Illinois' head football coach shared his thoughts on making Gies Memorial Stadium a more intimidating place to play.
Illinois football is preparing to face the Duke Blue Devils this Saturday and coach Bret Bielema has been thinking about ways to make life more difficult on visiting teams.
Bielema commented on the Fighting Illini's student section Thursday, sharing his thoughts on a change that he believes could improve it significantly.
Bielema's idea could help ramp up crowd noise at Gies Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, which could create an even bigger home field advantage going forward in the non-conference and beyond.
Sep 3, 2026; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema during the second half against the UAB Blazers at Gies Memorial Stadium. Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images Bielema Thanks UI Student Section
Bielema thanked the University of Illinois' student section for their strong showing against the UAB Blazers in week one, an Illini victory, while also sharing his plan to make his team's stadium even louder and more intimidating.
Bielema would like to see more students on top of opposing teams' sidelines to rain down noise throughout the game.
"To have that stadium be filled and to have it be electric, you know again I just can't say enough about our student section," Bielema said according to Glenn Kinley of WCIA-3 Champaign.
"I thought last week was just awesome to look up and see it. And then the spillover here on the visitor side, I think eventually if we could put all the students over there it would be pretty awesome.
"There's a great picture of Brandon Lloyd when he was here as a player in front of the student section when the students were behind the visitor's bench, and that's just a very imposing, it's a different thing to handle on the road to be honest, for a visiting team.
"So hopefully the more we can continue to grow that, but yeah, super excited," Bielema concluded about the Fighting Illini's home field advantage.
Illini Welcome Eget, Blue Devils Saturday
The Fighting Illini student section will do its best to make life miserable for Duke head coach Manny Diaz's team this Saturday, a team whose defense showed its teeth against the Tulane Green Wave last weekend in a 17-3 victory.
The Devils are led by transfer QB Walker Eget, who came to Durham, North Carolina, with two straight 2,500-plus-yard seasons at San Jose State under his belt.
Playing on the road against a Big Ten opponent is something Eget is not used to, which could play into the hands of defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck's unit on Saturday.
Expect Hauck and the Fighting Illini to blitz Eget, hit him and make him uncomfortable in an effort to throw him off his game after a pedestrian 131-yard opening game performance last week showed his vulnerabilities.
Illinois has the team, and the crowd support, to win comfortably on Saturday, but it's going to take a precise and hard-nosed effort from Bielema's team. Another strong fan turnout in Champaign would definitely help as the Fighting Illini look to secure their second win of the young season, even with the majority of the students on the wrong side of the field in Bielema's eyes.
