The Bret Bielema Show 09-11-24
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Inside Fighting Illini Athletics
The Bret Bielema Show 09-11-24
- One, two, three. - Welcome to the Brett Bielma Show. On the Busei Bank Alignai Sports Network from Leafield, presented by Bud Light. Easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Also brought to you by U of I Credit Union, the Illinois Signature Cashback Card, introducing cashback with the official credit card of the Fighting Alignai. Carl, the official healthcare provider of the Fighting Alignai. Coke Zero Sugar, is Coke Zero Sugar the best Coke ever? Try and decide, and buy. State Farm, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Now, here's the voice of the Fighting Alignai, Brian Barnhart. - Hey, good evening everybody. Welcome to another edition of the Brett Bielma Radio Show, presented by Bud Light, a proud sponsor of Illinois Athletics. Easy to drink, easy to enjoy. We're here at the Henry Dale and Betty Smith Performance Center, and the football offices here at the University of Illinois, and ready for homecoming is the Alignai take on Central Michigan, coming up at 11 a.m. on Saturday. We're here every Wednesday, and good to be back with coach, after a big win. Last week, that was fun. - Lot of fun. - Well, I know you can probably tell around town when, after a big win like that, any big win. - Yeah. - It means the whole experience of the game. It's great to win it, but also just having the experience. - Yeah, you know, in a previous life where I worked somewhere else, I worked for a guy who actually had a statue named after him after he was a head coach, and one of the favorite things that I'd learned under him is, he said one of the, and it was actually memorialized on his tribute was, thanks coach for a job well done, right? And he kind of talked about as a head coach, you would go around and there was nothing more fulfilling than to have somebody you didn't know come up to you and say, hey coach, good job well done, right? And I think not the exact same thing, but I really enjoy, you know, not the accomplishment for our players and coaches, which is a huge deal and a lot of fun, but just to see so many people have an experience that they take home with them, not just the win, but the day itself, said it last week, said it in a press conference, like to say thank you to everybody in the, you know, the university, especially the department at Energy Collegiate Athletics, Josh Whitman, his whole crew to have that environment, to have the stadium filled and to make that moment, that memory go for a long ways is pretty awesome. - Yeah, it's really cool when it merges together 'cause you guys are doing your work. - Yeah. - And then everybody else is putting together that whole experience and when it merges together like that, it's pretty cool. - You know, we had over, last week was a wreck, I think we had like 160 recruits in. I think we're over 200 for this one with all their guests and everything. So these have been awesome, but obviously the game got done, I had to go do a press conference with first radio with you and your crew and then the media and then there was recruits and then about 11 o'clock, whenever we were getting ready to go, Jen said, hey, you wanna stop by? There's some people, some of our staff were tailgating. So I said, sure, and the buses pulled out. Okay, you, I waited for them to clear in. So we were sitting there, I celebrate and having some fun and I got a chance to go sit in Robert's truck that I had seen on social media. - Oh, that's a fire truck? - Got to see the fire truck and ring the bell, which are ring the horn or whatever the hell I was doing. So it was kinda fun to have that little moment and actually got home and watched the end of the Oregon game. Got home and watched some big 10 football, which is the only usual to say. So it was all around pretty good day. - Yeah, late night, big 10. - It's crazy, yeah. Like I was talking to AJ Eads who's kind of like the, you know, assistant commissioner for football and he congratulated me on the game on the win and I had a bunch of texts and everything. I hit him back on Sunday and he said he was in there from 10 till two in the morning 'cause now they got him from east coast to west coast and everywhere in between. So it's a different world. - Yeah, there's a college football coach. How many texts do you get after that? - There was a bunch. - We talk in 500? - Yeah. - I mean hundreds and hundreds. - I think on this one I had, I think I had right near 80 and on my other one I think I had about another 120. - Okay. - But, you know, my old phone has numbers from when I was at Whisco, when I was at Arkansas, when I was at the Patriots, when I was with the Giants. So it's kinda just a litany, you can almost kinda tell. It took me, I think till Wednesday, I tried to respond like, I do like 10 at a time. So if I didn't got back to it, I promise I will. But yeah, it's a lot of fun. - Well, it's Illinois and Central Michigan. We'll be talking homecoming during the course of this week, of course, the match up with the Chippewa's there from Central Michigan. Got a great crowd tonight. I think our Learfield folks have the slips of paper. They'll pass around. We'll get to our audience questions in a little bit. I know they've got that somewhere. And later in the show, we'll talk to two of the stars from the other night. Have you come up with a name for these guys yet? It works. Scott, I'm not gonna force anything. I'm out of the name business. I tried to do a few things, but I didn't see Xavier and Miles pop in over there in the entryway. So really excited for those two, two really very talented players who are extremely intelligent. Just can't say enough about who they are, what they represent, and obviously really good players. - Yep, big game for them. Combined 17 tackles, three interceptions. There was a pick six in there, a forced fumble. - Yeah, I think they did. - I mean, it's both in the top three and interceptions in the country. I think Miles has got a string of three straight games with an interception. Obviously, Xavier had a game of the ages and hopefully more to come for both of them. - Yeah, so big games for those guys. Big game passing or receiving, both for Zakari Franklin. We saw a lot of him in that game. He had, you've seen many one-handed catches like that? - Yeah, from him, yes. What we saw in practice. You know, one of the more satisfying things for us as coaches is just a lot of what we've seen at practice is what we're seeing on game day, right? And either to Miles and Xavier's credit, right? Like, those guys obviously have some interceptions, but those players they're making, they aren't just routine, you know, catching in the fans, right there. They're both of them are making finger-tech catches. Miles in particular, both his catches have been incredible reading breaks, high points. Both Xavier's were, one was a route that was kind of a little bit over behind him, fingertip catch behind his head. And then the pick six was just an incredible read reaction. He saw what was happening. He read it