No. 9 Illinois expects winless
Western Michigan's best shot
[September 12, 2025]
By STEVE STEIN
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Illinois coach Bret Bielema is wary of a trap
game against winless Western Michigan on Saturday night.
“We’re going to get their best shot,” he said.
Illinois (2-0) enters the game ranked No. 9 — its highest AP poll
ranking since 2001 — and riding a six-game winning streak dating to
last season.
The Fighting Illini have outscored their first two opponents 95-22.
They've got critical Big Ten games at No. 22 Indiana on Sept. 20 and
home against USC on Sept. 27 coming up, but Bielema is not
overlooking the Broncos (0-2) despite being a 27.5-point favorite at
BetMGM Sportsbook.
Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor is confident the Broncos can
give the Illini a battle, just like they did in a 33-30 overtime
loss last week to North Texas.
“We laid it on the line and showed a lot of grit, but we made too
many mistakes and had too many penalties in critical situations,” he
said. “I thought up until the last play that we were going to win
that game.”
Receiver and punt return specialist Hank Beatty has been a breakout
star for the Illini.
He broke Red Grange’s 102-year-old single game punt return record
with 133 yards on four returns vs. Western Illinois in Illinois’
opener, caught eight passes for 128 yards and scored on a 25-yard
run as a quarterback last week vs. Duke, and he leads the nation
with 394 all-purpose yards.
Western Michigan's offense relies on its running game, led by Jalen
Buckley, the 2024 Mid-American Conference freshman of the year, who
ran for 112 yards on 30 carries vs. North Texas.
Now it’s Gies Memorial Stadium
Saturday’s game will be the first played in the newly renamed Gies
Memorial Stadium.
The name addition was announced Tuesday by Illinois officials in
conjunction with the announcement that Illinois alumnus and
philanthropist Larry Gies made a $100 million donation to the
school's athletic department, the largest gift in department
history.
Gies’ gift will mainly benefit the Illinois football program and
101-year-old stadium.
Sellouts aren’t so rare anymore
The Western Michigan-Illinois game is sold out (60,670). The USC and
Ohio State home games for the Illini also are sold out. It’s the
first time since 2008 that Illinois has sold out as many as three
games in a season.
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Illinois head coach Bret Bielema looks towards the field during the
first half of an NCAA college football game against Duke in Durham,
N.C., Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
“Three straight sellout football games is something
we couldn’t imagine not that long ago, and now we’re living in that
reality,” said Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman.
Turnover time
The Illinois offense hasn’t committed a turnover, and the defense is
doing its job in that department too. It leads the nation with five
fumble recoveries and is second in turnover margin with plus-3 per
game, behind only Arizona (plus 3.5).
Broncos battle to be QB1
Broc Lowry and Brady Jones are competing for the No. 1 quarterback
job for Western Michigan. Lowry took a step toward securing the spot
when he scored three TDs, two on the ground, vs. North Texas.
“I’d really like to name a full-time starter at some point this
season,” Taylor said.
Defensive tackle’s surname on uniform is written in Arabic
Western Michigan redshirt senior defensive tackle Mustafi Al-Garawi
has his surname in Arabic on the back of his jersey. It’s believed
he’s the first NCAA athlete to do that.
Al-Garawi transferred to Western Michigan from East Tennessee State
after last season. He asked Western Michigan officials this summer
about wearing his surname in Arabic in his final collegiate season,
and his request was approved.
Decisions on the display of surnames on uniforms are made by schools
and conferences.
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