Illinois outside linebacker Gabe Jacas ends his collegiate career as the Big Ten sacks leader for the 2025 season and second in program history in career sacks.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

December 12, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Gabe Jacas has ended his collegiate football career with the second most all-time sacks in Illinois football history.

The 21-year-old outside linebacker announced in a social media post Friday afternoon that he was ending his collegiate career and would be opting out of participating in the 2025 Music City Bowl in order to begin his preparations for the 2026 National Football League Draft. Illinois (8-4) is slated to play Tennessee (8-4) in Nashville on Dec. 30 (4:30 p.m. CST, ESPN) and Jacas is the first Illini player choosing to skip the bowl game. Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell, a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award - given to the top receiver in college football - after leading the Southeastern Conference with 1,017 yards receiving and nine touchdown catches, announced his intention to opt out of the Music City Bowl on Thursday.

Jacas led the Big Ten Conference in sacks during the regular season with 11 and earned first-team honors from the league’s media and second-team All-Big Ten selection from the league’s coaches while becoming just the fifth Illinois player to reach a double-digit total of sacks in a single season, joining Simeon Rice, Whitney Mercilus, Mike Poloskey and Scott Davis.

Jacas was named to the All-Big Ten team three times in his Illini career after being tabbed to the third team in 2024 and earning honorable mention as a freshman in 2022.

Jacas’ collegiate career finishes with him second in program history in career sacks with 27, behind only  Rice’s Big Ten record-holding total of 44.5, who holds the Big Ten sacks record.

Pro Football Focus has Jacas, a 270-pound pass rusher, as the 46th best prospect in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft slated to be held in Pittsburgh from April 23–25. Jacas has been selected for the prestigious Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. for two years after declining the opportunity to enter the draft last spring and returning to Illinois for his fourth season of college football.

Jacas started each of his final 25 games at outside linebacker at outside linebacker and accounted for 43 total tackles (23 solo) with 13.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, six quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles, and one pass breakup during the 2025 regular season.

Jacas is the first Illinois player to opt out of the bowl game after Bielema said to local media on Sunday he’s met 1-on-1 with every player on the roster with opt-out options for the upcoming Music City Bowl against Tennessee. Illinois has begun bowl practices this week with early workouts primarily featuring players down further on the depth chart and seeing several players featured prominently in the 2025 season as inactive. Jacas is the fifth Illinois player electing to opt out of a bowl game in the Bielema era that has included the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl loss to Mississippi State (cornerback Devon Witherspoon - No. 5 overall pick in 2023, safety Sydney Brown - No. 66 pick in 2023 and Chase Brown - No. 163 pick in 2023) and the 2024 Citrus Bowl win over South Carolina (Pat Bryant - No. 74 pick in 2025).