Football

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.

By IlliniGuys Staff November 22, 2025 (Cover photo courtesy […]

Pat Farrell, who spurned Wisconsin’s efforts to control his hometown area of Chicago, is coming off his most productive weekend in an Illini jersey.

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

No. 21 ILLINOIS at WISCONSIN

Records: Illinois 7-3, 4-3 in Big Ten; Wisconsin 3-7, 1-6 in Big Ten

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025: 6:30 p.m. CST, Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin

Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 76,057

Line: Illinois by 9.5

Series notes: Wisconsin leads the all-time series 45-38-7 and in Madison, Wisconsin leads, 24-17-4. Wisconsin has won 12 of its last 14 meetings with the Fighting Illini, dating to 2008. The last time Illinois visited Camp Randall Stadium, the Illini snapped an eight-game Wisconsin winning streak at Camp Randall in the series – that streak dated back to 2002. In the teams’ last meeting, the Badgers overcame a 14-point 4th-quarter Illinois lead to score a 25-21 win in Champaign (Oct. 21, 2023). QB Braedyn Locke tossed a game-winning touchdown to offensive lineman Nolan Rucci with less than a minute remaining after he changed jersey numbers after warmups prompting a new Big Ten Conference rule to implemented.

TV: Big Ten Network; Rhett Lewis (play-by-play); Anthony Herron (color analyst) and Dannie Rogers (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 372, the SiriusXM App, and at FightingIllini.com/live.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A few months after he took the Wisconsin job in Jan. 2023, Luke Fickell and his staff attempted to do a recruiting barnstorming tour of much-needed areas they felt they needed to dominate.

November 22, 2025 The Illini face a Wisconsin Badger […]

Through two wins in November, Illinois is third in the Big Ten Conference this month in rushing offense at 217.5 yards per game.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s become almost an annual trend that as the weather turns colder and the calendar flips to November, Illinois will suddenly find success in the run game.

In a 2024 season where Illinois finished just ninth in a 18-team Big Ten Conference and 88th in the 136-team Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing offense, the Illini finished fifth in the league in its ground attack during its four games in November.

Illinois (7-3, 4-3 in Big Ten Conference) has just completed back-to-back games with at least 200 rushing yards, for only the second time in the 60-game tenure of Bret Bielema running the operation in Champaign-Urbana.

The solution, according to the Illini’s fifth-year head coach is about as simple as it gets.

“Without a doubt, it’s the play of the offensive line,” Bielema said on Monday. “I don’t mean to get overly simplistic with everybody here but it’s not a coincidence that when that group plays well, we play well as a whole team.”

By Kedric Prince, IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

November 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's Hudl page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois continues to identify its future at the most important position on the field, and one early name near the top of the board is Hunter Hochbaum, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound dual-threat quarterback from Mater Dei Catholic High School in Breese, Illinois. A member of the class of 2028, Hochbaum has already drawn interest from several college programs and has begun making visits as his recruitment gains momentum.

Hochbaum recently visited Illinois for the Maryland game and said the experience made a strong impression on him. “They treated me great. Coach Pat Ryan is a great guy to get in contact with. I felt welcomed when I arrived, and the environment was awesome. I’ve grown up watching Big Ten football, and Illinois is a great representation of the hype the Big Ten conference has,” he said.

Nobody at Illinois hired Bret Bielema to win pretty, high-scoring blowouts in November and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 20, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The first words out of Bret Bielema’s mouth after a 24-6 victory in conference play was the performance wasn’t clean.

Of course, it wasn’t. Because sometimes when the calendar flips to November and Bret Bielema is your head coach, you just have to get in the mud and get a little dirty to feel a lot of satisfaction in the Big Ten Conference. Nobody knows more about dirty wins than Mr. Bielema himself. Winning games like this is why he was hired to Champaign-Urbana.

“What (Bielema) is building and what this team is building is just an awesome thing to be a part of. The gratitude to have a little small piece in that,” said Illinois linebacker Dylan Rosiek, who is playing with an undisclosed injury that Bielema will only say Rosiek will need offseason surgery to fully repair. “I was just walking around, looking at the lights and everything. It was just like, what a tremendous opportunity that I've been blessed to be a part of. Coming into the program, where it was, and even just the atmosphere today, when you showed up in 2022, that was not what you got.”

IlliniGuys.com uses a short film review this week to show how Illinois offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. is using Hank Beatty as a decoy.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

November 19, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Hank Beatty led all Illinois receivers in targets, receptions and play snaps in the 24-6 win over Maryland. However, it is the plays where the fourth-year leader didn’t touch the football where Illini offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. and third-year starting quarterback Luke Altmyer both learned more about the Terrapins defensive plan on Saturday.

After leading 14-6 through 30 minutes of play, Illinois could’ve come out of the halftime locker room and force-fed the football to its leading receiver throughout the 2025 season. Instead of doing that and potentially falling into another turnover or more, Lunney used his creativity as a play-caller and play installer to use the 5-foot-11, 185-pound receiver as a decoy to encode what defensive front and coverage Maryland was using in the second half.

The result was Hudson Clement having a career day on Saturday and Illinois (7-3, 4-3 in Big Ten Conference) being able to use its most prolific receiver as what Lunney called on Monday “eye candy”.

The Illinois head coach is bringing a ‘been there, […]