The Illinois Fighting Illini are one of college football's hottest teams, having started the season 2-0, culminating in a 45-19 win against the Duke Blue Devils this past Saturday. Five Illinois takeaways were the key difference in Saturday's win, as was the outing of quarterback Luke Altmyer. Altmyer's 22-for-31 day, which included 296 yards and three touchdowns, was enough to widen the gap and prevent a colossal road upset.
With Illinois' first road test in the rear-view mirror, analysts are beginning to take notice of how remarkable Bret Bielema's turnaround has become. This led to CBS Sports' Brian Jones becoming all-in on the Illini, making a bold prediction regarding where they stack up against the best the conference has to offer. This includes Big Ten title game runner-up Penn State Nittany Lions, which are also 2-0.
“I would probably have them definitely behind Oregon, Ohio State," Jones said during an in-studio discussion on the network. “I’d have them in front of Penn State right now.”
Jones took it a step further, saying he is particularly impressed with Bielema's brand of smash-mouth football and physicality defensively.
“I love the way they play on the line of scrimmage," Jones said. "You mentioned the type of approach Coach Bielema employs," Jones said. “And it’s about the line of scrimmage. Winning in the trenches. So, I would have them right ahead of Penn State right now.”
Bielema has remained active on social media, clapping back at critics. But now that Illinois is starting to prove those doubters wrong, the fiery coach has let the wins do the talking while taking, as he dubs it, the "high road."
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The 'X' (formerly Twitter) account, "Freezing Cold Takes," exposed a user after they confidently picked Duke to pull off the upset. Bielema then shot off a quote-tweeted response after the win as a subliminal wink-wink.
"High road is the best road," Bielema posted. "1-0 is always the weekly goal."
Bielema's Illini return home this Saturday to host the Western Michigan Broncos in front of a sold-out Memorial Stadium. Illinois was nearly perfect in protecting home-field advantage this past year, only losing one game in Champaign.
It may be a Monday in early September, but attention is becoming greater for one of college football's biggest surprise teams.