and in a lot of times as defensive players, if you hesitate one split second, it can be the difference between a tip ball and an interception or a tip ball and a pass breakup and just really good execution by both those guys about making the play and making it happen. - Yeah, I mean, I'm guessing that shows what that interception, the pick six, shows how much film work. You see it coming, you're prepared, you're ready to make the play. I mean, that just doesn't happen without work. - You know, we really stress, I think, you know, young men in today, they, you know, kind of follow the lead of other people, right? So one of the things we're always stressing is how you, how you do one thing is how you do everything and how you prepare and both Xavier and Miles and maybe you can hit him on it later. Those two guys probably are one of our top two or three best guys the way they prepare every day, right? They were too big into about how they enter the building, how they put themselves, how they put themselves in a position, their film study, their preparation. Both those guys do a tremendous lot of work in those buildings, those classrooms right across the hall, like in our building here, like this main level, this is our academic center, right? For us in football, these are all the meeting rooms, the football position groups right across the hallway and those guys put in a lot of time to make Saturday happen by what they do during the course of the week. - Yep, it's gonna be important to continue that. The Alana coming off the 23-17 win over Kansas on Saturday night. Next up, Central Michigan, we'll talk about them a little bit, get your questions in as well, as we join you tonight from the Henry Dale and Betty Smith Performance Center here at the University of Illinois. Again, tonight's game or tonight's game, tonight's show, I guess it's a game too, proud sponsor of Illinois Athletics, easy to drink, easy to enjoy, back with a coach in a moment on the B.C. Bank, a line-ice sports network from Learfield. (bell ringing) - Some days you hit snooze, but not today. Today you have to go on a run to get burgers for the tail game. You've gotta haul something heavy, a cooler stocked with Bud Light. You've got beer and football, nothing is hard, until the other team scores. Bud Light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Enjoy responsibly, 21 Plus, copyright 2024 and Heizer Bush, Bud Light beer, St. Louis, Missouri. 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Bunch of bushels from bags, huh? You betcha. That's a breakthrough bean to boggle the brain. Bill, Bruce, best we give it a break. An innovative seed packed with in-list E3 trade technology and award-winning varieties for yields that keep growing and growing. Zetavo is seed-done right. Always read and follow label directions. - Diamond formation, third and five, a little away from their own 30, need to first down. And a snapback, maybe off-side's free play, throw it left. All-mire Franklin. What a one-handed catch down the left sideline to the Jayhawk 30-yard line. What a catch by Franklin. From the 32-yard line is where those snap-it, 50-yard attempt for David Alano. Backback. Kick on the way. Is it good? It looks good. It is good. David Alano from 50-yard's out. Yeah, some of the scoring, at least done by David Alano. He was three of three from field goals, including that one by him from 50-yard's. We're back on the bread. Beat him a show presented by Bud Light. Illinois's went over Kansas, 23-17, from 50 against a win. Yeah, I had him at, you know, during pre-game you usually get a feel from him or the holder or the coaches that are involved in a kicking game like how far out both ways. And I only had him as a 45-plus, which meant like 45 you feel good, but probably not plus. And I looked at him and I could just tell by the way he was looking at me in a way to focus. I said I'm going to let it rip here. And so let it happen. And obviously a big play in the game. And then really the one at the end of the game, even though it wasn't as far, you know, middle of the game. I'm sorry, it was in between the hashes, so a lot of times kickers are kicking off the hashes. So those middle center cuts aren't exactly easy. And so to put it through and then that obviously forced them into a touchdown situation. If you didn't make that, they could kick a long field goal to, you know, tie it up. So really, really good by David, great protection, great snap, great old, really good performance overall. I know in baseball a manager will ask the catcher what do you think how the pitchers do? Yeah. Is it the same way with a kicker? You asked the holder? I also really, I kind of ask the other kickers, right? And one of the things we all say in our program a lot is like, I know you want to have success, but we want to have success, right? So you know, I want kickers to tell me probably higher than what they really can because you want to feel confident in what they're doing. You don't ever want to turn to a kicker and him be like, I don't know, right? Like that's just not a great moment. So I never ask the kicker, right? Like I never, the only thing we'll ask the kicker is sometimes like for us, if we're inside a certain yard line, we'll do a guard over, which means they move the ball off the hatch and go an extra man over and sometimes, sometimes they want that, sometimes they don't want that. So that's the only time we're really asked to kick or anything. Yeah. And he is a confident young man. David's very confident. Yeah. You told me last year he said, you know, you talked about maybe with your red shirt, whatever he goes, I'm going to kick. Yeah. He was kicking off all last year. Yeah. He said, I don't need a red shirt. That's exactly what he said. Yeah. So again, as a kicker, you really, really appreciate a guy that thinks that way. The great thing we have going, obviously, you've seen child kick off, but we have two kickers that I think are probably good, 50 plus in normal situations. So really, really excited about the opportunity. What do you think of Luke Altmeyer's game? You know, you know, Luke continues to be impressive. I think he probably did some things that I've, we've seen, you know, there was a second and a long that he scrambled for a first down, what in a scramble was a draw, but just really good opportunistic. And then I made reference earlier in the week. Like one of the biggest plays in the game was a third and long that he kind of scrambled to his left, dumped it to Kate and Fagan. You know, I think a lot of people were, you know, thinking Kate and Fagan's going to rush for X number of yards and all this, but I don't think they would have had that on their bingo card to have a third and long completion of Kate and Fagan. And then he did a nice job of converting it. Obviously, deep ball throws. He's done a really nice job all the way from last January to where we are today. I think him and Zukari and Pat Brian Malik have really done a nice job of connecting on some of those long ball throws and hopefully more to come. This comes with experience, but you can tell with Zukari, he just, he knows