Good morning, Illini fans! Football is coming off a season-opening win, volleyball is back at .500 and soccer has another road test today.
🔶 The big story
Illinois has plenty to clean up after UAB win
Illinois opened the 2026 football season with a 42-23 win over UAB, but the final score doesn’t tell the whole story. The Blazers dominated time of possession 41:03 to 18:57 and ran for 194 yards, giving Bobby Hauck’s new defense plenty to work on before Duke visits Champaign.
Katin Houser, meanwhile, threw for four touchdowns in his Illini debut, including a Hail
Mary to Ty Robinson at the end of the first half.
🏐 Volleyball
Illinois bounced back Saturday with a dominant 3-0 sweep of McNeese State at the Rice Invitational. The Illini hit .366 as a team and had three players reach double-digit kills.
⚽ Soccer
Illinois improved to 2-0-3 with Thursday’s 3-0 victory over Western Michigan.
🏀 Basketball
Brad Underwood isn’t hiding the expectations for his team. The Illinois head coach said the goal entering 2026-27 is nothing short of a national championship after last season’s Final Four run.
📅 Coming up
- 🏐 Volleyball at Rice — 2 p.m.
- ⚽ Soccer at Virginia Tech — 11 a.m.
- 🏈 Football vs. Duke — Sept. 12
