Football

By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

September 23, 2025

Well, longtime Illini fans know they should never get too comfortable when things look good.  This is a program that, prior to last year, had lost the last eight games it had played in front of a home sellout crowd.  So, while Saturday night was certainly painful, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's witnessed a game that was similarly painful at some point in the last 50 years of doldrums.  What made this game especially painful though was that the Illini were supposed to be ready to compete for the College Football Playoff.  However, as Curt Cignetti said (I'm paraphrasing) We came out stronger than them, and recognized that they couldn't match up with us on the outside, and then we took their will.  That's just about a perfect summary.

Just so everyone knows, I'm not attempting to pile on by not showing any of the good Illini plays in this piece, I'm trying to show everyone what went wrong.  And I'm starting with the defense this week because they were even worse than the offense.

For the first time in his head-coaching career, Illinois’ leader Bret Bielema immediately watched the film on the bus ride home following the 63-10 loss at Indiana.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 23, 2025

BLOOMINGTON. Ind. — While on the 166-mile trip from Bloomington, Indiana to Champaign-Urbana, Bret Bielema did something as the clock barely went past midnight on Sunday he says he’s never done in his 17 seasons as a head coach.

Bielema watched the film of the game his team just immediately played on the plane or bus ride back home. This is the description of an act of something a power conference head coach would normally do like a normal person breaths air. However, Bielema will easily remind whoever who will listen that the human bias element of scouting needs to be negated as much as possible.

By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

September 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Prep RedZone)

Champaign, IL - The Illinois football program continues to make recruiting a priority as it prepares for one of the biggest home games on its schedule. When the Fighting Illini host defending national champion Ohio State on Hall of Fame Weekend, the spotlight won’t just be on the field. The stands will be filled with top recruits, including Minnesota safety Blake Betton.

Betton, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound linebacker from Shakopee High School,

By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys Sr. Recruiting Analyst

September 22, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

Champaign, Ill. - The 23rd-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini will welcome a group of high school recruits to campus this weekend as they host the 21st-ranked USC Trojans. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff, with national coverage featuring Rob Stone, Brady Quinn, Mark Ingram II, Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Dave Portnoy, and Chris Fallica. Coverage begins at 10 a.m. ET.

The weekend will not only bring one of the biggest games on Illinois’ schedule, especially after their loss to the Indiana Hoosiers last Saturday night, 63-10 but also an opportunity for Bret Bielema and his staff to showcase the program to top talent from across the country.

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema confirmed Monday the All-Big Ten defensive back will have season-ending surgery on his ankle. 

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 22, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The 2025 season is over for Xavier Scott. 

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema confirmed Monday in his weekly media conference inside Memorial Stadium that the fourth-year defensive back will have season-ending surgery to repair his injured ankle. 

Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular September 22, 2025 The […]

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema promises a serious assessment of his team’s offensive line play will begin as soon as they arrive back in Champaign following the 63-10 loss at Indiana.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 21, 2025

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Go ahead and let Illinois head coach Bret Bielema describe the problems he sees with his team’s offensive line.

“What we’re asking them to do assessment-wise and I give Indiana a lot of credit for what they do but we definitely can’t live this way,” Bielema said following the worst loss of his tenure with the Illini. “Whether we’re going to have to change it up schematically, that’s one opportunity.”

And now listen to Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti’s evaluation of what he said he saw all week in film preparation against the then-No. 9 Illinois squad.

Illinois leaves Bloomington, Indiana with its first loss of the 2025 season wondering if this 63-10 blowout is a sign of things to come for the immediate future.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 21, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — To his ever-loving credit, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema said Saturday he thought his football team was consistent for 60 minutes.

“Not only did we not play well in the first quarter but we didn’t play well in second quarter, third quarter or fourth quarter either,” Bielema said. “We stayed pretty consistent if you ask me.”

