Oct. 4—CHAMPAIGN — Didn’t think I’d be writing this five games into the season: Time to panic, Illinois fans.
At the very least, cancel any bowl game plans you were making.
Unless my eyes deceive me — and I did have work done recently — Bret Bielema’s sixth Illinois team seems likely to be home for the holidays. Not in a good way.
Lose to ranked Ohio State on the road, and it’s very understandable. Drop a game to undefeated Duke, and it is no biggie.
But get upset by a Purdue team riding a 19-game Big Ten losing streak, and the season is officially off the rails.
Can it be fixed in the final seven games? Not sure how. Unless college football opens up the transfer portal at midseason and Illinois finds a rich alum to foot the bill.
There is no pass rush. No turnover production. And one of the top running backs is out for the season.
Heck, even the reliable Katin Houser was out of sync against Purdue, missing open receivers on a perfect October afternoon.
What happened to the East Carolina transfer? We didn’t get a chance to ask. Houser wasn’t made available to the media afterward. That’s different than last year’s starter Luke Altmyer, who I believe talked after every game, win or lose.
If Illinois is trying to move on from Saturday’s lackluster performance, providing just two players will not get the job done.
Thank you to Collin Dixon and Ismael Kante, who took one for the team and answered questions as best they could.
A year after winning nine games and beating an SEC team in a bowl, Illinois is just 2-3. Four losses from bowl elimination, and I think I can count them: Oregon, UCLA, Iowa and Northwestern.
Illinois didn’t lose its third game in 2025 until Game 8 at Washington. In 2024, it was Game 9.
With Bielema’s guidance, Illinois has made a steady push toward becoming a consistent winner. But two winning years in a row isn’t enough, and that’s where the current streak stands.
If the team doesn’t rebound in the final seven games and reach the postseason, it will be giant step backward. One that would require an overhaul on multiple fronts.
All it took was one bad day at home. On homecoming. With the Cannon on the line.
Saturday’s loss ranks with the most confounding of the Bielema era. The closest comp was the 2025 game at Wisconsin, where Illinois looked like it wanted to be anywhere else.
Baby steps
Well, no blaming Bobby Hauck for any issues on defense. His run as Illinois defensive coordinator ended after four games.
In stepped Roger Cooper, who had been working with the linebackers. The defense didn’t give up 360 yards in a half like last week, but it wasn’t going against the best player in the country either.
Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne was more than adequate.
Purdue won the opening toss, and, in a move I would like to see more teams make, took the ball. Then Browne led the offense on a extended drive that ended with a field goal and a 3-0 lead that Purdue would never relinquish.
You could sense Purdue’s confidence growing with each snap and the frustration rising from another sellout crowd at Gies Memorial Stadium.
Keep playing like that, and it will be more difficult for Illinois to convince the fans to come back. Programs don’t like to hear how a beautiful day was ruined by the game.
“I appreciate the fans today,” Bielema said. “That was a really awesome environment to walk into. I get it. Seven sellouts in 10 games, but they didn’t start coming because we were losing. They started coming because we were winning.
“This league is tough. It’s hard to win games.”
Bielema is frustrated too.
“It’s just been one of those years, man,” he said. “Going back to last spring, fall camp, it just seems we’re a group that really has to learn things the hard way. We’ll take the moment and grow out of this.”
Illinois needs to … in a hurry. Next Saturday’s trip to Michigan State was considered a sure thing for Illinois until the team laid an egg against Purdue. Now, every game is in play.
“We do enough good things that you’d think we can win games, but we do enough things negatively that take us out of victory,” Bielema said. “We have to stop those things as coaches.”
Unexpected issue
The Illinois defense was the supposed to the trouble spot. After Saturday, the bigger questions were about the offense.
Barry Lunney Jr.’s guys went up and down the field at Ohio State. Purdue’s defense, which had struggled in the first four games, held Lunney’s team to its fewest points of the season.
Imagine if Houser had thrown a couple of interceptions. Or the running backs put the ball on the ground. In a long season against the Big Ten, those turnovers could come at any time.
Then what? Seven-point losses become blowouts. And the fans start to panic.
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