Illinois’ Bret Bielema remains confident with team after loss at Penn State

Illinois coach Bret Bielema still stands by his team.

Even after the loss to No. 9 Penn State, Bielema remains confident in the group. The Illini lost 21-7 but had plenty of chances to change the outcome.

“I had the feeling during the flight that we had a good football team,” said Bielema. “I just told them we’re happy with the situation we’re in, but we can’t do the (bad) things.”

Among the biggest disappointments was a drive that started with a 1-and-goal at 2 and ended with a missed field goal. Quarterback Luke Altmyer was also sacked six times and had his first turnover of the season.

Nevertheless, BIelema bore some of the blame.

“For me as head coach, it starts with myself,” said Bielema. “We can’t do the things that make us fail… We can’t beat the No. 9 team in the country with a win and a goal on the 2 and come away with zero points. “It just doesn’t add up.”

The Illini knew they were on the verge of continuing their strong start to the season.

They played well enough to win, but missed too many chances. The fact that they felt like they could have won makes things even more disappointing.

“We didn’t play enough to win the game, so we’re obviously upset,” linebacker Dylan Rosiek said. “I think we have to go in there, look at ourselves in this bye week and figure it out.”

Shandel Richardson is the editor of Illinois Fighting Illini On SI. He can be reached at [email protected]

Follow our updates on Facebook

X: @IlliniNowOnSI