Bret Bielema Gives Eastern Illinois Its Respect, Calls Week 1 'Marquee Game'

Bret Bielema spoke to local Champaign media Friday afternoon.

Sep 16, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema before a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports / Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Coach Bret Bielema knows the stakes entering Illinois' Week 1 game against Eastern Illinois in Champaign.

Coming off a 5-7 season last year in which several games were decided by a touchdown or fewer, including a season-finale defeat against Northwestern to end the year.

The focus for the fourth-year Illini coach is simple: control what you are capable of. This was no more evident than Friday's pre-game media session, as the season opener commences in an FCS opponent Bielema said shouldn't be taken lightly.

With most of its roster back for both teams, Illinois faces an interesting yet fairly common conundrum in the post-NIL world of college football – the transfer portal. The Illini have 45 new players on this year's roster, be it freshmen or players with experience at other schools that aren't Illinois.

Bielema emphasized the importance of the season opener serving as a benchmark-type game for what the program could become and a reflection on where it once was just four years ago when Bielema was hired after the 2020 season.

"Anytime your gameplan [to win] matches the results, that's a good thing, right?" Bielema said Friday. "We won't know that till after we're done [playing]. I think going into this game, to have as many guys as we have, as I mentioned earlier, that have played some good football for us at key positions. But we got some new faces. It's gonna be critical how they play and how they fit into our scheme."

Bielema pointed to the Panthers' mindset entering the game as a "marquee game" from their perspective. They will play Illinois and Northwestern within the first three games, before an all-FCS schedule remains at-play for the rest of the season.

Bielema did confirm Luke Altmyer as the starting quarterback for the season, as he enters his second season in Champaign.

The Illini's matchup is part of a two-game stretch of back-to-back night games, as they will face Kansas in Week 2 Sept. 7.

At press time, Illinois is a 27.5-point favorite over the Panthers, per OddsShark.

Zain Bando is a contributor to Illinois Fighting Illini On SI. He can be reached at zainbando99@gmail.com or follow him on X @zainbando99

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