Illinois Coach Bret Bielema's Postgame Presser: 'I Knew How We Would Respond'

No. 23 Illinois and No. 21 USC took each other's best punches Saturday in Champaign, and in the end it was the Illini (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) who floored the Trojans (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) with a 41-yard knockout blow/field goal from kicker David Olano.

The performance washed away much of the stink from last week's embarrassment in Indiana and, more importantly, kept Illinois in the hunt for some very big prizes, including a program-record 11 wins and a spot in the College Football Playoff. The gloom and doom that weighed heavily over this team the past week has, at least for now, lifted.

An upbeat Bret Bielema had plenty to say in Saturday's postgame press conference (full video just below), so we've shared the best bits with you below:

Bret Bielema Best of the Presser

On the close finish and the Illini players resiliency

"You know, we thought we could probably win it by a couple scores, but we thought we just keep it close. Wanted to get it down to the end there for everybody. My dad got in for his first game today – wanted to make it an enjoyable, four-quarter game. My wife does not like those games.

"But first off, give credit to USC – really good football team. Knew that we were going to have a tremendous challenge today, but I thought our guys, since last Saturday to where we are today, have just responded internally, externally, showed me a lot about who they were. The part that really gave me satisfaction during the course of this week is, I know my roster better than anybody in the country, right? Like, I know who they are, I know what they represent, I knew how they would respond. I saw them during the course of the week. I saw them hurt. I felt myself hurting. But I knew we could respond and do well, and I thought we played pretty well today. I thought we really did a good job of handling some things that happened during the game, with some adversity, and I'm really excited about that."

The punctuation on a B1G day. pic.twitter.com/jDI12DIWxF
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) September 27, 2025

On injuries and new contributors

"Don't really know much about some of the injuries. I know Matt Bailey sustained a shoulder [injury], but I think he'll be back with us sooner than later. It's good to get a lot of guys out there. I thought Juice [Jaheim Clarke] came in and did some really nice things today. Jojo Hayden, Saboor [Karriem] – you got three guys there that really haven't played a lot of football. I think Miles [Scott] had 10 tackles, I think Saboor had seven. I think JoJo maybe had seven. So really excited for those guys to come in.

On the offense's performance and the running backs' response to lost fumbles

"Our offense, I can't say enough for Barry Lunney, our offensive coaches, Bart Miller and the offensive line, to kind of respond and do what they did, to put up the numbers rushing. And then, obviously, the adversity that Kaden [Feagin] and Ca'lil [Valentine] faced ... you know, I grabbed Kaden at halftime, I said, 'Hey, man, it's behind us; what's behind us is behind us. We got to go forward,' and to see him, rip off that screen pass and run away from some of those defenders, all 255 pounds of love from Atwood High School, is just absolutely awesome. So super-excited about that."

"Our reputation was put on this field, and I think we answered it." 🔥@JennyTaft spoke with @IlliniFootball HC Bret Bielema following the teams' remarkable win over USC. pic.twitter.com/MeePRrenmi
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 27, 2025

On bouncing back from the Indiana loss

"I think that game Saturday was just so out of sorts, you know. ... There's a million things I couldn't control this week. The one thing I could control is my mouth and my response and the things that I do, and I teach that. We teach that every day in our program, right? Like, you can't control anybody else, but you can control you. What's your response going to be?

"I said on Monday ... this program wants to be a winning football team, right? Championship-level team. And championship teams do three things: They run the ball, defend the run and cover kicks, and that has to come out. And I can't go over that every day. That's going to be a staple. That's part of who we are, right? It's like getting up, brushing their teeth. It's just going to happen. It's got to happen, right? And I thought that happened this week in our preparation. It was a mindset I know, playing these guys, we knew that we were going to play a certain type of style, and instill our will."

On Luke Altmyer's performance

"Luke just kind of, he's a gamer. But also, what you see in practice, he's just incredibly resilient. Me, [reserve quarterbacks] Ethan [Hampton], Carson Boyd, [co-quarterbacks coach] Art [Sitkowski] and obviously Luke had a meeting yesterday afternoon on end of half, end of game. Luke studies end of half, end of game and reports to all of us. And when I got done, when they scored that touchdown, I knew we had a strong minute and a half, or whatever was left on that clock, with two timeouts. I'm like, there's nobody in this country that I'd rather be on this field with than Luke Altmeyer."

Luke Altmyer did it all in No. 23 Illinois’ walk-off win over No. 21 USC 🤩

📍 @ifs x Critical Moment pic.twitter.com/jP0TtbthEg
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 27, 2025

On David Olano, who drilled the game-winning walk-off kick against USC

"So David has been incredible. We talk about reputation. The first time I saw David kick live – I'd seen him kick on film – but when I saw him kick live and I saw the way that ball just comes off his foot and goes in the air and the sound of it. ... Jamie Kohl is a guy that I respect in this business, and he saw him kick live, and he's like, 'Bret, that kid's got a special leg.' And it's really been good, but he hasn't really ... We had the one [big kick] last year, but I just knew he just doesn't miss in those moments, right?

"And you know, the part that was awesome during the course of the week, he's really the first kicker that I kind of let him call his shot, right? Where do you want to put it? And he's always usually stressing himself pretty hard, but he loves that left middle spot, and to have that play out, to have it show up, there was no doubt in my mind it was going through."

David Olano was a pretty popular guy after that big time kick. #Illini pic.twitter.com/2kcTU4x28Y
— Scott Richey (@srrichey) September 27, 2025

On the offensive line solidifying against USC

"Well, I saw the emphasis on some of the things we do well up front, some of the combo doubles, some movement at the line scrimmage. I just thought we were playing too much in our backyard, we needed to play more in their backyard. So we worked all week. I thought Bart, during Tuesday and Wednesday indie drills. I could tell he was excited, just the way he was talking to his guys and the way those guys were responding to me about the way we kind of game-plan and things. There were some things, game-plan-wise, we wanted to see our demeanor come out. And the way it played out, even at the end of the game there – I don't know how many rushes we had on that last drive – but for us to to win the game by running the football on a two-minute drive, that says something, right? So just really, really good play there."

On Illini fans showing out for homecoming

"Here for homecoming, the fans showed up in a big way. I thought that stadium was just electric. Our students were phenomenal. So this, this is what college football is about – and, thankfully, here at Illinois. And hopefully we're not going anywhere soon."

YES!!! 🧡💙 pic.twitter.com/t9PjuY9qJs
— Josh Whitman (@IlliniAD) September 27, 2025