How to Watch: No. 11 Illinois Football Faces First Big Test at Duke in Week 2

The quarterbacks may be the stars of the show, but the Illini running backs figure to be the difference-makers against the Blue Devils

Aug 29, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema before a game with the Western Illinois Leathernecks at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Day and time: Saturday, Sept. 6 at 11 a.m. CT
Venue: Wallace Wade Stadium, Durham, North Carolina
TV/Stream: ESPN
Listen: WDWS-AM 1400 and WDWS-FM 93.9 (Champaign)
WLS-AM 890 (Chicago)
Illini Sports Network affiliates (other local markets)
Fighting Illini Mobile App
SiriusXM 382
SXM App

Odds and ends

lllinois vs. Duke all time: 1-1
Streak: Illinois, one win in a row
Last meeting: Illinois 28, Duke 14, Oct. 23, 1965

By the numbers

Team	PPG	PPG allowed	3rd down success %	3rd down % allowed	Red zone scoring %	Red zone scoring % allowed	TOs	Opposing TOs
Illinois	52.0	3.0	44.4	35.7	71.4	100.0	0.0	1.0
Duke	45.0	17.0	55.6	47.1	75.0	100.0	1.0	0.0

Did we really learn much about these teams from just one week, especially given the level of competition faced by Illinois and Duke in their season openers? This much is safe to say: When these offenses are clicking, both teams can put up numbers.

But when compared to the Blue Devils, the Illini – ranked No. 11 and threatening to become an annual Big Ten football stalwart – simply have more top-caliber athletes who also happen to be very well coached. And what isn't indicated in the numbers above is a distinct strength-on-weakness advantage held by Illinois: a deep and dynamic running game (237 yards against Western Illinois) that will be facing a Duke defensive front that was pierced for 163 rushing yards and two touchdowns by Elon. And that's no fluke: The Blue Devils allowed 149.6 rushing yards per game last year.

Pick an Illinois runner out of a hat, and your odds of hitting here are good. But we'll give the nod to Kaden Feagin, a 6-foot-3, 255-pound hammer who will likely find the Duke defense to look very much like a nail. Aidan Laughery started and led the Illini in run yards last week, but Feagin benefits more than anyone else in the Illinois backfield when the offensive line wins hat-on-hat battles, and the coaching staff will likely try to do all it can to put him in positions to succeed as he makes his way back from last year's season-ending injury. Expect Feagin to cross the goal line at least twice Saturday – and perhaps even break the century mark.

Illinois on SI preview

The natural instinct here is to play up the quarterback matchup, but lest we forget: Illinois' Luke Altmyer and Duke's Darian Mensah aren't facing each other, but rather one another's teammates. And besides, if Illini head coach Bret Bielema and offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. have much to say about it, Altmyer will be facing a day of very light work. Running backs Feagin, Laughery and Ca'Lil Valentine, and Illinois' brutish run blockers will be allowed to eat until they've had their fill – or until Duke's D finds a way to stop them. Mensah probably will have to be something close to perfect for the Blue Devils to get over on the Illini – and judging from the performance of outside linebacker Gabe Jacas and the Illinois pass rush last week, that ain't happening.