The Champaign Room

Brad Repplinger // TCR The Illini receiver was the main target today. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Have yourself a day, Isaiah. In Saturday’s 23-17 not-so-pretty win over FAU, the junior receiver was a big bright spot. Williams received for 120 of the 303 Illinois passing yards — tying a career high. The biggest being a 45-yard snag, coming on a third-and-13 with the Illini deep in their own territory. “I just wanted that ball,” Williams said. “Whenever Luke gives me a chance, I want to go make a play for him no matter where the ball’s at.” Isaiah Williams got ...

TCR // Brad Repplinger Some of TCR’s best shots from Saturday’s victory. The photogs always win! Illinois held off FAU for a 23-17 win on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. Here are the best shots from TCR’s Brad Repplinger and Jack Jungmann on the Zuppke Field.

Brad Repplinger // TCR Non-conference play comes to an end with an Illini win. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Ugly or not, Illinois has wrapped up its non-conference slate with a victory. Following back-to-back double-digit losses, Illinois (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) got back in the win column on Saturday, overcoming an early 10-0 deficit to handle Florida Atlantic 23-17. Memorial Stadium was a bit tense early — and for a moment late — but ultimately, Illinois was able to hold off a pesky FAU team and get back to .500. HOW IT HAPPENED Things got off to a rather disastrous start for...

Big moment for the young RB. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Today is a day Aidan Laughery will never forget. With Illinois deep in Florida Atlantic territory, the freshman running back rattled off a 19-yard run — the longest rush from either team at the time. The Illini fed him the ball again the next play, resulting in Laughery’s first career score. Normally functioning as a kick returner, Laughery’s only offensive touch of the season prior to Saturday was a reception last weekend against Penn State. In his redshirted 2022 season, Laughery ran the ball three times for only nine...

Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports The Illini get creative for the first score of the afternoon. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — That was desperately needed. Coming into Saturday as 15.5-point favorites, Illinois found itself trailing 10-0 to Florida Atlantic early in the second quarter. The Illini had nothing going on offense, but a handoff and two laterals back to quarterback Luke Altmyer left tight end Griffin Moore wide open. From there, he only had green grass separating himself from the endzone. TRICK PLAY TD‼️@IlliniFootball is on the board. : @BigTenNetwork...

Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports Get-right game for the Illini? How to Watch Illinois vs. Florida Atlantic Game time: 2:30 pm TV Channel: BTN Online Streaming: FOX Sports GO Odds: ILL -15.5, O/U 45.5 Quick Hits Illinois Fighting Illini (1-2) Head Coach: Bret Bielema (3rd season, 14-14) Last Game: 30-13 loss to Penn State Florida Atlantic Owls (1-2) Head Coach: Tom Herman (1st season, 1-2) Last Game: 48-14 loss to Clemson What Happened the Last Time These Two Played? Fun fact: these two teams have never played against one another.

Photo by Michael Hickey/ This is the time for Illinois to cure its ills with simplicity. Sometimes, we dramatically overestimate things. Our preternatural obsession with football has led us to make the sport seem like a diabolical maze of twists and turns that can only be navigated by a few select gladiators. And while the highly-skilled players and coaches who train their whole lives to excel do largely populate the game, at times football can be simple. Xs and Os matter a great deal. Philosophy can be an advantage. Styles can make fights. But sometimes, it comes down...

The Champaign Room - Brad The start of something new. There aren’t too many teams the Illini have never faced. The Florida Atlantic Owls just happen to be one of them. Saturday in Champaign will be the first time these two programs ever square off against each other. Historically, these are two very different football teams. Their first seasons as programs were a little more than 110 years apart. Despite that, FAU has already played in over a fourth the amount of bowl games that the Illini have. However, Illinois has the upper hand in claimed national titles...

Photo by Michael Hickey/ A 1-2 start isn’t the end of the world. The first few weeks of the season have not been ideal for the Illini. Some Illini fans predicted a 1-2 start to the season. After all, Toledo, Kansas, and Penn State may be the toughest three-game stretch on the schedule. But I’m not sure any Illini fans in the preseason predicted the way the first three games would actually go. An exhilarating last-second win over Toledo, a blowout in Lawrence, and a sickening offensive performance vs. No. 7 Penn State have given Illini nation quite the early-season...

Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports It’s an important week for the Illini’s QB. There’s no need to sugarcoat it: Luke Altmyer played extremely poorly on Saturday against Penn State. He knows it, the coaching staff knows it, and everyone around the program knows it. Altmyer went just 15-for-28 passing for 163 yards and four interceptions in the 30-13 loss. It was a performance that the Illini couldn’t afford, but also one that’s a part of the learning process for a young quarterback. After a tough 3-week stretch to begin the season that saw Illinois face three...

Photo by Michael Hickey/ The wait has paid off. It’s his time to shine now. Even during the leanest of years, Illinois football tends to produce quality running backs who are recognized throughout the Big Ten conference and the nation. When Reggie Love committed to Illinois as the first member of the 2019 recruiting class, the Illini run game was spearheaded by All-Big Ten back Reggie Corbin. After Corbin, Chase Brown emerged over the next three seasons to become arguably the best Illinois running back since Rashard Mendenhall. All the while, Love patiently played his...

The Champaign Room - Brad The preseason first team All-American continues to impress. Here’s Johnny! As one of the sole bright spots for the Illini in Saturday’s loss against Penn State, junior defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton dominated the Nittany Lions’ offensive line. Newton was all over the field in Week 3. He led the nation among DTs with 14 total pressures, seven of which were QB pressures, a 24% pass rush win rate, an 86.6 run defense grade and an 89.8 PFF grade. ️ @Johnny5Newton was the highest rated Power-5 defensive tackle in the nation during...

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/ Ohio moved on. Should Alabama move in? Tuesday afternoon, we heard the unfortunate news that a team from Ohio will not be playing Illinois. At TCR, we thought that out of protest, we should be able to keep the Illibuck trophy instead of the cowardly Buckeyes. But upon closer inspection of Brett McMurphy’s tweet, it was rather the Ohio Bobcats, not just another Ohio State University. Ohio State adds 2025 home game w/THE Ohio University, @FBSchedules reports. Buckeyes will pay the Bobcats $1.9 million. Ohio moved back a 2025 game at Illinois to...

Jack Jungmann // TCR Inching closer and closer to packing SFC again. Following another year with a first-weekend exit in the NCAA tournament, Illinois has just announced its conference schedule for the 2023-24 campaign — completing the full schedule. It’ll open up conference play in Piscataway against Rutgers Dec. 2 — the only Big Ten game that’ll be played before the new year. The first of two matchups with Northwestern Jan. 2 (this one at home) will then resume and get the ball rolling in Big Ten play. Along with Northwestern, Illinois will see Iowa, Maryland,...

Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Illinois’ defense rediscovered its identity, now it’s the offense’s turn. On this episode of the “Oskee Talk” podcast I discuss scheduling updates for men’s and women’s basketball (6:06), including a massive early-season test for Shauna Green (11:45). Later, I’m joined by TCR’s Brad Repplinger to share our cheers and jeers from football’s loss to Penn State (14:51), as well as the issues surrounding Illinois’ offensive identity (44:14) and players we hope see more from. We also preview this week’s...