where to go. If you're running a slide, he's there. He knows where the first down marker is. He knows how to get his feet in. I mean, it's just a lot of experience there. I know you had Pat in here last week, but Pat and Zukari are probably, in my opinion, two of the more higher football IQ guys I've ever been around at that position. They, I think if you ask Luke, he would tell you like, especially in adjustment to routes, right? So a lot of times you'll call route. Maybe it's a, you know, a 15 yard over, whatever it is, a 12 yard comeback. They know how to play off of the defender and, and the quarterback, when you're a quarterback, you see the defenders, right? You see your receiver. You see the defenders. But a lot of times as a receiver, the DBs are behind you. So you can't have a full understanding, but they, Zukari does a really nice job and Pat, they understand how they are playing and they know to take the route a little skinnier, maybe a little wider, a little shorter, a little longer. And then both of them just obviously have exceptional hands. Talked about the Scott guys and all they did, a guy that I thought had a good game too was routes. Yeah. He was in on a lot of plays. Jack's back. Yeah. Well, three of those runs best to him. So, you know, he played a number of reps, Dylan Rosiac, you know, continued to have a really good game. Another guy defensively, really two guys up front, Dennis Briggs had a really, really good game, had a penalty earlier for the, for the rough and the passer, which I really didn't agree with, but that was, that was, you know, fun to see him get to the quarterback, makes a place. And T. Riot, where's our nose guard, really had a pretty good game overall. So, in the backhand, along with the Scott brothers, Kayla Patterson, really continued to show up and make good plays. So excited about those guys and then got it, you know, I'd give a lot of credit to at this point, Aaron Henry, our defense coordinator, just to, you know, put together that plan, our defensive coaches in general, I've been really, really pleased with their growth, their development and excited to see where they go this weekend. As you worked your way up the ladder of coaching and then became a coordinator, talk about what how that's different from being where you're a position coach and all that kind of goes into that. What you have to, you know, I think any coach, when you, you know, remember the first time I sat in a meeting room, I was in the back left corner and I said, I can't wait to sit up front, right? And you dream of that moment, but as a assistant coach, you kind of focus on your position, your group, your unit, and when you become a coordinator, you got to think about the big picture and all of a sudden, everything else matters, right? And, and when you become a head coach, it's obviously tenfold. But the one thing I think Aaron from last year to this year, he just understands or has a better appreciation about what's coming, what's, a lot of times it's, it's, it's understanding what it, what an offense might do, what you've seen them do. But a lot of times it's what you can forecast, they're going to do based on what we're not good at. My most offensive coordinators try to expose your weakest, weakest, weakest moment, right? So if it's a weak player, if it's a weak scheme, if it's a weak adjustment, you have to have the foreshadow to kind of take that on before it happens and this game this year was classic a year ago in the Kansas game, they manipulated some formations, some different techniques to take advantage of it and this year the answers were all on our sideline. It's almost like teaching a teenager to drive. You can tell them all about it, but until you do it and you'd look, okay, this is what this is where I can learn. This is how I can. The only people I've taught to drive is a five and a seven year old and it's a tricycle. I haven't got the car, but I can see where you're coming from. Yeah, that's right. Well, they got an electric car there. Actually, pretty lie bad. I can't believe that they're pretty good at it. But yeah. Well, that's good. All right. We'll take some questions from our audience coming up. We'll talk central Michigan here in a bit. Little later we'll have, they're not brothers, but they've got the same last name. We'll call them the Scott brothers Xavier and Miles, they'll be with us in a little bit. All of that straight ahead as we continue getting ready for a homecoming. Don't forget tonight's game coming up. The game on Saturday against central Michigan, our game sponsor is Carl Health, the official health care provider of the Fighting Alumni coming up 11 a.m. on Saturday. Back in a moment. Brad B of the radio show from Learfield. Seeking quality materials for your upcoming project, Kirchner Building Centers is here to help. Our sales team excels in handling all your special order needs from custom cabinetry to unique siding windows and doors, no matter how specialized your request, we'll work with you to find the perfect solution. 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Oh yes sir. Toyota Trucks. Toyota. Let's go places. Which schools will take home the prestigious Learfield Directors Cup as the top college athletic programs for the 2024-25 college athletic season? You can follow the standings of your favorite team or alma mater at L. Directors Cup on Twitter and online at thedirectorscup.com. Trophies will be awarded in June 2025 to the winning institutions in all college sports divisions. Your field directors cup, the crowning achievement in college athletics. Two out of five, back to pass, throwing a left, intercepted, saving your Scott's got it. He's got a pick six, pick six, touchdown, touchdown Illinois! How do you like that? Money in the bank, Saviors Scott picks it off and runs it in, touchdown Illinois! They lead 12-10, boy did he read that perfectly. Yes he did. And Xavier Scott with a pick six, and that was big because that was right before half. Yes. And they were, we weren't sure what they were going to do. They run that reverse and you use the time out and eventually you get that with the late. So then you get the ball again to start the third quarter. Yes, we actually won the toss and deferred so the week before we had decided to take the ball out of the coin toss but this week we played defer and wanted to be able to chance the double dip coming out of the half and obviously to get that score right in before the half was a big, big, big moment. All right, central Michigan the opponent, the coach there, Jim McIlwain is a guy who's been in the SEC before. He was the coach of the year in the SEC, right with Florida. Yeah, McIlwain, when I was at Arkansas he was there, I got to know each other quite a bit and then a lot of respect for him and who he is and then he's been in central Michigan I believe this year five, maybe year four or five, Coach Aiki the decordinator and I know each other, he's been the head coach at Idaho a long time that just really, really good coaches, fundamentally sound. Obviously the Mac conference and what they bring every week you saw last week with