Purdue is the favorite to win a third straight Big Ten regular-season championship in men's basketball. The Boilermakers have won 63 of their last 74 games, played in the national title game in April and have the conference’s preseason player of the year in Braden Smith. Coach Matt Painter s…
The Illini won the Big Ten tournament, made it to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005 and were ranked No. 6 in the final AP Top 25 poll last season. Four of the five starters are gone., along with most of the bench depth. So the Illini have restocked their roster with talented tran…
The sports betting proposal, while it has its flaws, does something that politicians have failed to do through numerous legislative sessions — bring the issue to a vote.
Luke Altmyer threw for a touchdown and ran for another, leading No. 22 Illinois to a 21-7 victory over No. 24 Michigan on Saturday afternoon.
Also: Mizzou, Illinois football teams set for national television appearances this weekend.
Michigan and Illinois will try to get back on track Saturday at Memorial Stadium. No. 24 Michigan had a school-record 27-game Big Ten winning streak snapped Oct. 5 at Washington. The Wolverines also had won 11 straight road games. No. 22 Illinois led a one-win Purdue team 27-3 in the third q…
Illinois hosts Michigan 100 years and one day after Red Grange scored four of his six TDs in the first 12 minutes of the Memorial Stadium dedication game against Michigan. Illinois won 39-14, ending the Wolverines’ 20-game winning streak. The Illini will mark the occasion by donning hand-pai…
Indiana hasn't trailed all season heading into the 16th-ranked Hoosiers' Saturday home game with Nebraska. That matchup shapes up as the biggest game on the Big Ten schedule this week. The Big Ten lineup also includes a rare Top 25 matchup at Illinois' Memorial Stadium when No. 22 Illinois hosts No. 24 Michigan. This marks the first time two Top 25 teams have faced off at that stadium since a 10th-ranked Michigan team beat the 19th-ranked Illini 35-31 way back on Sept. 23, 2000.
After six games — five wins — Illinois starting quarterback Luke Altmyer ranks 14th nationally in passing efficiency and 13th in touchdown passes.
Luke Altmyer threw a 25-yard touchdown pass in overtime to Pat Bryant, and Dylan Rosiek sacked Purdue’s Ryan Browne on a 2-point conversion attempt to give No. 23 Illinois a 50-49 victory Saturday. Illinois (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) had lost four straight and seven of its last eight against Purdue (1-5, 0-3). The Illini hadn’t beaten the Boilermakers at Memorial Stadium since 2010. Illinois’ David Alano made a 38-yard field goal as time expired to tie it at 43. Ahrmad Branch, on his only carry of the day, scored on a 3-yard run in OT for the Boilermakers. Altmyer completed 20 of 34 passes for 379 yards and three touchdowns.
With important Big Ten games coming up against No. 24 Michigan and No. 3 Oregon and five ranked opponents on its schedule over a seven-game stretch, No. 23 Illinois can’t afford a letdown against a struggling Purdue team that has lost four in a row and was crushed 52-6 last Saturday by Wisconsin.
Illinois hasn’t played a home game in a month. Road games at then No. 22-Nebraska and then-No. 9 Penn State and a bye week left Memorial Stadium silent since Sept. 14. The Illini will return home Saturday to face rival Purdue in their first home Big Ten game of the season and the 100th meeting between the two teams. Illinois beat Nebraska 31-24 in overtime and lost 21-7 to Penn State in its back-to-back road games. Purdue is coming off a 52-6 thrashing by Wisconsin last week a few days after offensive coordinator Graham Harrell was fired and replaced by Jason Simmons.
The Illini get more of a benefit of the doubt now. Even if there are 10 newcomers on the roster.
Purdue received 20 first-place votes and is picked to finish atop the conference standings for the third consecutive season, ahead of Indiana, UCLA and Illinois.
Tigers move up two slots despite not playing a game thanks upsets ahead of them.
Nick Singleton ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, Kaytron Allen added 94 yards and a score and No. 9 Penn State pulled away in the second half to beat No. 19 Illinois 21-7 on Saturday night. Penn State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) took a 14-7 lead on Singleton’s 4-yard touchdown run on its opening second-half possession. The Nittany Lions then went into lockdown mode. Penn State forced four punts, recovered a fumble and A.J. Harris intercepted Luke Altmyer’s pass late in the fourth quarter. After scoring easily on their opening drive, the Illini (4-1, 1-1) managed just 25 rushing yards the rest of the way. They were tackled 13 times behind the line of scrimmage and allowed seven sacks.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar and the rest of the No. 9 Nittany Lions need to get by a rising Illinois squad looking to keep an already promising season of its own going. The Fighting Illini are 4-0 for the first time since 2011 and just the fourth time since 1936. They've knocked off a pair of ranked teams to get there. The undefeated 1994 Penn team will be honored when the Nittany Lions host No. 19 Illinois on Saturday.
Fresh off a gritty overtime comeback win at Nebraska last week, the Fighting Illini are 4-0 for the first time since 2011. Now, they have a chance to turn an already promising season into something special if they can endure the droning cacophony of Beaver Stadium and knock off their third ranked opponent in four weeks. The Nittany Lions generated a program-record 718 total yards of offense against Kent State and want to keep that momentum going under the lights.
No. 19 Illinois visits No. 9 Penn State on Saturday in the game of the week in the Big Ten. The Illini are looking to beat a ranked opponent for the third time this season. Quarterback Luke Altmeyer has 10 touchdown passes and no interceptions. He had been picked off seven times through four games a year ago. Washington visits Rutgers on Friday night for its longest road trip of the season. Rutgers is trying to go 4-0 for the first time since 2012 and will put its 256-yard-per-game rushing attack against a defense allowing 10.3 points per game.
Don't look now but Illinois and Indiana, two perennial also-rans in the mighty Big Ten, are both 4-0 and are sitting at the top of the conference table. Consider that the last time both of those schools were unbeaten after the first four games was in 1910. Alot of bad football has been played since. The last time Indiana and Illinois finished the same season with winning records was in 2007 — Indiana was 7-6, Illinois was 9-4. Illinois has big wins over Kansas and Nebraska.
Tigers drop from No. 7 after needing double overtime to beat Vanderbilt.
"As a staff, we kind of took a vote on whether or not we thought it would get thrown and completed and we all voted yes."
The Illinois football team was efficient in its season debut against Eastern Illinois, beating the Panthers 45-0 behind four touchdown passes from quarterback Luke Altmyer on Thursday.
Illinois' shot at playing in a bowl game last season evaporated with two-point losses in the final two games. Coach Bret Bielema is confident of a happier ending this fall.
But even though they were together at San Jose State a short time, a strong relationship developed between Wilkerson, Lunney and their wives.
Here are six things to know about Illinois football camp.
Kreutz, Illinois' starting center, has yet to be cleared to return, and the newly named Illini captain is more than a little frustrated.
In comes Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. Out goes the Southeastern Conference on CBS.
Illinois rigged up a makeshift in-helmet communication system during spring football practices. It was a preemptive move for Illini coach Bret Bielema.
Nebraska gets a slight bump up the board, but a bigger boost could come as soon as this weekend.
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