CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It may come as a surprise to most of the country that this Illinois football team is good. Like, pretty damn good.
But Bret Bielema isn’t shocked, and neither are his players.
They’ve built this thing, brick by brick. The ups and downs of the first few years of Bielema’s tenure here include two seasons that ended without postseason appearances but taught valuable lessons. And then, of course, there was last year’s historic 10-3 mark, which included a bowl win over an SEC opponent in fiery fashion. It was the first Illini season that ended with double-digit wins in nearly a quarter-century — a true breakthrough moment that set the stage for what’s to come.
“Illinois winning is new to everybody else,” Bielema told NBC Sports. “The newness of that is coming from the outside world … I believe expectations are earned. And we’ve earned the ability to have people talk about us, but the only way you can have expectations is by going out and doing it daily.”
After last year’s 10-win campaign, 16 (!) Illinois starters decided to return, including quarterback Luke Altmyer — who has quietly become one of the nation’s best veterans under center. Altmyer leads the nation in career game-winning drives in the final minute of regulation or overtime (with five). He has cut way down on his interceptions and readily admits he can’t believe a Mississippi boy found a home here in Champaign. “Never in a million years,” he said smiling.
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But because he found his way here from Ole Miss nearly three years ago, he is one day away from a game that could declare Illinois a true College Football Playoff contender. Altmyer and the ninth-ranked Fighting Illini are headed to No. 19 Indiana for a primetime showdown on NBC and Peacock, a matchup that should have massive implications both within the Big Ten Conference and across the nation.
It might take most college football fans a second to let that sink in. So, let’s repeat it: An Illinois-Indiana football game will have massive implications both within the Big Ten Conference and across the nation. Yes, really.
The Hoosiers, fresh off the best season in program history and a ticket to the inaugural 12-team CFP, are trying to prove they are not just a one-hit wonder. The Illini are trying to become this year’s Indiana — a football program that isn’t anywhere near a blueblood but has the right players, the right coaches and a favorable schedule to make a special run.
“It’s no secret that Illinois hasn’t had a great winning culture, whatever you want to call it,” Altmyer said. “Throughout history, it’s been a team that’s been looked down upon because they haven’t won a whole lot of games. And that’s just the bottom line. Sure, there have been some really great individual years throughout that history, but for a long time, people would look at Illinois and kind of look the other way.
“But this year, with the pieces that we have and the way we work, we can compete with anybody. That’s what we know.”
Illinois cleared the first major hurdle of its season with relative ease, forcing five turnovers in a 45-19 win at Duke. After Saturday’s game at Indiana, the Illini have a home game vs. No. 25 USC and then just one game left against a ranked opponent (No. 1 Ohio State, on Oct. 11). Though Bielema preaches consistency and doing what needs to be done day in and day out without looking too far in advance, it’s hard to avoid looking at the schedule and getting excited. On paper, at least, it looks like 11-1 is possible. But even a 10-2 record would put Illinois squarely in the playoff conversation.
“When we get our opportunities against the big dogs, we’ve got to go put our money where our mouth is,” Altmyer said. “We understand that our program’s history hasn’t been respected, but we also understand that now’s our time to go change that and change that narrative.”
Saturday is a chance to do just that — but it won’t be easy. It’ll be a challenge for a defense that might be without all-conference defensive back Xavier Scott; Bielema said Thursday he wasn’t sure Scott would be available due to an apparent right foot/ankle injury. The matchup against Indiana will also be a challenge for an offense that hasn’t really gotten the run game going yet this season; the Illini rushing attack ranks 80th nationally at just 4.26 yards per carry.
But here’s where that continuity should come into play; this is a veteran team filled with players who have spent the last few years growing both individually and as a unit. They know what to do when the lights are brightest, because they haven’t skipped any steps along the path to get here — and they chose to stay here to take the next leap. Bielema said he preemptively tries to guard against tampering and transferring by meeting with his best players in-season during idle weeks. That work should pay off in games like this, against teams that know how to win. Even Altmyer’s late-game heroics are not accidental; he meets with Bielema every week to present the opposing defense’s tendencies with clips from the ends of halves, games and overtime periods. He knows what plays will work best against that specific opponent and what plays will flop.
That’s not luck. It’s preparation.
It’s why the Illini are ready to meet the moment. Bielema readily admits that Illinois “doesn’t get a lot of sexy, five-star commits.” It gets guys like Altmyer, who needed a second chance and some support. Or guys like Scott, who had just one power conference offer and has blossomed into one of the best defensive backs in the country. Bielema said the key is to find guys that have some talent and work hard and then “develop them into something special.”
That’s the secret — and it’s not like it’s kept very quiet. There’s nothing flashy about the way Bielema builds his programs. There were no shortcuts for Illinois to take to get to where it is today. And that’s precisely why this team knows it is ready for its next step.
“If we do what we are capable of doing — maximizing our opportunities — we’ll get to the pinnacle,” Altmyer said. “We’ll get to the mountaintop of where we want to go … We know what’s important, and that is the work. That is what we do every single day, not what we say. It’s something that we’ve asked for — to be in this position, to be able to be talked about in playoff contention and things like that. But we know what created that, and that is the hard work and being tough, smart, dependable. That is what is preached to us every single day, and it’s something we do not take for granted.”