Northern Illinois and Notre Dame, their conference that plays big 10 or big time football weekend and week out and do very, very well so excited about the opportunity. Well, central Michigan to show you how good they've been over the years, six of the last nine years they've played in bowl games. Absolutely. So that's, I mean that's a consistent. Yeah, two years ago they were really good. Yeah, 21, right? Yeah, yeah. Last year I believe what they five and seven, five and seven, you know, played Toledo that we played a year ago that Toledo went on to win 10-11 games, they played them to a one score game to a late in the fourth quarter, played Notre Dame to a two score game and a fourth quarter late, it was one score got further to two so a year ago they were right on the door of doing something really special. So excited about the opportunity, I know our guys have put in a good week of work. We got a big work day tomorrow, earlier in the week they were talking for some showers on Saturday but that's kind of moving out a little bit but we'll see whatever, whatever comes in, obviously a big homecoming opportunity for everybody on Saturday. Yeah, I think your chief of staff checks the weather, right? Well, I check the weather too. You know, I just, I like to, one of the things I'll do, so we have a staff meeting every day at 6.30 in the morning, right? And what I do is, the first thing I'll say, we'll talk about practice but I'll talk about what's the weather going to be like at 9.30 when we take the field today versus 11 o'clock on Saturday and last week it was almost merry enough, perfect because we practiced in the morning and it was kind of almost the same temperature where it is. Last week we were playing a game, we started at 7, right? The sunset was at 7.18, so I knew that we were going to kind of have almost the same same opportunity, so yeah, we tracked that stuff pretty real. Well and to show you how close the coaching, how tight it is, you mentioned Coach McIlwain last year. Now he's not there now but their offensive coordinator was Paul Petrino who was here with Ron Zuck several years ago. So I mean it's just, there's a lot of familiar names that you run into a lot and the Petrino brothers of course have coached all over the place. Yeah, I've replaced Bobby at obviously when he was at Arkansas but very well thought of coaching. Coach McIlwain in his own right, you know, obviously been a very successful coach, had coach in Florida and obviously doing a great thing in the sense of Michigan. Colorado State, he was out there before McIlwain was, lives in a barn I'm told. Have you heard that? Yes, I do not know. Apparently somebody built a barn and then he lives in the bottom floor and then he has a second floor I'm told whereas if they win, he invites the public to come and watch games on TV and hang out in his barn. I think that's a great one for him, I will not be doing that. So that was, I'm lucky to get by to my basement to watch games. Tell me about their quarterback who was a transfer from Iowa, but they played one game at Iowa. You know, it's kind of the world of college football now, right? Obviously Luke for us as a transfer, you know, the world that we're living in, quarterbacks, you know, that's why I give a lot of credit to our number two, Donovan Leary. He's a guy I know last spring, had some things, some conversations and he's doing an incredible job for us overall, but yeah, he's a very optimistic quarterback. Their season kind of at this point, you know, they won their opener against Center Connecticut. They went up big and then went down to Florida International and things got a little bit sideways early, so game got a little bit skewed, but they've kind of had two games, kind of completely different environments, but yeah, he can throw the ball around very opportunistic. They got a group of water severs a tight end. They got a couple running backs there. They're very good up front. Their center is a really good player. So we got our work cut out for us for sure on Saturday and like us, they play a lot of running backs. Yeah, they do. They rotate a lot of guys through. Yeah, they keep them fresh. You know, kind of two guys a little bit similar, the other guys a little different, but they got a good change of pace guys well. Yeah, anything defensively jump out of the style, you know, they're four down quarters, but they place a man, they rotate. They do a really good job. They play some three down now too. So they're multiple up front. They do a really good job of disguising their coverages. I actually met her earlier today with our quarterbacks and, you know, those guys, you know, they made reference to how well they hold their looks, their disguises. The head coach, the defense coordinator coach, he's a guy that has been a head coach. So I think he, he's a guy that, you know, understands the moments that take advantage of and try to also foster the moments to be protective, doesn't really put his offense in bad situations. And, you know, they really try to play the game as it should be played and play with the good fundamentals, their kids play extremely hard and very physical and they don't beat themselves. When you're watching a team, like you mentioned, the game went sideways for the six turnovers in the game. Yeah. Can you glean much from that? Or you just kind of as far as, because they had a bad game. Yeah, but for the first half, it was pretty, you know, it was a, I mean, there were some things going on. But what I usually do is kind of piece things together, even in the beginning, when there isn't a lot of turnover, right, even though they change their offensive play call, their defensive coordinator, so I really, for this game, I used really about four games from a year ago and then the two halves from this year. And then situation of football, I used all 12 games from a year ago, because sometimes you only get into certain situations, you know, maybe six, seven, eight times a game a year. So, and then one of the things I love to do on Friday nights, when we get done with our team meetings, the coordinators and a small group of my coaches come up and then I have like 120 to 150 play edit that just kind of throws at them the game as I see it maybe playing out, right, like for us, they're coming here to our place like last year, they went to Notre Dame, they went to Michigan, they went to visit it, a power five program, so I tend to concentrate a lot on those type of games, because usually those play out very similar to the way we play, so that's kind of a little chess game, but it's something that keeps me intrigued. And plus, I like throwing curve balls at my coordinators on Friday night, because then we can kind of talk about how we want to play the home. Well coming week, special time in Champaign Urbana, beyond the many activities happening throughout the celebration, experience Champaign Urbana welcomes you back, encourages you to explore the many new restaurants, shops and amenities that make our community brilliant. They have all the resources you need to enjoy to award winning local flavors, our scenic outdoors faces, our vibrant arts and culture scene, check out their website, follow them on social media, subscribe to their newsletter for everything you need to know, learn more and start exploring at experiencecu.org. Back with Coach Brad Bielama, questions from our audience coming up, here from the Henry Dale and Betty Smith Performance Center. This is the Brad Bielama show presented by Bud Light on the UC Bank, Alinai Sports Network from Learfield. Listen up Alinai fans, cashback is here with the new Alinai Visa Signature Cashback Card brought to you by the U of I Community Credit Union. 