We are officially less than a week away from the start of the Illinois football season.
Can you believe it is almost here? The Illini will start a much-anticipated 2025 campaign against Western Illinois on Friday night.
While this game should be an easy win, Illinois has much tougher games in the coming weeks. The 2025 schedule starts tough but ends with some nice opponents. In college football, you can’t let up, though. You always have to be prepared.
Illinois has a chance to do something pretty special in 2025. Let’s not let this opportunity slip through the cracks.
Here is the game-by-game prediction for the Illinois football 2025 season
Illinois football vs. Western Illinois Leathernecks – Friday, August 29, 6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET
Illinois starts the 2025 season off with an easier opponent to help knock off some of the rust. Western Illinois is exactly what this program needs to really get clicking.
The Leathernecks are coming off a season in which they went 4-8 in the FCS. This 4-8 record included games against a MAC program in Northern Illinois and a game on the road against Indiana.
Western Illinois dropped that game against the Huskies 54-15. The Indiana game was even worse, as the score finished 77-3. This team was not good last season.
Starting quarterback Nathan Lamb is gone, so I assume Chris Irvin will get the nod. He is the most experienced quarterback on the roster, as he threw for 174 yards and three touchdowns last season.
The fact that Irvin couldn’t win the starting job over Lamb bodes well for the Illini. I see Illinois’ defense having a field day with multiple interceptions, and maybe even one returned for a touchdown.
Offensively, Illinois should be able to have our way with the Leathernecks. I think our running game is going to be fine regardless, but this is a great chance for the Illinois passing game to start getting in a groove before real competition starts. Look for this game to get ugly in a hurry.
Final score: Illinois 56 – Western Illinois 0