IlliniGuys.com beat writer Matthew Stevens assesses the categories and overall aspect of the No. 9 Illini’s 63-10 loss at No. 19 Indiana in the Big Ten Conference opener. 

Run Offense

To be fair, it is relatively hard to get any consistent run game going when you find yourself down four scores in the first half of a contest. However, Illinois (3-1) could never get the early tempo of this game changed with its running game. Through 30 minutes of action, the Illinois running backs had just 14 yards on seven carries with the longest carry being a 13-yard quarterback draw play by quarterback Luke Altmyer. 

As you could guess or witnessed on Saturday night,

By IlliniGuys Staff BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Francisco Mendoza threw […]

Illinois’ coaches know what they’re about to see in Indiana’s run game because most of them lived it with former Wisconsin offensive line coach Bob Bostad.

No. 9 ILLINOIS AT No. 18 INDIANA

Records: Illinois 3-0

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025: 6:30 p.m. CST, Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana

Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 52,626

Series notes: Illinois leads 46–25–2. Illinois has not won in Bloomington since 2011. Illinois and Indiana will meet in a ranked vs. ranked matchup for the second time in history and the first time since Oct. 28, 1950, when No. 12 Illinois beat No. 19 Indiana, 20-0, in Champaign. Illinois is looking for its first road win as a top-10 team since Oct. 27, 1990.

TV: NBC; Noah Eagle (play-by-play); Todd Blackledge (color analyst) and Kathryn Tappen (sideline reporter).

Radio (Illinois): Scott Beatty (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 139/195, the SiriusXM App, and at FightingIllini.com/live.

NOTE: Beatty, who is the Host of SportsTalk & Illini Gameday on WDWS, and play-by-play voice of Illini baseball and softball, is substituting for Brian Barnhart as he attends his daughter’s wedding on Saturday.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A point could be made that the offensive identity for Wisconsin’s back-to-back Big Ten titles from 2010-11 was created and maintained mostly by one man. And Bret Bielema wouldn’t ever not argue that point.

By Zeno Jo - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

September 19, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy player's X page)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The on-field entourage before No. 9 Illinois’ 38-0 victory over Western Michigan included a crowd of 2027 and 2028 football recruits, the full Illinois men’s basketball team, with its staff and their 2026 recruit Sinan Huan.

Of everybody present, one person seemed more eager than any other for next year. Casey Thomann, a three-star, in-state offensive line commit in the class of 2026, was present for pregame festivities,

With Illinois having so many veteran players and returning starters on both sides of the ball, it’s the trusted players making suggestions to coaches at halftime.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 19, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Justin Stepp keeps consistently saying that the one thing that surprised him after he was hired as the wide receivers coach at the University of Illinois was the football intelligence of the players in his meeting room.

The living embodiment of what Stepp is referencing is fourth-year receiver Hank Beatty. It should be noted that Stepp has been around intelligent people serving as receiving targets in his stops at Clemson, Appalachian State, Southern Methodist University, Arkansas and South Carolina. It is also accurate to suggest Stepp has never had a player in his room where both his parents are doctors and was a highly productive offensive player in a wide-open, spread-option Rochester (Ill.) High School playbook based on timing and rhythm as much, if not more, as size and power.

September 20, 2025 After an impressive non-conference performance from […]

The Jim Thorpe Award watch list candidate is not expected to be on the travel roster when No. 9 Illinois plays at No. 19 Indiana on Saturday night.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 18, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Unless a second opinion on his lower body injury reveals a drastic medical theory shift, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema does not sound optimistic about having his Phil Steele Preseason All-Big Ten Conference first team selection on the travel roster this weekend.

In his final media availability before the game on Thursday afternoon, Bielema confirmed fourth-year defensive back Xavier Scott have not been active for practice this week. Scott suffered an undisclosed lower-body injury that appeared to be an ankle or foot issue late in the fourth quarter of the 38-0 win over Western Michigan last weekend.