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Up across midfield and down to the Kansas, nearly 40-yard line. Third and 10 Illinois at the 29 of Kansas. Three receivers to the right. 10-20 for the game. Back to pass Almyer. Throw a deep right. Looking for Bryant. He's got it. Inside the five. Down near the goal line. There's Pat Bryant. Yeah, Pat with some big catches late and Alana, I get the win over Kansas. And next up is Central Michigan for a homecoming. We'll talk to Miles and Xavier Scott coming up here in the next segment. Questions from the audience. Scott wants to know, hey, Coach, does anyone let you know pregame that Herb Street was the only guy to pick Illinois? ESPN, did that leak to you somehow? So, truth. When we play a night game, we actually have a brunch that starts at 9.30 and goes to 11. And then we leave right at 11 to go to a walk through in the stadium. So, like I know next week, we played Nebraska at 6 o'clock, so we got to walk through at 12 o'clock on Thursday, day before, but it's Thursday because it's a Friday game. Right. So, it's a Saturday game. I used to go at 10.30, and the guys would be like booing me because I would go before the picks were made, right? So, like, yeah, we literally sit there and watch the picks, and it was funny because everybody kept going Kansas, Kansas, Kansas, and then for me, I want them all to pick against us. That's how I'm wired. Right. Right. And then when Herbie did that, Herbie and I, actually, crazy story, you know, like big 10 media days that happened, you know, so when I was a senior, Kirk was a senior, and used to be downtown Chicago at a Marriott, and I was checking into our hotel, and Jason Breduce Coe was over here, who was the quarterback at Illinois, and Kirk Herb Street was right there checking in, and I introduced myself, and I'm like, "She's wooden." This guy's kind of a nerd, right, like what it was, and so then I met him, and they beat us that year, but then he began his career in broadcasting, and as a sideline reporter for radio, I remember talking to him, I was a young assistant, and so he and I have stayed very, very close throughout the year. And when I got out of the game on Saturday night, literally one of the first texts after the game when it happened was Herbie Street, so we kind of went back and forth. It was pretty funny. Yeah, he pretty much nailed him. He talked about Altmeyer out of a great game, and... Kirk is an extreme, you know, obviously very good at what he does, but Kirk is extremely intelligent. He's a quarterback. He sees the game very well, but what I think separates him, is he doesn't let emotion get involved. He kind of does a really good job of understanding where it is, and what it is, and a very impressive person in what he does. We touched on this a little bit, but Ron says, as a freshman, Valentine looked impressive in the fourth quarter, do you see him playing more, I guess? Yeah. Well, you're a radio partner, right? He asked me as former running back, he knew about, he could see him just in the Eastern Illinois game, and sure enough, I think, you know, I get that word, or running back coach, a lot of credit. You know, I don't, all the time say, you know, I think we ought to play this guy, or I might make a suggestion, but, you know, I pretty much let our coaches coach. One of the things I learned from my predecessors, from my guys that I learned from, is that coaches, if you are a good coach, as you should let them coach, try not to get involved too much overanalyze things, and when he decided to put Khalil in there, I'm, like, I kind of took one of those deep breaths, but he's been really good with the ball, but for what was happening in the game, they were really condensing our reach and our alignments, and Khalil has a really good knack of being able to go full speed forward and straight sideways in a hurry, so that play where he kind of cut it in there and slid behind the offensive line, really, he's probably the best back setup for that, so for that moment, it was a really good call by Thad, and obviously a great execution by Khalil. Gail, what's the note as a full stadium, really have a big impact on the team? You know, not only an impact on the day, but also our prep up into the game, I can't tell you how many times after it was announced, it was a sellout, right, that I talked about making this a big game, so our third team goal was to make it a big ten game, or a big time big ten game in Memorial, right, so I made a point about, we're not just playing a big ten, I wanted to make it a big game in our home stadium, so we used that, literally, they heard that from my mouth every day, from Tuesday through Saturday, even up into our last meeting, just about the environment, it was going to be there when we came into the stadium, you know, again, to use it at halftime, hey, we knew it was going to be a tight ball game, you played 30 minutes, let's put it together, 30 minutes, not only you can remember, but everybody in the stands can remember, and I think it really played out that way. I want to ask, is it a delicate balance to keep the 50 yard plus kickers happy? I don't know what. Oh, do you mean like field goal guys? Field goal guys, yeah, they're always happy, they make a 23 or a 43 or a 53, now I would say David, you saw him when he nailed that 50 yarder, he knew that was in the wind, you know, that was probably a field goal in normal situations, probably was going to be good from 60, so I mean, it really shows what he's capable of doing, he's, now he does David hit the ball extremely well, his ball gets hyped, right, which, when you have a kickers, a lot of times it hits those longer field goals, they drive the ball, which means a lower trajectory, and you can, you can bat him down a little bit easier, but David gets an incredible height, and he lets the, he lets the wind do the work, and that was a really, really good opportunity for him. Rick says, ask coach if he has any good stories with coach Aiki, you mentioned he had an offensive coordinator. Yeah. He's, he's, apparently, Rick knows him, a fun guy and a good defensive answer. Yeah, well, just say we're tough on the same cloth, I'll tell you a bit of that. He's a guy that, you know, I became a head coach in 2006, and he was in that same time frame, and at Idaho, like, when I first got out, I was a head coach in 2006, I didn't know anybody, right, like, I was, I was, kind of, I was 35, 36 years old, didn't know a lot of people, so, when I was at an event, like, I didn't know, and I didn't really rub elbows