The first Hail Mary of the 2026 college football season was a doozy.

The Illini may have escaped with a 42-23 win, but this second-quarter sequence may speak volumes of what's to come

Illinois opens its 2026 season at home Thursday night against UAB. The Blazers finished 4-8 in 2025, 12th in the AAC, while the Fighting Illini went 9-4 in Big Ten play. Illinois is a 27.5-point favorite, with the total set at 54.5.

Despite holding the ball for under 19 minutes, Illinois opened the 2026 season with a 42-23 victory over UAB, spoiling Alex Mortensen's head coaching debut behind four total touchdowns from Katin Houser.

UAB didn’t travel to Champaign, Illinois, in search of moral victories, but an early takeaway from its opening game is that the Blazers look vastly improved from last season — despite a 42-23 loss. UAB (0-1) outgained Illinois (1-0),

Katin Houser threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score in his Illinois debut as the Illini defeated UAB 42-23 on Thursday night in a season opener.

The highlight of the night was Houser’s Hail Mary to sixth-year wideout Ty Robinson. One of UAB’s defensive backs had it in his hands but bobbled it. Robinson was right there to take it from him and put six on the board.

UAB finished 2026 at 4-8, including 2-4 under interim coach Alex Mortensen, who was elevated to the permanent job after the season. Illinois went 9-4, beating Tennessee 30-28 in the Music City Bowl. Here’s everything you need to know about Thursday’s game, including a key matchup, storylines and a score prediction.

CHAMPAIGN — Big plays dominated Thursday night for Illinois football en route to a 42-23 win against UAB. A night that improved the Illini to 6-0 in season openers during the Bret Bielema era. But Bielema and his staff will have plenty to pick apart in the next week before Illinois (1-0) hosts Duke at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 12.

The Illini got dinged on D by the Blazers – and Bielema claims it came down to a decision he made