Area natives Pearl, Griffin aspire to make community proud
By Gavin Good, Staff writer
August 13, 2018
Filed under Football, Men's Sports, Sports
Illinois freshmen Julian Pearl and Caleb Griffin may not see playing time in 2018, but each player has had an eye on the Illini from a young age. Pearl has watched the Illini over the years from nearby Danville, Illinois, and the 6-foot-6 defensive line convert is determined to be a part of the gr...
Illini freshmen settling into second week of camp
By Gavin Good, Staff writer
August 13, 2018
Filed under Football, Men's Sports, Sports
Ahead of Lovie Smith’s third year, and with the arrival of his second recruiting class, Illinois football is set to be, statistically, the youngest team in the nation in 2018. Underclassmen make up 76.5 percent of the Illini roster and the program only has nine seniors. Similar to last season, ...
Justice Williams finding his place in Illini offense
By Eli Schuster, Sports editor
August 9, 2018
Filed under Football, Men's Sports, Sports
On a Thursday night in the fall of 2017, linebacker Justice Williams got his shot. “It’s going down,” Williams would tell former Illini quarterback Jeff George. “If I move to receiver, it’s going down.” Williams lined up with Jaylen Dunlap, a former teammate who was, at the time, one o...
Clark appreciating intensity from his defensive line at training camp
By Gavin Good, Staff writer
August 9, 2018
Filed under Football, Men's Sports, Sports
One-on-ones between offensive and defensive lines are a staple of any football practice, pitting the strong against the strong in battles of brute strength and refined technique. First-year Illinois defensive line coach Austin Clark and offensive line coach Luke Butkus each relished the chance to s...
Experience, young depth give Illini secondary promise
By Gavin Good, Staff writer
August 9, 2018
Filed under Football, Men's Sports, Sports
On a less-than-stellar day for the quarterbacks, the Illini secondary owned Wednesday’s practice. It seemed as if virtually every defensive back who got reps made a good read to break up a pass or several. In light of newly added youth and depth, in addition to talented returners Bennett Williams and ...
Bush builds rapport with Illini receiving corps
By Gavin Good, Staff writer
August 8, 2018
Filed under Football, Men's Sports, Sports
At this time last week, new Illini quarterback AJ Bush had not thrown a single ball to an Illinois receiver. Nonetheless, on only the fifth day of Illinois football training camp, Bush trots over to sophomore wide receiver Carmoni Green to address a dropped ball. “Oh boy, that’s a tough one,” B...
Illini football training camp: What you need to know early on
By Eli Schuster, Sports Editor
August 4, 2018
Filed under Football, Men's Sports, Sports
The horse that stood south of the Campus Recreation fields was the same color as the football flying through the air. Wagging its tail, the animal watched along with what could be estimated as a couple hundred fans as the Illini kicked off day two of their training camp. It was 9 a.m. and new offen...
Allegretti embracing lead role ahead of training camp
By Gavin Good, Staff writer
July 26, 2018
Filed under Football, Men's Sports, Sports
By 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, a once-bustling crowd of Big Ten coaches, players and media had steadily dissipated into a scattered group of straggling reporters and rather tired-looking players and coaches. Meanwhile, Illinois offensive lineman Nick Allegretti casually weaved tales about h...
Big Ten Media Days: Style of offense is its own battle
By Miles Powers-Huang, Assistant Sports Editor
July 26, 2018
Filed under Big Ten media days, Football, Men's Sports, Sports
Traditionally, the Big Ten is known for its hard-hitting, ground-and-pound style of play. With many programs across the country adopting an up-tempo, spread offense in the new era of mobile quarterbacks, the Big Ten could become an outlier. Penn State led the Big Ten conference with 290.2 passing...
Big Ten Media Day: A look at some of the Illini’s biggest talking points
By Meghan Rest, Assistant Sports Editor
July 25, 2018
Filed under Big Ten media days, Football, Men's Sports, Sports
The 47th Big Ten Media Day kicked off in Chicago this Monday and Tuesday with Illinois football head coach Lovie Smith bringing along players Nick Allegretti, Mike Dudek and Jamal Milan. The Illini have plenty of question marks surrounding their young team as training camp is set to begin in early...
Big Ten Media Day: Smith looks for improvement in year three at Illinois
By Gavin Good, Staff writer
July 24, 2018
Filed under Football, Men's Sports, Sports
Illinois football head coach Lovie Smith spoke of developing talent and making competitive strides at the Big Ten conference’s annual media days event Tuesday. In his first two years with the program, Smith’s Illini are 5-19 and have only two Big Ten wins. He believes that’s a symptom of youth,...
WATCH: 2008 Rose Bowl team holds reunion at Memorial Stadium
By Eli Schuster, Sports Editor
July 23, 2018
Filed under Football, Men's Sports, Sports
The Fighting Illini Athletics program welcomed back the 2007 Illini football team over the weekend to celebrate the program's trip to the 2008 Rose Bowl. Former head coach Ron Zook turned consecutive two-win seasons in 2005 and 2006 into a 9-4 campaign that saw wins over No. 1 Ohio State, No. 5 Wisconsin...