with all the elite guys, right, so, I kind of gravitated guys that kind of just hung on their own, so coach Aiki and I hit it off at an event, and in Phoenix for head coaches, just a tremendous respect for who he is, what he is, how he handles his business, very, very good football coach, and it's going to be a tremendous challenge on Saturday to play against him. All right, well, 11 o'clock kick off, Illinois in Central Michigan, and congratulations on the 2-0 start, and we'll look to build on another one here as we go there. Congratulations to you, honorary Illinois alum, this week ahead, so, very excited. Thank you. Yeah, it's, I got my acceptance speech ready to go, so. If you read it as loud as that last promo right there, that was impressive. Okay, well good. I'll try to be good, they said keep it three to five minutes, so I'll try to do that. Good luck on that. And Clark is here too, he's being honored, he's this Lulee Gay Spirit Award. I did see it. Been to every game since 1970 something, '77, been to every game. I was seven. Yeah? Since he was seven. So there you go. Well, congratulations to him too, and all the other winners as well. All right, we will come back with our players, Miles Scott, Xavier Scott, coming up next on the UC Bank, a line ice sports network from Learfield. Some days you hit snooze, but not today. Today, you have to go on a run to get burgers for the tail game. You've got to haul something heavy, a cooler stocked with Bud Light, and you've got beer and football, nothing is hard, until the other team scores. Bud Light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy, enjoy responsibly. A 21 plus, copyright 2024, and Heiser Bush, Bud Light beer, St. Louis, Missouri. Premium is proud to celebrate agriculture today and every day, on the field and off. We were founded on the potential of agriculture more than a hundred years ago, and our more than 1,500 employees embraced this heritage as we looked at tomorrow. To learn more about how Premium teams are working to enrich lives through plant-based solutions across the food, feed, and industrial ingredients markets, visit the Premium website at premier.com and follow us on LinkedIn. You have a lot to look forward to, growing your family, opening your own business, retiring to travel, leaving your legacy. 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Oh, what a throw under pressure by Altmeyer, what a catch by Franklin who's been the money man third at 6 Illinois at the 31 of Kansas, 2-33 left leading 20-17 in the fourth man in motion that gave us the Valentine's run to win big hole first down, down to the 21-yard line. Khalil Valentine, nearly 10 yards and he got a first down. All right, part of the action the other night at Memorial Stadium and the win over Kansas. Appreciate Coach being with us here in these first few segments, we've got a couple of players with us here. If you miss any of tonight's show, you can always catch it on demand via our podcast Inside Fighting Align Eye Athletics. Put in, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. All right, the big 10 defensive player of the week is with us. Also got a national honor to Xavier Scott is with us. How are you, sir? I'm good. I'm good. Appreciate it. Yeah. You'll have to coach up miles here now on being on the radio and get him going. You were looking at Aaron Henry there, you know, it's a picture of Aaron Henry here. Yeah. He was playing days, your coordinator. Yeah. He always tried to show us when he'd play, you know, he tried to pull up his old place sometime in the film room, and we just laughed sometime. Yeah. Yeah. The old school guys there, Aaron Henry. So congratulations on a great week. Talk about the prep that went into because I know there's prep involved. When you made that pick six, you obviously had seen something. Yeah. I try to prepare the same way every week, you know, sometimes your opportunity to come more than others. But, you know, I just prepare it, you know, the same way I prepare every weekend and, you know, do you know, this week is just my opportunity where I got, you know, a lot of opportunities to make plays out there, you know, I took advantage of. So on that series, Kansas is late in the first half. They run a reverse to start, that surprised you that they ran a reverse. I mean, they dropped it. I mean, or did you sense they might try something? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They did a little tricky team. So we already knew like they give us a little funky stuff out there. So we wasn't surprised, but I was surprised when they kind of dropped it, you know, lost about 10 yards out there. Yeah. Miles Scott for you too. You can pull that mic up real close. The same thing for you and they started to gamble a little bit there. Oh, yeah, definitely. We see now all week, but those are some of the same things that they were doing last year as well. So that just came with the film still. So when you just kind of described the play as it developed, what you saw, for the pick six I'm talking about. Okay, yeah. So I'm just looking at the formation like the Titan was out the core and I'm like, he usually blocks and you know, we just so happened to me in his own coverage and I'm, you know, just reading a quarter back and just saw him just literally get the ball and look straight at the receiver. So I'm like, oh, this is screaming. As I jumped it, I'm like, oh, he's actually throwing it. And you split. Do you split two guys? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I threw it and I jumped the car. I was just like a different feeling. And after that, I'm like, I'm telling them I was like, I don't even want any more picks. I didn't pick sixes now. That's the total different feeling right there. That's right. Take it all the way to the house. And you two guys combined for a lot of tackles and they had three interceptions. So Miles, what was your interception? I mean, I've heard the high pointing the ball and going up, is that talk about your interception there later on in the game? What you saw? Oh, yeah. So I just knew I was deep. I always need to be deeper than the deepest plan of free safety. So they tried to sit a curl right in front of me, but I know my job like I'm not supposed to bite on that. So I just kept sinking and the quarterback was looking dead at it. So I didn't think that he would throw it because I'm thinking that he sees me right here where he decided to throw it. So I just had to make a play for making that decision. Well, for all of us here that did not play, is that, I mean, you can sense then if he sees you or not, I mean, you were surprised that he was still going to throw it. Oh, yeah, definitely. I definitely was surprised, but I'm glad he threw it. Yeah. That's for sure. Now, a lot of people ask, are you guys related? You're not, right? Because they were, tell me where you're from. I'm from South Florida, so originally River Beach is like, you know, a cup of hours north of Miami. So that's where I'm from. Mm-hmm. And Miles Gorse from the state, right? Yeah, I'm from Delta, Illinois, which is like five minutes south of Chicago. Yeah. Five