Illinois heads into Saturday’s trip to No. 7 Ohio State with a challenge that goes beyond the matchup itself: it will be the Illini’s first road game of the season, and Bret Bielema knows exactly what that means in the Big Ten.
“To play the way you want to play and do what you want to do on the road in the Big Ten is going to be a huge deal,” Bielema said Monday. To help his team get ready, Illinois built in a few layers of discomfort during its first scrimmage, including an away-game setup with a different hotel, a different meal, the visiting locker room and the offense working from the visiting sideline.
“And there was a lot of things in that game that, when I talked to the leadership counsel the next day, they talked about how it was completely different. That goes into application this week on the road at Ohio State in one of the toughest environments you can find in college football."
Still, there’s only so much a practice can simulate. Illinois has not actually played on the road yet, and that matters. Bielema and defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck have pointed all season to the simple truth that players get better by being in those situations, not by talking about them.
The one small break for Illinois is that quarterback Katin Houser has already been through Ohio Stadium once. Bielema called that experience “a big deal,” and while Houser’s 2023 outing as a Michigan State Spartan was not pretty - he went 12-of-24 for 92 yards in a 38-3 loss - it still counts for something.
“I talked to [Illinois offensive coordinator] Barry [Lunney Jr.] about it. I’ve been in this business as a head coach going on my 18th year.
“And to be one year with Katin - I texted him Saturday night and just said: ‘Man, I can’t tell you how impressed I am with who you are and what you represent.’ And the growth he’s had.
But what I don’t know is the things I’ve never done with him, right? I don’t know all the intangibles that factor into a young man’s mind.
I’m in the meeting room with him. I’m in an individual meeting.
I’m in a game-prep mode with him.
“But I don’t know all the hours he spends away from here, who’s talking to him, who’s talking to him about what - or how he’s going to handle a road environment. He’s a very intense competitor.
I think Katin would be the first to tell you, too, right? What he has to do is have a great muscle memory when things don’t go well, to just play the next play.”
That poise will matter in Columbus, because Houser is the most important individual player on the field for Illinois.
Bielema also addressed the financial gap between Illinois and the sport’s heavyweights, and he did not pretend the issue is small. “I’ve never really been part of a blueblood [program],” he said.
“I’m just not wired like that. So I think I’ve just learned to ... give me the rules, let me play.
“I will say, I got a little pissy out in L.A. last year in the Big Ten meetings just because I thought we were kind of all staying within a parameter. … Probably helped our last two years be great, was we had a quarterback [Luke Altmyer] that probably played here because of what we are and what we do and what got him to where he was.
But he could have went other places for more money. … Gabe [Jacas] is another guy I know had offers in front of him for more than a million dollars more than we were at.
So is it sustainable? I don’t think over a long period of time.
But I think we’ll continue to find our niche.”
He added, “If I’m within two million [dollars] of Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State and Michigan, I’m good. Just let me go. When I’m within 25 million [dollars], I’m not so good, right?”
For now, Illinois is not operating anywhere near that top spending tier, and that reality gives its recent run a sharper edge. It also makes the future more complicated.
On the field, Bielema said the formula Saturday has to be simple: avoid the bad stuff, create the big stuff, and stay efficient.
“Big plays, explosive [plays] are big,” Bielema said. “But I do think we [have] got to be efficient. I think when we play ahead of the chains, we’re a much better offense.
“Katin has done a really good job of avoiding pressures. It’s not necessarily the protection - just getting rid of the ball.
Now he’s broke a few tackles. … We had three guys over 21 miles an hour score touchdowns.
And it was Aidan [Laughery] to Collin [Dixon] and then Matt Bailey. And every one of them had a block down the field that was given by somebody that was just being extremely selfless.”
Through three games, Illinois has already shown flashes of that ideal mix. Houser has gone down just twice, helped by better line play and his own ability to slip trouble. The offense has produced five plays of more than 40 yards, and the defense has added two scores from beyond 50 yards.
That’s the kind of profile Illinois will need if it wants to be there late against Ohio State: as few negative plays as possible, as many explosive ones as it can manufacture, and enough composure to survive the first real road test of the season.
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