Music City Bowl: A look at Illinois

Tennessee and Illinois will close out their 2025 seasons in Nashville, set to play at Nissan Stadium in the Music City Bowl. Both sides are coming off of disappointing regular seasons, both ending up with 8-4 marks.

The Volunteers were in the thick of the College Football Playoff race to start November, but they let things slip away against Oklahoma which knocked them out of contention. Tennessee was then throttled by Vanderbilt to close the year, dropping them to a disappointing four-loss season.

Illinois, which started as the No. 12 team in the preseason AP top 25 poll, saw their season start to come unraveled against Indiana. The Hoosiers destroyed the Illini 63-10 to drop them to 3-1. Illinois couldn’t hang with Ohio State, then took a road loss at Washington. They suffered a bad loss in late November to 4-8 Wisconsin as the Badgers ended up winning 27-10.

With plenty of uncertainty on both sides, which teams will show up in Nashville? That remains to be seen. For now, let’s take a deeper look at Illinois.

8-4 Illinois anchored by veteran quarterback Luke Altmyer

You wouldn’t typically think a Bret Bielema team would be led by a quarterback and a passing attack, but that’s what we have here. Luke Altmyer, a name Tennessee fans know thanks to their brief flirtation last spring, makes this offense go, leading a passing attack that’s ranked 55th in the nation. The efficient passer threw for over 2,800 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. He completed 68 percent of his passes and only threw five interceptions.

Altmyer’s favorite target, Hank Beatty, caught 64 passes for 826 yards this season. Beatty will be a challenge for Tennessee to contain with plenty of questions lingering in the Volunteer secondary.

Altmyer will face another challenge for the first time in a couple of years — playing without first-team All-Big 10 left tackle J.C. Davis. Tennessee will be without star pass rusher Joshua Josephs, but will counter with Caleb Herring and Jordan Ross, who will be trying to get pressure on Altmyer with interim defensive coordinator William Inge calling the shots.

Illinois ranks 81st in total offense, averaging 370 yards per game. Interestingly enough for a Bielema team, Illinois has struggled to run the ball, ranking just barely inside of the top 100 in yards per contest. Stopping the run has been an issue for Tennessee all season long as the Volunteers have given up 146 yards per game on the ground.

“Defensively, obviously, they’re in a transition,” Bielema said of the Tennessee defense. So, really expect a lot of what we saw, but obviously, there is going to be some new wrinkles with a new guy calling it, so we’ll see where that one goes.”

Tennessee matches up well with the Illinois defense

Illinois ranks 79th in passing yards allowed per game, averaging 226 yards surrendered. Making matters worse for the Illini will be two key opt outs — star pass rusher Gabe Jacas and veteran safety Matthew Bailey. That’s going to make things a little easier on Joey Aguilar, who is going to need the help without big-time receiver Chris Brazzell. Radarious Jackson is expected to start in his place, while Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews will man their normal positions. Tight end Miles Kitselman could return as well.

The Tennessee offense will lean heavily on DeSean Bishop, especially with Peyton Lewis in the portal. Star Thomas is still around, but Daune Morris has eaten into his snap count down the stretch. That trio will face Illinois’ 35th-ranked run defense, which is giving up 124 yards per game on the ground.

“Offensively, just super explosive offense,” Bielema said of defending the Tennessee offense. “Obviously, play with great tempo. I’ve never played against Coach Heupel, but have been very, very impressed with his, not just his game calls, but the schematics behind it, but also the use of the clock. Very explosive group overall.

“It was funny, a couple years ago I was at a Nike clinic. I was there to speak, but I got there a couple hours ahead of time. He was speaking so I went and sat in that meeting and really kind of heard him for the first time talk about his offensive philosophy. A lot of what we saw carries over.”

Tennessee remains a 2.5 point favorite. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. ET in Nashville. ESPN will have the call.