minutes south of Chicago. So you came from different places, but I know a coach has been trying to come up with some kind of nickname. Have your teammates come up with anything for you two guys? I mean, Scott Towles, you guys clean things up. I did. I've been seeing stuff all like Twitter and stuff, but, you know, I just let the media do it. Yeah. You know, at the end, and someone's going to come up eventually, you know. Yeah. Well, you got more important stuff to worry about anyway. Exactly. Yeah. Tell us about Xavier. We'll start with you, your development from, you know, a guy maybe you didn't play a lot early and then learning how to play this position and play it well. What's the growth been like? Yeah. So I'm just, I'm just grateful and thankful for, you know, just getting an opportunity to come here, you know, just dealt with a little stuff growing up and, you know, just getting high school. I would have to say my platoon is everybody else and, you know, just getting an opportunity coming 2022 was a great year for us, you know, just with the draft picks and the defense on the defensive side of the ball and, you know, just watch a devil with a spring, you know, the quamar is and, you know, sitting in Brown and just, you know, just watching how those guys prep and prepare for every game and, you know, just stepping in that row, my sophomore year, you know, just, I just use everything I learned from the, you know, those guys, you know, just implementing into my game. I was trying to remember, did you make your first start in the bowl game or was that? Am I thinking of somebody? So my first start was actually the Michigan game. Michigan game. Michigan game. Okay. And then I started the bowl game. So those are my two starts. Wow. What a place to start. Exactly. Yeah. The big house. And then miles for you. You were a walk on, right? And then you're a receiver. Yeah. So now you wind up playing the defensive side of the ball. What's that been like for you? Man, I just thank God for the things that happened to me while I was a receiver because in that same Michigan game that we were in, I happened to drop a wide open pass, that game. But I truly believe that if I were to catch that pass and score, like, I probably would think that, man, I'm still going to be playing a receiver or like, I'm like, I'm the best. Like, I probably would have been too big at it, you know what I'm saying? So it's a great thing that that happened to me. I'm a firm believer in like, struggling, like, like, like, I'm going to walk on myself so I have to work for everything to get to this point. So then switching to safety, trying something completely new, I just trusted God, and I trusted my coaches in every day that I've been being taught. And now, like, I don't know, I'm starting to see the fruits of it, I would say. So, yeah. And Xavier, I'm sure for you watching Miles here, switching sides of the ball, I mean, that's not an easy thing to do, but he's come pretty quickly to be a really good safety. Yeah, so he actually asks a lot of questions some time, like, well, that's good, right? No, it's actually a good thing. Like, he's always, you know, trying to learn, like, he's, you know, his prep, he does, like you say, for the game is incredible, you know, he's like, you say, we rule Mason, we've got to be up at about 6.30 and he'd be out the house by five o'clock and no way I'm getting up that early. He's the, he's the early bird in the bunch. Yeah. All right, we'll come back with more with our defensive backs here. We've got Xavier Scott, number 14, Miles Scott, number 10, and they combined for three picks last week in the win over Kansas back in a moment on the Red Villema show presented by Bud Light, UC Bank, a line, I sports network from Learfield. Some days you hit snooze, but not today. Today you have to go on a run to get burgers for the tail game. You've got to haul something heavy, a cooler stocked with Bud Light. And you've got beer and football, nothing is hard until the other team scores. Good light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy, enjoy responsibly. 21 Plus, copyright 2024 and Heiser Bush, Bud Light beer, St. Louis, Missouri. Health is a precious thing. And when it comes to deciding who to trust with yours, you can count on Carl. On your life's journey, count on care beyond our walls with mobile medicine, virtual health and community partnerships delivering personalized care. When you're not sure what's next, count on clinical excellence today because we're researching and investing in the care of tomorrow. And when you need someone by your side, count on highly specialized care close to home. Carl Health will be the neighbor you can count on. Can we cure cancer? What can we learn from history to make it better today? 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Runs to the left. Off balance. Throw. It's intercepted. Xavier Scott picks it off at the 34 yard line of Illinois. How do you like that? He's been all over the field, Kerry Davis. Yes, he has been. It was in that win over Kansas, Xavier Scott with one of his two interceptions for the night. It's Homecoming Week in Champaign. Again, as we face Central Michigan, our game sponsor, Carl Health, the official health care provider of the Fighting Alumni. And also tonight's show brought to you by Bud Light. Proud sponsor of Illinois Athletics. Easy to drink. Easy to enjoy. We heard the interception by Xavier. We got to break. We got an equal time here for Miles Scott. So here we go. With his first in 10, they didn't get it by much, but they got it. Devin Neal in the backfield. Here is the snapback. Daniels. Play action. Throw indeed. Yeah, it was about that. See, now you know how that sounded. Exactly. Yeah, it was pretty cool. So a couple of things left to talk about. You got, first of all, the crowd the other night. You guys have been around long enough. What was that like for you, Xavier, aren't it? Yeah, just an amazing crowd out there, you know, just running out that tunnel, you know, all the fans around there just screaming was amazing to see. And then, you know, after the victory, you know, rest in the field would be a moment, you know, it's a real moment that I don't remember for a long time. It took a couple of minutes to rush the field. It wasn't immediate. Yeah, exactly. But it was kind of a slow release. Exactly. But it got packed pretty quick though. It did. And Miles, for you, the crowd and how that helps you guys defensively if the crowds roar and you're trying to make a big play. Oh, man, yeah, it was different that night, especially on third now, because we need everybody to get loud so the offense can't hear what they're trying to tell each other. And man, it was just crazy seeing, like, from the first quarter, I see everybody in the crowd like I look around and then in the fourth quarter, it looked exactly the same as it did in the first quarter, so that was beautiful to see. Yeah, it really is. And you got Central Michigan coming up. Talk about as you look at them offensively, Xavier, what do you see from them offensively? Yeah, they are a great team, you know. You