Illinois’ second fall scrimmage gave Bret Bielema plenty to like, and the head coach didn’t waste time making that clear Thursday.
After Wednesday night’s work under the lights, Bielema said the Illini were “notably improved” from their first scrimmage. He also spent a good chunk of his media availability essentially sketching out the shape of the starting group, especially on offense, where quarterback Katin Houser and center Jake Renfro stood out as immediate anchors.
Houser, one of the six captains announced earlier in the day, drew especially strong praise from Bielema. “I think in the quarterback room, Katin continued to establish who he is, let his teammates know who he is.
He's got a very exciting talent. That, in conjunction with, he's got an incredible presence.
I think our guys really have responded to that, and that was reflected. He was the highest [team captain] vote-getter on the offense side of the ball and also by defensive guys voting for the offense.
It shows me that he's affected the entire locker room, which is awesome.”
Renfro, another captain, also got singled out as a key piece of what Illinois wants to build up front. “I think our center Jake Renfro is playing at a really, really high level, and he's snapping the ball to a quarterback that I think has the potential to do the same thing.
So I'm excited about the core nucleus of our offense. Thought our offensive line, by far, those five guys that play as ones played together as good as humanly possible.
Maika [Matelau] played well at left guard. B Henderson's playing his best football at right guard.
Our two new tackles, Nathan [Knapik] and Christian [Martin], played the best they have this fall camp. Super excited about the growth there.”
The captain group announced Wednesday included WR Collin Dixon, QB Katin Houser, RB Aidan Laughery, OL Jake Renfro, DB Matthew Bailey and DB Xavier Scott. All six met with the media Thursday alongside Bielema to talk through the scrimmage and what it meant to be chosen for that role.
Bielema also revealed a roster addition, saying Illinois has added University of San Diego tight end Peyton Smith, pending his eligibility for a fifth season of college football.
With the season now two weeks away, the message coming out of camp was pretty clear: Illinois feels better about where it is than it did after the first scrimmage, and the players wearing the captain labels are already carrying real weight inside the building.
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