CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - No coach will say there's a good time to lose a game, but for the Illinois football team, the bye week couldn't have come at a better time.
Now that Head Coach Bret Bielema and the 24th ranked Illini are several days removed from their road loss to now 7th ranked Penn State, they've had more opportunities to digest the game and what went wrong.
"Because we have a bye week, you can't normally do this during a season, but you view the game so much differently," Bielema said. "Saturday, flying home, that's one thing. Sunday, to view it again is another thing. I watched it Monday and Tuesday. I literally couldn't sleep, eat, or digest what was happening on Saturday after the game. There's definitely an advantage to the days removed."
Since being named Illinois' Head Coach, Bret Bielema has never lost a game coming off a bye week. He's notched wins over Penn State, Nebraska, and Minnesota dating back to 2021.
The Illini return to action on October 12 when they host Purdue. Kickoff is at 2:30pm.
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