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Big Ten Availability Report vs. Tennessee pic.twitter.com/lKV1NDQ664
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) December 30, 2025
Illinois’ availability report for the Music City Bowl is a combination of injuries, opt outs and players who are in the portal. There weren’t really any surprises. The only “new” injury was Brayden Trimble, but the Illinois freshman wide receiver has spent a good chunk of this month in a boot.
So the Illini are as healthy as they expected to be ahead of today’s game against Tennessee. Not that their injuries and opt outs won’t play a role. Someone (if not multiple players) will have have to fill in for Matthew Bailey at strong safety. The same is true for Gabe Jacas at outside linebacker. And Idaho transfer Nathan Knapik is going to be throw in the deep end at left tackle with J.C. Davis opting out.
But that’s what the past few weeks have been about. That Bailey, Jacas and Davis wouldn’t play was known. We’ll if the bowl game practices did enough to get the backups ready.
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Good afternoon from Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. The current (i.e. old) Nissan Stadium, with the Tennessee Titans in the process of building their new football home right next door.
Kickoff for the Music City Bowl between Illinois and Tennessee is roughly 2 1/2 hours away. The News-Gazette is on site — both Scott Richey and Bob Asmussen — to provide even more coverage from Music City.
The vibes in Nashville? One program seems invested in leaving town with a win. The other kind of gives off the feeling they’d rather be anywhere else.
Illinois is the former, with its fans showing up in large numbers in the run-up to the bowl game. Now, Tennessee fans have an easier trip to make. Maybe the Vols faithful will all just show up today.
But the streets of downtown Nashville were decidedly orange and blue and not orange and white. We’ll see if Illinois can turn that energy — and what sounds like a real desire to take care of business in the game itself — into a second straight bowl win against an SEC opponent and 19 total wins between this season and last.