What Bret Bielema Said After Illinois’ Win at Purdue, What’s Next vs. Ohio State

It wasn't anything that'll hang in The Louvre, but Illinois (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) found enough ways to outduel Purdue (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) by the end of a 43-27 win Saturday in West Lafayette, Indiana. Illini coach Bret Bielema was the first to point out a series of mistakes and missed opportunities on the part of his club, and he acknowledged that anything but Illinois' best next week back in Champaign against No. 1 Ohio State won't be enough.

Here, we share an edited, slightly condensed version of Bielema's postgame press conference, concentrated to the sharpest takes, juiciest bits and most relevant info. (See full video just below if you prefer.)

Bret Bielema Best of the Presser

Opening statement

"Super-excited, obviously. Give a lot of credit to Purdue. I thought Barry {Odom] has done a great job. Very competitive four-quarter game. To get a 'W' over here is a big deal. To get the cannon in the 101st game, and to get two in a row, obviously, it's been a long time. So for for all the Illinois fans that haven't been able to do that, that's a great thing. And I think the biggest thing is, I think we're at a point where we have a team that maybe, if we don't play our best and still get out with a 16-point [win] on the road against Purdue, we've made progress. We're doing a lot of good things. I think the key for us this week is obviously an unbelievable opportunity with Ohio State, and we just got to get our guys healthy, get some guys fresh. We got to be very, very smart in our plan."

HOW BOUT’ THAT CANNON! pic.twitter.com/tGJFszenUd
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) October 4, 2025

On Luke Altmyer's performance and preparation

"Luke had a career day [390 passing yards], and we don't even really kind of know it. It's just because it's so routine for him, right?

"The thing I love about working with Luke is, Luke just works and takes care of his day, right? Like, his preparation detail, he's got his own little study in our building where he can get alone and watch film on his own, and he just does a great job of putting himself in preparation mode to get ready for Tuesday's practice, execute Wednesday, make corrections Thursday, get the game plan together. I can't control the outside narrative. I just know I've been in this business for a long time, had quarterbacks that play in the NFL are still playing the NFL, and this guy's as good as I've ever had."

🗣️ @lukealtmyer9

Luke Altmyer shared his thoughts after @IlliniFootball’s B1G win in West Lafayette 👏 pic.twitter.com/InjnkTHmNZ
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 4, 2025

On responding to a defensive breakdown late in the first half

"I know there's a lot of things that happened. They were really cool, I thought ... our response when they gave up the big play defensively – which is absolutely unexcusable, right before the half to give up free yardage like that – but to have our offense go out there and execute an end-of-half drive to get points on the board right before the half and kind of take that momentum back was huge. So then we came out with a momentum-changer, with the turnover off the punt. Just very opportunistic group all day and a full team effort."

On Hank Beatty's career-best day and connection with Altmyer

"I think people that are in the game, when I say this, they know what I mean: [Beatty and Altmyer both] just let the game come to them, right? Like, when Luke's playing at his best, he just lets the game come to him. But Hank Beatty, especially a wide receiver, he just lets the play come to him. There's things that we design and we give them and we put them in position, but he just lets the game come to him naturally. And I think that's a really good sign. I think Luke has a very good comfort level about throwing the ball in his area, what he's going to do and what he could possibly do after the catch. I know there's only so many plays to go around, but Hank Beatty – I told Barry after Week 2 or Week 3, as many ways as we can put the ball in his hands, we're gonna get rewarded tenfold. So just a really, really fun player to be around, just an absolute piece of work, all the things he does, preparation-wise."

Luke Altmyer connected with Hank Beatty for 62 yards in @IlliniFootball’s win over Purdue, the longest reception of Beatty’s career 🙌

📍@Sitecore x Connection of the Game pic.twitter.com/VoTcDIWVRo
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 4, 2025

On hosting No. 1 Ohio State next week

"I think the biggest thing that we have going for us right is we're an opportunistic football team. We probably know going on these busses home that we didn't play our best game [today]. ... Just, for me as a head coach, to be in a position that maybe if we don't have our best day, you still feel like you can win a lot of games – [but] obviously that's not going to be the case on Saturday against Ohio State. You're gonna have to bring your best. But you know what? We train for this moment 365 days a year. We're not going to do anything different this week. I don't need anybody to take superhuman vitamins or do anything. I just need them to execute and be at their best. And we'll see where we go Saturday."

On the defense giving too much ground

"We can't give up free yards. ... Last week when we were playing a quarterback that could throw it, and we were obviously a little depleted in the secondary ... when we are designed to give up yards, we're OK to do that. But the play at end of half, we just can't have that, right? We just keep the ball in front of us and play every play, stay on script. [Aaron Henry] is still working through some things as a coordinator. He's still on the move. And that's my job as a head coach to continue to guide him and tell him where we're at. And at the end of the game there, the only option they had was for that quarterback to stay alive and throw the ball vertically down the field. We've just got to keep fresh bodies out there. We can have a guy chase a quarterback – doesn't do any good if we can't get him down, so we got to get our athletes on the field and get him down."

On the late delay of game penalty and other correctable mistakes

"I told them to take the clock down as much as we could, but I didn't plan on taking a penalty on that last one. So we still have some room for improvement. We sent the unit on the field too late, and that's just inexcusable. For me, there's a lot of things as the head coach – we had to use three timeouts before the end of the third quarter, and we're not going to win many games doing that [when the margin is] tight, right? I knew we were kind of in control the game, I didn't want to take a bad penalty there. So just some communication things we got to clean up. The good news is, they happened, we got out with a 16-point win. So it's a very teachable team right now on a Sunday, a very coachable coaching staff on a Sunday, and we'll get to where we need to be [next] Saturday."

Automatic. @DavidOlano_ is 5-5 on the day.

Tune in on @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/iu6TX2QVJp
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) October 4, 2025

On fan support for the Ohio State game

"And I would just say this right now: Fans, I need you, right? If we've ever needed you in my entire coaching career since I've been here at Illinois, we got No. 1 rolling into town and they're a very good football team. And we need our Illinois fans to show up early. I know it's an early game, but we need to show up early and put on an environment in that stadium that should be fun to play."

CHAMPAIGN WE'RE COMING BACK 🙌

Big Noon Kickoff is heading back to Champaign next Saturday for @IlliniFootball's matchup vs Ohio State 🔥 pic.twitter.com/UGntYOKTRI
— Big Noon Kickoff (@BNKonFOX) October 4, 2025