James Franklin and his staff have been urging fans to make this Saturday an unofficial White Out. Illinois' head man doesn't seem to care.

As the Fighting Illini look to continue their undefeated season against the Penn State Nittany Lions, coach Bret Bielema spoke of the respect he has for their program dating back to his GA days at Iow

Bielema spoke about previously coaching in Beaver Stadium, “an environment that is one of the best in college football.”

No. 19 Illinois (4-0, 1-0) is 2-11 in the previous 13 meetings, but Bret Bielema’s team did upset PSU 20-18 at Beaver Stadium in 2021, prevailing in a contest that featured nine overtime periods.

The team travels to Happy Valley to take on Penn State on Saturday. Bret Bielema talked about the stakes of this highly anticipated match up as well as what the Illini are expecting to see out of the Nittany Lions.

With last Friday’s victory, Bielema improved to 22-19 as head coach. He’s the first Illini head coach to start .500 or better through 41 games since Lou Tepper.

Former Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema is leading the college football news cycle this morning. The longtime Badgers head coach (2006-2012) led his No. 24-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini to a statement 31-24 overtime victory over No. 22 Nebraska on Friday night. The win moved Illinois to 4-0 on the young season and 1-0 in Big Ten play.

This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: What Nebraska coach Matt Rhule and Illinois coach Bret Bielema said after the Illini upset the Huskers No. 24 Illinois is off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 2011 after defeating No. 22 Nebraska in Lincoln, 31–24.