For the first time in over a decade Illinois fans had a reason to tune into the college football awards show. With several players potentially up for All-American honors and two finalists for individual awards there was plenty to be excited about, but most Illinois fans and players alike walked away with mixed feelings last night. It’s a sign of the good times when you find yourself getting upset on behalf of your favorite team’s players getting “snubbed’ for national awards. From a program standpoint it was a massive success to have multiple All-American selections and position award finalists. Ultimately,…
Author: Caleb Horn
Caleb Horn
Caleb Horn has recently joined the team at Gridirion Heroics. He has been in the Air Force going on six years now. Born and raised in central Illinois he grew up watching the Fighting Illini and Chicago Bears and will be covering his favorite ball clubs for Gridiron.
A magical season of Illinois football is winding down to an end. That means it’s Big Ten Awards season — Big Ten media and Coaches vote on players of the year at each position, coach of the year, and All-Big Ten honors and the Fighting Illini cleaned house this year. All-in-all, 19 players brought home all-conference awards, the most in program history. A season that was for the record books led by the second best defense in the country was rewarded this week with B1G time hardware. In coach Bielema’s two years he has developed a total of 31 Big…
Priority target junior college offensive lineman Keyshawn Blackstock tweeted today that he has listed Illinois in his final 12 schools. The four star lineman, according to 247ports, would be a huge addition to Bret Bielema’s 2023 recruiting class that already features four three-star lineman and four-star running back Kaden Feagin. https://twitter.com/keyshawnblacks5/status/1596181872161202176 Illinois Football has put themselves back on the map in less than two years under the leadership of coach Bielema, nothing would solidify that sentiment more than if the Coffeyville standout chose Champaign as his campus to finish his collegiate career. Illinois flashed for much of the season…
The Bears may have lost more than just a game on Sunday against the Falcons. Quarterback Justin Fields went down in the final two minutes of the game to an apparent left shoulder injury after landing awkwardly on it. Bears fans concerns on Sunday about Justin Fields injury being at least somewhat serious were confirmed Monday. Bears coach Matt Eberflus told reporters in Monday’s press conference that Justin Fields was day-to-day moving forward and that they would know more on Wednesday. Eberflus cited weighing short term and long term consequences in regards to if Fields would play Sunday or if…
In a game they absolutely needed to win to stay alive in pursuit of the Big Ten West the Fighting Illini just didn’t have enough horses to seal the deal against the third ranked Wolverines. Despite the disappointment of the loss, one thing that is certain about this Illinois football team is they love their coach, and they will give any team in the nation a full four quarters. The Illini’s fourth loss of the season was once again by one score. Illinois has lost games by 3, 8, 7, and 2 points this year. A sign that the team…
The Fighting Illini are stuck between a rock and a hard place. After dropping consecutive home games against lesser opponents, Illinois has fallen from in firm control of their own destiny to needing a miracle win at the Big House and Purdue to lose a game against one of the basement dwellers of the Big Ten. Saturday’s 11:00 AM Central kickoff has a lot at stake for both Jim Harbaugh and Bret Bielema’s squads. Michigan is trying their best to avoid falling victim, looking a week ahead to their matchup vs Ohio State and losing a “trap game” against a…
For the second consecutive season Illinois Ryan Walters has been nominated for the Broyles Award. The Broyles award is given to the top assistant coach in college football. The Illinois defensive coordinator has made a name for himself under head coach Bret Bielema. The 36-year old coordinator is just the most recent in a long line of Illinois midseason award nominations. The 2022 Fighting Illini have fielded a top defense this season and the immense success is due to the teachings of their defensive coordinator. Since showing up to campus in 2021, Walters has improved the Illinois defense from 94th…
An Illini team that was able to maintain its health for a majority of the season has watched the wheels come off in the past couple of weeks. The latest hit may be the biggest as head coach Bret Bielema confirmed Illinois Taz Nicholson will be out the remainder of the year with a dislocated wrist. Who Will Illini Turn To? A week after losing backup cornerback Terrell Jennings for the season on the final play of the first half against Michigan State, the Illini will be digging deep in their already limited depth chart to fill in for Nicholson…
Gridiron Heroics partners with Draft Scout to give each school’s Top 5 NFL Draft prospects in the Big Ten. Welcome to a list of the Illinois Top 5 NFL Draft prospects for 2023, as seen by Draft Scout. Each week brings us closer and closer to one of the most anticipated days on the sports calendar — the NFL Draft. This year’s draft will be held in Kansas City, Mo. from April 27-29. Starting today? We take a look at the Big Ten seniors, the class of 2023. Since we don’t know yet which underclassmen will declare? We’ll reconfigure the…
On a cold and blustery Military Appreciation Day and Senior Day at Memorial Stadium, No. 21-ranked Illinois football program took on Purdue, but the rivalry game didn’t go exactly as hoped for the home team. The Illinois offensive attack leaned on its workhorse Chase Brown early and often on the first drive against a Purdue defense that gave up 200 yards to Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson last week. Illinois quarterback Tommy DeVito did his thing orchestrating a steady Illini offense. After that? It was an up-and-down game stymied by untimely penalties and shoddy execution — including a wide-open touchdown…
