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Sep. 19—LINCOLN, Neb. — There is a time to celebrate and a time to work, according to Illinois football coach Bret Bielema.
While the Fighting Illini fan base is gleaming with pride with the school’s first national ranking (No. 24) since 2022 and a 3-0 record for the first time since 2011, the players and coaches are focused on just this week’s Big Ten opener on the road against the No. 22 Nebraska Cornhuskers this Friday night.
“With a short week of preparation we turned the page quickly,” Bielema said. “We flipped the page and went from Saturday to Monday — we skipped Sunday.”
It’s similar to what Illinois did before its season opener against Eastern Illinois on a Thursday night.
“These guys have handled their business as good as any team I’ve been around,” said Bielema, noting that the Fighting Illini had no issues with cramping or hydration during its first afternoon game of the season on a very warm and humid Saturday against Central Michigan. “We made a big issue from Thursday on about the game-day temperature, the heat factor and playing at 11 o’clock. The way we handled that made a pretty big statement to me.”
Now, his Fighting Illini can make an even bigger statement playing their first conference game on the road against a nationally-ranked opponent in a sold-out Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.
“This is 400 straight sellouts,” Bielema noted from the Nebraska game notes. “It’s a tremendous challenge. We had a Friday night game with these guys last year here in our stadium.
“Just because of what they accomplished and what we have accomplished, to have two Big Ten teams ranked in a Friday night game on national television is a little bit unusual.”
And while that is definitely the storyline for the fan bases on each side, Bielema says it’s actually quite simple for his team.
“More than anything, it’s our first…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football-illinois-quickly-focuses-191600044.html
Author : Commercial-News, Danville, Ill.
Publish date : 2024-09-19 19:16:00
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