Illinois coach Bret Bielema hopes to turn the page from a disastrous game, welcoming 21st-ranked Southern California to Champaign, Ill., to face the 23rd-ranked Fighting Illini on Saturday.
“The first thing we have to do is address what we did as coaches,” Bielema said of getting his team back on track after a 63-10 loss to Indiana in a top-20 showdown.
“I thought we had a good football team (before last week) and feel that same way (now). I know that we can rebound.”
Added Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry, according to On3.com, “We lost a football game and it (expletive) sucks — pardon my language — but nobody died. We’re still here. We will bounce back. We’ll be good. I’m going to make sure this defense is locked and loaded on Saturday.”
Illinois (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) climbed to No. 9 on the strength of winning its first three games by a combined 135-22 margin, but the Illini had no answers for the Hoosiers.
Compounding the lopsided loss that snapped a seven-game winning streak dating back to last November was the news that the Illini will be without All-Big Ten defensive back Xavier Scott for the foreseeable future.
Scott was a scratch from the Indiana contest after sustaining an apparent ankle injury Sept. 13 vs. Western Michigan, and Bielema announced on Monday the standout of the Illinois secondary will be sidelined for “most of the season.”
The absence comes at a bad time, ahead of USC’s first visit to Champaign since 1996. That game ended up as a 55-3 Trojans victory.
USC (4-0, 2-0) brings one of the nation’s sixth-leading passer, Jayden Maiava (1,223 yards), as well as the fourth-most prolific pass-catcher, Makai Lemon (438 receiving yards).
Lemon caught a season-high eight passes for 127 yards, hauling in his third touchdown reception of the year in USC’s 45-31 win last week over Michigan State. He also rushed for a score.
Maiava connected on 20 of 26 passes for 234 yards, his lowest output of 2025. However, he threw for three touchdowns after going without a passing score in USC’s Big Ten-opening win on Sept. 13 at Purdue.
Maiava is averaging 305.8 yards per game, which ranks eighth nationally, and is the only quarterback ranked in the top 15 of that category who has yet to throw an interception.
“(Maiava’s output) is a product of just him being more comfortable with what we’re doing and knowing exactly where his feet are supposed to be on every play,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said.
Along with Lemon, Maiava’s leading weapon in the passing game through the first contests was Ja’Kobi Lane. However, Lane missed last week’s game with an unspecified injury, and his status for Week 5 was unclear even after he practiced on Tuesday.
Like Maiava, Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer has nine touchdown passes without a pick, but Altmyer managed just 146 passing yards at Indiana. The Illini quarterback said following the game that Illinois’ options now were to “feel bad for yourself, or get up and take advantage of the next opportunity.”
Altmyer’s top target has been Hank Beatty, who has 21 receptions for 302 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, of wideout Justin Bowick’s eight total receptions, three were TD grabs.
–Field Level Media
