Bielema: ‘A lot of reasons to get excited’
Illini open football season with win for new coach
CHAMPAIGN — Illinois kicked off the college football season in an emphatic way with a 30-22 victory over Nebraska on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
The “Week 0 game was the only Power Five conference game played Saturday and gave first-year coach Bret Bielema his first victory with the Illini — and an early Big Ten win — on a national stage.
“I’ve been talking about this game for a while. To have it be a win is the perfect ending,” Bielema said. “It’s the perfect period at the end of the sentence.
“Can’t get overly excited about what it means or what it’s going to do going forward ... but it is a good ending.”
It’s the kind of ending the Illini haven’t experienced often in recent years. This marked the first time they have won their Big Ten opener since 2015.
The Illini rallied despite losing starting quarterback Brandon Peters in the first quarter with an apparent left shoulder injury. That thrust Artur Sitkowski, playing in his first game for Illinois after transferring from Rutgers earlier this year, into action.
Sitkowski took some time to get settled for his first few plays, but after a costly double penalty against Nebraska — roughing the passer and unsportsmanlike conduct — netted the Illini 30 yards, he began to thrive. Sitkowski completed 12 of 15 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns without an interception and led the Illini to 28 unanswered points in the second and
third quarters.
Converted quarterback Isaiah Williams also helped lead the way with six catches for 41 yards and a touchdown, and linebacker Calvin Hart Jr. returned a fumble 41 yards for a score.
“We had some adversity, we fought and kept fighting,” cornerback Tony Adams said. “Years past, sometimes we laid down. Today we didn’t lay down. We lost Brandon, we lost our leader, but Art stepped in and people stepped up.”
Leading up to game day, Bielema said he felt the excitement around town about the team — and for good reason.
This was the first time fans were welcomed into Memorial Stadium since 2019, and the student section was filled before the game, while tailgaters lined up early to celebrate the return of live football.
“I’m surprised how good it feels,” Neal Verdict, a season ticket holder from Lincoln Park, said before the game. “I was looking forward to it, but just being out with the people and everything, it’s a lot of fun. Love to see everybody out here.”
Adams added: “It was chilling. Gave me goosebumps and gave some of the guys goosebumps.”
“It was a surreal experience, something that you can’t take for granted,” offensive tackle Vederian Lowe said. “Just the energy from the fans, the highs and the lows, everything like that, you just miss it.”
The addition of Bielema, who helped make Wisconsin a perennial Big Ten power during his tenure as head coach there from 2006-12, has given Illini fans hope that better days are on the way. Nebraska has been scuffling in recent years, but the Cornhuskers looked overmatched against Illinois for much of Saturday’s game.
The Illini returned most of their team from last season, and the players seem invigorated under their new coach. They like the fact he is honest and straight up with them and raved about the way he has started teaching them the game mentally. Even small things such as teaching the team how to take notes, Williams said, in order to better retain information.
“Spending time with Coach B outside of football, not just talking X’s and O’s, seeing what his vision is for this team and him being to the highest of the highs of the Big Ten, that’s also made a lot of us buy in,” Lowe said. “He knows what it takes to win, and he’s not here to play games. He’s here to win the games.
“We’re just trying to make sure we buy into his vision and follow him because we know the direction that he’s going to take us is positive.”
Optimism born from a coaching change is nothing new, however, and the Illini have a long way to go before they are relevant again in the Big Ten.
So despite the excitement leading up to the game and in the aftermath of Saturday’s win, Bielema noted that continuing that energy level will be the challenge.
“For us here at Illinois football, we’ve got to be interactive with our fan base,” Bielema said. “To have our student section setup, check the box. To see the Champaign-Urbana community rally around our kids, check the box.
“I don’t know what happened out in the state or out on the TVs, but I think there’s a lot of reasons to get excited. Hopefully it’s just a positive step in the right direction.”