know, we told the defense, like, we're not going to take any team for granted, even though it may be a lower division team, like, they're going to come here, you know, trying to beat us, you know, they coming off a tough loss against FIU and they're going to do everything that he's supposed to do to come here and beat us. So you see, they got a couple of skill positions, you know, a couple of fast guys, so you're going to be ready to play, come and say, yeah, and they've run, looks like they use a lot of receivers. Yeah. A lot of different guys I've seen it. And Miles, I mean, all you got to do, I'm sure Coach is reminded, and Northern Illinois went to Notre Dame at once, so, man, if that's not a good enough reminder, you've got to be ready. Oh, yeah, definitely. Any given Saturday, like, any team can get beat, so you don't want to go in thinking that you've already won, or you obviously want to go in prepping, like, we're going to win. You want to be expecting a win, but you also have to put in the work to do it and just not look past anybody. I know often in practice, depends on who you're matched up against, but Zachari Franklin, Pat Bryant, Miles will start with you, what's it like going against those guys? I mean, I got to keep my eyes on them, honestly, especially Pat, you know what I'm saying? So, I mean, me playing safety, I just need to always be aware of where 13 and four is if we're ever going in one of the ones, but it makes it extremely difficult because they're both on a separate side of the field, so it's hard for me, but Xavier, I mean, I'm pretty sure he can speak more on them because I don't really guard them. I'm really looking at Luke the whole time. So, what's it like guarding them in practice? Yeah, they're like two totally different people, but they're both, you know, so, like, they have two different, you know, skill sets, but they both can make plays on the ball at any given moment. So, like, when I line up against them, I make sure I'm on my A game at all times, you know. Well, guys, we really appreciate you coming out tonight, I know you didn't have far to travel here with the Smith Center, but we're glad that you're able to do it and keep up the great work. Yeah, appreciate it. Thanks for coming on. Thanks, guys. Very good. Xavier Scott and Myles Scott with us will continue with more here. Final short segment coming up. As we continue here on the Brett Bielman Show, presented by Bud Light, BC Bank Aligni Sports Network from Leerfield. In the heartland, where ambition thrives, there are those who are made and those who are made for more. Just like the Aligni on game day, Klaus, a leading producer of Ag Equipment, unleashes the power of ambition in the view. Discover why our cutting-edge machinery and unwavering support aren't just a promise, they're a commitment to your success. Because at Klaus, we know you are made for more. Visit your Klaus dealer or CLaaS.com. This is Coke Zero Sugar. Could I be the best Coke ever? Try and taste with your ears. Hear those bubbles. Imagine them tingling on your tongue. Busy deliciousness. Listen to that cascading liquid. A mouth-watering waterfall. Here's the silly tasty, zero sugar, crisp, refreshing, and ice-gold. Is Coke Zero Sugar the best Coke ever? Try and decide. Listen up Aligni fans. Cashback is here with the new Aligni Visa Signature Cashback Card brought to you by the U of I Community Credit Union. Earn cashback every time you make a purchase, 5% cashback on gas and travel, 2% back on groceries and restaurants, and 1.5% back on everything else. But that's not all. U of I Community Credit Union will match your cashback earnings up to $150 for the first year. Learn more and apply today at AligniCard.org. When you're in the mood for a cheeseburger, you've got options, cheddar, Swiss, gouda, pepper jack. But when it comes to choosing your seat-corn brand, well, you have fewer to choose from each year. That's why Whiffle's hybrids is determined to keep giving growers an independent choice, a choice that stands for something. So plant your independence with Whiffle's hybrids and top it with a big old slice of American. All right, a couple of minutes to go here before the top of the hour. Again, a reminder, the game on Saturday is at 11 o'clock. So after we've had the late start, six o'clock start, now it's 11. And this will be the last home game, by the way, until early October, October 12 against Purdue. Because you've got to buy a weekend there. You've got two road games coming up at Nebraska on a Friday night to the Nat Penn State on a Saturday. So just remember that. But again, 11 o'clock kick Illinois and Central Michigan for homecoming. This will be the first meeting between the two schools. Aligni played some other schools in the Mac, of course, over the years, Northern Illinois. For an old ball state, they're 2 and 0, Toledo, they're 1 and 0, 3 and 0 against Miami of Ohio. But they have had trouble. Eastern Michigan beat Illinois once, Ohio, a couple of wins, Illinois 2 and 0 against Akron, 2 and 0 against Kent State, and 4 and 2 overall against Western Michigan. And of course, they played Toledo from the Mac last year in a 30 to 28 win in a last second field goal. Again, Aligni with three interceptions, including the pick from Xavier Scott. Those two young men we just had up here combined for 17 tackles, three interceptions, a forced fumble and a sack, Zakari Franklin, of course, your top receiver, nine catches for 99 yards. Central Michigan coach mentioned it. They beat Central Connecticut State 66 to 10 in their season opener. They look 42, 7 and a half and about 500 yards of offense. But last week, they had six turnovers, five interceptions and lost to Florida International 52 to 16. Their quarterback is Joe Labus, season former Iowa Hawkeye, played one game for Iowa in a bowl game in the music city bowl and led them to a win over Kentucky in that. And it's interesting, Central Michigan in that game against FIU last week actually had more total yards and first downs, but of course, the turnovers is what blitzed them. They had 10 penalties and six turnovers and that will get you beat. So that's a little story on Central Michigan. All right. Homecoming. We'll see you at the stadium coming up on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Thanks to coach. Thanks to Xavier and Miles Scott. Thanks to Ed Bond, Michael Tackett in Jeff City. I'm Ryan Barnard, we'll see you this weekend for Homecoming, Go Alight Eye. [MUSIC] This has been the Brett Bielma Show on the UC Bank Alignai Sports Network from Lee Field, presented by Bud Light. Bud Light. Easy to drink. Easy to enjoy. So brought to you in part by Carl, the official healthcare provider of the Fighting Alignai. Coke Zero Sugar is Coke Zero Sugar, the best Coke ever. Try and decide. State Farm. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. And by U of I credit union, the Illinois signature cashback card, introducing cashback with the official credit card of the Fighting Alignai. The preceding has been a Learfield presentation on the UC Bank Alignai Sports Network. 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