Illini Football 2026

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#1      

Dan

Dan
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Dan
Welcome to the Illini Football thread 🏈

Tickets Info | Schedule

2026 Illini Football
Sat, Sept 5____UAB
Sat, Sept 12___Duke
Sat, Sept 19___Southern Illinois
Sat, Sept 26___at Ohio State
Sat, Oct 3_____Purdue (Homecoming)
Sat, Oct 10____at Michigan State
Sat, Oct 17____---bye---
Sat, Oct 24____Oregon
Sat, Oct 31____at Maryland
Sat, Nov 7_____Nebraska
Sat, Nov 14____at UCLA
Sat, Nov 21____Iowa
Sat, Nov 28____at Northwestern
 
#3      
aaeismacgychel
GoodePodzMelendez said:
No worse than 9-3 as we will probably lose to OSU, Oregon and possibly Iowa. 10-2 would be nice.
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Gonna depend on the play we get from our DTs, LBs, and OTs. vDuke and @MSU will give us a good idea of what our ceiling can be. Win both of those games and be at 5-1 into the bye makes @MD, Neb, @UCLA, Iowa, @NW far more approachable and a 9-3 season seems reachable. Lose them both and now we're probably talking about can we even get to 6 wins and make a bowl. Go 1-1 and we're probably thinking of a 7 win season.
This seems to be a season where there is a fairly big range of where we wind up as there's a bunch of winnable but still challenging mid-level games and we also have some major unknowns. I'd love a 9-3 or 10-2 season, but I think we need a lot of our evals to break tight to get there. I'll put 7 wins as the goal for this season, any more is a really good season. An absolutely great season when you consider this was basically a complete rebuild that we turned into a single year refresh.
 
#9      
illiniwil
aaeismacgychel said:
Gonna depend on the play we get from our DTs, LBs, and OTs. vDuke and @MSU will give us a good idea of what our ceiling can be. Win both of those games and be at 5-1 into the bye makes @MD, Neb, @UCLA, Iowa, @NW far more approachable and a 9-3 season seems reachable. Lose them both and now we're probably talking about can we even get to 6 wins and make a bowl. Go 1-1 and we're probably thinking of a 7 win season.
This seems to be a season where there is a fairly big range of where we wind up as there's a bunch of winnable but still challenging mid-level games and we also have some major unknowns. I'd love a 9-3 or 10-2 season, but I think we need a lot of our evals to break tight to get there. I'll put 7 wins as the goal for this season, any more is a really good season. An absolutely great season when you consider this was basically a complete rebuild that we turned into a single year refresh.
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i know we haven't had this to worry about for some time, but QB play and health will be more important than ever. control the clock and
run the ball will help
 
#10      
ptgrd23
BB pushing in all his chips on these defensive moves. Committed to Hauck's scheme and philosophy big time.
Man I hope we can stop a real Big10 running game.
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A coach is only as good as his staff. When Tim Beckman did not bring Matt Campbell he was unable to duplicate his Toledo success. Cignetti success bring entire James Madison staff with him is the new blueprint. We hired a very experienced DC in Hauck so I am glad Bret is not micromanaging him.

Should be very interesting to see the new 3-3-5 defense. I remember when Mike White brought the west coast offense to B10 it changed the conference and made us competitive.

blocki.jpg
 
#11      
TheDrinkinLincoln
ILLINISON1 said:
BB pushing in all his chips on thiese defensive moves. Committed to Hauck's scheme and philosophy big time.

Man I hope we can stop a real Big10 running game.
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I think we will, the more I look it seems like the 335 isn't as much of the traditional stack but more of an over that looks more like the 4-2-5 that Partridge would have played. The key is we will be able to hyde and roll coverages and pressures really well. As someone pointed out most of the B1G is running some variation on the same scheme we are playing. Moving to a different system might put us ahead of the curve and help us create more turnovers. I think Scott and Bailey made themselves some money by staying. They are going to look really good in this system.
 
#19      
MontanaGrizzliesFan
bigcityillini said:
so we’re trying to copy an fcs school who wasn’t even the best program in its own state… cool
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The defense had a few years where it was one of the greatest defenses in school history. I won't bore you with the reasons MSU was able to get to the point they have, but it was not specifically the 3-3-5 defense. The years where the defense was humming, the offense was dealing with serious injuries or struggles. And, while yes the MSU Bobcats topped the Grizzlies last year, the Griz had a lead in the second half of both games. It wasn't as if one team completely outclassed the other from bell to bell.

And while it is obvious, the talent playing in the defense at Illinois will be must faster than what Hauck was working with at Montana.
 
#22      
therealmiket86
Pikeillinifan said:
Let's hope this is all a good thing. We're pretty deep into it; there is no turning back at this point.
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You need guys familiar with the system to coach it. Robby was a good player at Montana and also has a couple years experience at Portland state. I have no issue with him being hired to be the assistant safety coach. I still think Tim Hauck will come on the staff as an analyst.
 
#25      
bigcityillini
MontanaGrizzliesFan said:
The defense had a few years where it was one of the greatest defenses in school history. I won't bore you with the reasons MSU was able to get to the point they have, but it was not specifically the 3-3-5 defense. The years where the defense was humming, the offense was dealing with serious injuries or struggles. And, while yes the MSU Bobcats topped the Grizzlies last year, the Griz had a lead in the second half of both games. It wasn't as if one team completely outclassed the other from bell to bell.

And while it is obvious, the talent playing in the defense at Illinois will be must faster than what Hauck was working with at Montana.
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Which no offense doesn’t really change anything I said. Being close loses and still th second best program in your own state
 
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