It has to be hard to get a mic put in front of you after the Illinois football team gets destroyed on national television.
Bret Bielema sat there and talked to the media for nearly nine minutes. The Illini head coach answered questions, and unlike some of his counterparts, he didn’t break off on a reporter and scream or do some theatrical thing in front of the world. Bielema took accountability.
This was a good press conference that helped put the Indiana game behind us and move on to the huge matchup against USC.
Here are the five intriguing Bret Bielema quotes from the Illinois football presser vs Indiana
- “The punt miscue, we actually only had 10 players out there on the field, which threw our guy’s count off and freed up a guy on the backside edge.”
Literally, everything failed for the Illini against Indiana. From each position group to the coaches. The fact that we only had 10 players out there, and that is the reason the punt was blocked was a massive gaffe by the coaches. Illinois was not prepared for the game.
- “I’ve never been a part of anything like that. We lost, I believe, six of our seven top defensive backs.”
There were many reasons why Illinois was demolished by Indiana. Having our defensive backfield depleted is one of the reasons. Bielema said that we will get an update on Xavier Scott on Monday. It sounds like the Illini could get Kaleb Patterson, Mac Resetich, and Torrie Cox Jr. back for USC. Miles Scott is back because his ejection was in the first half. Hopefully, Matthew Bailey returns from his concussion.
- “He (Aidan Laughery) was cleared, and he went through warmups. Coming out of the warmups, he just didn’t feel like he could open up and go. He actually practiced Wednesday and Thursday.”
Illinois needs our quick, shifty running back to return. The running game is massively different if Aidan Laughery isn’t in the backfield. He was so close to going against Indiana, and I believe he will suit up in the game vs USC.
- “We have to let them play fast. If we give them too much, and they aren’t able to perform because we are clouding them with anything that is in their head before the ball is snapped, I think that is something we have to look at closely.”
Bielema is trying to search for answers. It sounds like one of the answers is to simplify things a bit. He doesn’t want to put too much in his players’ heads before the snap, and some changes are going to be made heading into this weekend.
- “We have to own this moment. The thing that we do need to take into account is our response. The response is what is going to define us.”
I love the way Bielema is taking what just happened on the field. He has accountability, and he is positive about the program moving forward. He is also spot on with what he said here. It isn’t about the loss; it is about how the program is going to respond to the loss. Illinois still has a chance to do something special in 2025.