2026 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

2026 Illinois Fighting Illini football
2026 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	0–0 (0–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bret Bielema (6th season);
Offensive coordinator	Barry Lunney Jr. (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Bobby Hauck (1st season)
Home stadium	Gies Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 2025 2027 →

The 2026 Illinois Fighting Illini football team will represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They will be led by sixth-year head coach Bret Bielema, the Fighting Illini play their home games at Gies Memorial Stadium at Champaign, Illinois.

ConferenceBig Ten Conference

Record0–0 (0–0 Big Ten)

Headcoach

Bret Bielema (6th season)

OffensivecoordinatorBarry Lunney Jr. (5th season)

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2026 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 14т USC	0	–	0	1	–	0
Illinois	0	–	0	0	–	0
No. 6 Indiana	0	–	0	0	–	0
No. 22 Iowa	0	–	0	0	–	0
Maryland	0	–	0	0	–	0
No. 16 Michigan	0	–	0	0	–	0
Michigan State	0	–	0	0	–	0
Minnesota	0	–	0	0	–	0
Nebraska	0	–	0	0	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	0	0	–	0
No. 1 Ohio State	0	–	0	0	–	0
No. 2 Oregon	0	–	0	0	–	0
No. 18 Penn State	0	–	0	0	–	0
Purdue	0	–	0	0	–	0
Rutgers	0	–	0	0	–	0
UCLA	0	–	0	0	–	0
No. 17 Washington	0	–	0	0	–	0
Wisconsin	0	–	0	0	–	0
Championship: December 5, 2026
As of September 2, 2026 Rankings from AP poll

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Name	Pos.	Team	Round	Pick
Gabe Jacas	DE	New England Patriots	2	55
J. C. Davis	T	New York Giants	6	192
Miles Scott	S	Denver Broncos	7	246

Name	No.	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	New school
Justin Bowick	0	WR	6'4"	210	Jr	Powder Springs, GA	Oklahoma State
Kaleb Patterson	1	DB	6'1"	195	Jr	Jackson, MS	Kansas State
Mario Sanders II	1	WR	5'10"	195	Jr	Minneapolis, MN	Southern Miss
Ashton Hollins	2	WR	6'5"	195	Jr	Lucedale, MS	Georgia Southern
Saboor Karriem	2	DB	6'3"	210	Jr	West Orange, NJ	Temple
Alexander Capka-Jones	7	WR	6'4"	195	Sr	Oak Park, CA
Malik Elzy	8	WR	6'2"	215	So	Chicago, IL	LSU
Jeremiah Warren	8	DL	6'3"	310	So	Belleville, MI	Pitt
Ethan Hampton	10	QB	6'3"	230	Jr	Elburn, IL	Southern Miss
Donovan Turner	11	DB	6'2"	190	Jr	Long Beach, CA	Sacramento State
Trey Petty	12	QB	6'0"	205	Rs-Fr	Starkville, MS	Western Michigan
Amar Reynolds	12	DB	6'0"	190	Rs-Fr	Fort Pierce, FL	FAU
Cole Rusk	14	TE	6'5"	250	Sr	Rock Island, IL	Arizona
Tyson Rooks	19	DB	6'4"	205	Jr	St. Simons Island, GA	FAU
David Olano	24	K	5'11"	180	Jr	Naperville, IL	Texas A&M
Vernon Woodward III	24	CB	6'1"	200	Rs-Fr	DeLand, FL	Jacksonville State
Aaron Ball	25	RB	5'11"	205	Rs-Fr	Chicago, IL	Indiana State
Jojo Hayden	30	LB	6'2"	245	So	East St. Louis, IL	Purdue
Tomiwa Durojaiye	36	DL	6'5"	300	Jr	Philadelphia, PA	South Carolina
Angelo McCullom	44	DL	6'2"	300	So	Pickerington, OH	Texas A&M
Malachi Hood	45	LB	6'2"	235	Jr	Plainfield, IL	West Virginia
Easton Baker	47	LB	6'0"	220	Rs-Fr	Stansbury, UT
Harrysson Ngassa	49	LB	6'2"	215	Rs-Fr	Chicago, IL	South Florida
Clayton Leonard	51	LB	6'4"	250	Jr	Danforth, IL	Southeast Missouri State
Kellen Francis	65	OL	6'5"	320	So	Princeville, IL
Tyler McMillan	70	OL	6'5"	335	Jr	Detroit, MI	Eastern Michigan
Jake Furtney	82	TE	6'4"	250	Rs-Fr	St. Charles, IL	Ohio
Tysean Griffin	83	WR	5'10"	180	Rs-Fr	Chicago, IL	Western Illinois
Eli Coenen	96	DL	6'7"	290	So	Baldwin, WI	Michigan State
Curt Neal	99	DL	6'0"	310	Jr	Cornelius, NC	Purdue

