#illini Bret Bielema: Zafir Stewart is the backup center behind Jake Renfro right now. Brandon Hansen has snapped too, and Mike McDonough got some snaps last week.

#illini Bret Bielema: OL TJ McMillen is out for the season with a fractured foot

#illini Bret Bielema: Sundays are never fun after a loss and I want it to be that way. Don't want that to be accepted and becmoe the norm. Haven't felt that way in a long time, since 2024 against Minnesota.

#illini Bret Bielema: We wanted to feel that second-game jump. We had a lot of that but enough didn't happen that we have to take a big step forward this week. A loss usually gives an opportunity for the weak to get stronger.

#illini DC Bobby Hauck: Need to do a better job of block destruction and getting off blocks. Gonna get blocked but can't stay blocked.

#illini DC Bobby Hauck said Grant Beerman lost about 30 pounds with his bout with mono. Has impacted strength.

"Grant's got a bright future, but when that sort of thing happens to you as the season is beginning, you're losing time [in practice] and losing time physically."

#illini DC Bobby Hauck: "I think Will [Holmes] is a matchup problem for anyone."

#illini DC Bobby Hauck: I think there's been a learning curve a bit [in the secondary]. I think Matt Bailey is our best player. I love the way he plays. I can't wait to get in on Sunday morning and just watch him play.

#illini DC Bobby Hauck: I think we can continue to do a better job of winning our one-on-one matchups [up front]. As coaches, we can do a better job of putting them in position t win.

#illini DC Bobby Hauck said he calls the play to the coaches who give the signals to players, and Roger Cooper is the Coach-to-Player communicator who is in the green-dot linebacker's ear up to 15 seconds on the play clock.

Multiple lines of communication simultaneously.

#illini DC Bobby Hauck: Our tackling was significantly better. It was darn good for most of the game. Nate Sheppard is darn good and made a few miss. It needs to continue to improve but it was significantly better this week.

#illini DC Bobby Hauck on Will Holmes offside on 4th down stop: That's on me. We didn't see the hand signal. One of our players didn't see the hand signal correctly. That's on me to make sure everyone knows what the hand signal is.

#illini DC Bobby Hauck: I do like the way our players are continuing to improve. I like the way our guys take adjustments at halftime and execute. I think that's a good sign of football and football players.

#illini DC Bobby Hauck: No one's happy about that game. Played well enough to win in the second half on defense but not the first half. Need to do a better job at end of half. I need to do a better job.

#illini OC Barry Lunney Jr.: He's just making plays. He's got an incredible gas tank. He can go all day long. That infuses a lot of confidence in me and our quarterback. Good things happen when we get him the ball.

#illini OC Barry Lunney Jr.: Probably more targets for Kaden Feagin than the naked eye would see. They just didn't present themselves. Tried to get him involved but just didn't connect. I'm confident that'll come.

#illini OC Barry Lunney Jr.: Both TJ McMillen and Brandon Hansen "did an admirable job" filling in at right guard.

#illini OC Barry Lunney Jr.: We have to run the ball with more efficiency. Didn't average enough yards per carry. When it mattered most, we weren't able to execute enough in that phase.

#illini OC Barry Lunney Jr.: QB Katin Houser is a "guy who gives you a chance to win every week" but like his OC probably wants a few plays back. That's the nature of the position. He did some great things and a few things you'd like to do over.

#illini OC Barry Lunney Jr.: Always plays you want back as a play caller. There was one in a critical moment that I'd like back. It starts with me.

In order to win against good competition, there's a fine line between winning and losing.