the Illini schedule from the moment it was officially released in the summer. Both of these men have been around college football long enough to know that when No. 1 in the country comes to your town, you’d like to put up your effort to create a memory worth noting for decades to come. Instead, No. 17 Illinois (5-2, 2-2 in Big Ten Conference) found themselves falling into the mistakes that teams create for themselves when they’re not ready to push through and have an opportunity to be great. The 34-16 loss to No. 1 Ohio State (6-0, 3-0 in Big Ten) in front of a capacity crowd of Gies Memorial Stadium shows the Illini aren’t ready for that kind of leap just yet.

The first lesson Illinois head coach Bret Bielema imparted on this football program is in order to win games, you have to stop yourself from losing games on your own. Illinois is not ready to stop losing games against elite teams.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

October 11, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — That very much needed to be seen. That very much needed to be felt. That very much needs to be remembered.

The first lesson that Illinois head coach Bret Bielema attempted to impart when he flew in on Dec. 2020 to take over a football program that had seen decades of losing memories and defeatist attitudes in its locker room, fanbase and even maybe coaching staffs was more college football games are lost than won outright.