Name	No.	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Prev. school
Jayshon Platt	1	WR	6'1"	180	Sr	Sarasota, FL	FAU
Katin Houser	4	QB	6'3"	225	Sr	Anaheim, CA	East Carolina
Alex Perry	9	WR	6'5"	210	Sr	Port Charlotte, FL	FIU
Lavon Williams	9	S	5'10"	180	Sr	San Antonio, TX	East Texas A&M
Ty Robinson	10	WR	6'4"	190	Sr	Aurora, CO	Ball State
Maurice Smith Jr.	14	QB	6'4"	245	Sr	Fort Pierce, FL	Chowan
Isaiah Thomison	17	DL	6'3"	280	Jr	Fayetteville, TN	Bowling Green
Deuce Fillmore	22	CB	5'11"	185	Sr	Biloxi, MS	Georgia State
William Holmes	24	EDGE	6'4"	245	Jr	Detroit, MI	Utah State
Ethan Moczulski	37	K	5'11	200	Sr	Spokane, WA	Washington
Robert Edmonson	45	LB	6'2"	225	Jr	Houston, TX	Colorado State
Zach Haber	49	LS	5'10"	226	Jr	Durango, CO	Arkansas
Jake Renfro	59	IOL	6'4"	315	Jr	Mokena, IL	Wisconsin
Christian Martin	72	OT	6'6"	300	Jr	St. Rose, LA	Colorado State
Eddie Kasper	83	WR	5'10"	160	Sr	Burlington, WI	Illinois State
Carter Janki	90	DL	6'5"	290	Sr	Redding, CT	Penn
Connor Sullivan	94	DL	6'4"	270	Rs-Fr	Glenview, IL	Washington State
Darrell Prater	96	DL	6'3"	300	Sr	Fort Payne, AL	Jacksonville State
James Finley		S	6'1"	185	So	Portage, IN	Northern Illinois

College recruiting (2026)
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV
September 3	8:00 p.m.	UAB*	Gies Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN
September 12	2:30 p.m.	Duke*	Gies Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	FS1
September 19	1:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois (FCS)*	Gies Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	Peacock
September 26	TBD	at Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck)	TBD
October 3	TBD	Purdue	Gies Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Purdue Cannon)	TBD
October 10	TBD	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	TBD
October 24	TBD	Oregon	Gies Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	TBD
October 31	TBD	at Maryland	SECU Stadium College Park, MD	TBD
November 6	7:00 p.m.	Nebraska	Gies Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	FOX
November 13	8:00 p.m.	at UCLA	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	FOX
November 21	TBD	Iowa	Gies Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	TBD
November 28	TBD	at Northwestern	Ryan Field Evanston, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy)	TBD
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Central time Source: ^[3]

2026 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

Offseason

Departures

NFL draft

Outgoing transfers

Retirements

Coaching departures

Acquisitions

Incoming transfers

Recruiting class

New walk-ons

Coaches acquisitions

Schedule

Rankings

Game summaries

vs UAB

vs Duke

vs Southern Illinois

at Ohio State

vs Purdue

at Michigan State

vs Oregon

at Maryland

vs Nebraska

at UCLA

vs Iowa

at Northwestern

Roster

Notes

References

Related Articles

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	RV
Coaches	RV
CFP	Not released																Not released

Statistics	UAB	ILL
First downs
Plays–yards
Rushes–yards
Passing yards
Passing: comp–att–int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Quarter	1	2	Total
Blazers			0
Fighting Illini			0

Quarter	1	2	Total
Blue Devils			0
Fighting Illini			0

Quarter	1	2	Total
Salukis (FCS)			0
Fighting Illini			0

Quarter	1	2	Total
Fighting Illini			0
Buckeyes			0