Illinois

No. 25 Iowa eager to see offensive improvement in opener against FCS foe Illinois State

Published

2 years ago

August 30, 2024

No. 25 Iowa eager to see offensive improvement in opener against FCS foe Illinois State

No. 25 Iowa will unveil what it hopes will be an improved offense under first-year coordinator Tim Lester when it opens the season against Illinois State in Iowa City on Saturday.

Based on his experience from knocking around the Big Ten as a defensive assistant in the 1990s and 2000s, Redbirds coach Brock Spack predicted even if the Hawkeyes’ offense is improved, there won’t necessarily be anything new about it.

Spack quoted the tough-guy title character in the 1971 movie “Billy Jack” to make his point.

“Billy Jack says, ‘You know what, I’m going to put my right foot on the side of your face, and there’s nothing you can do about it,’” Spack said. “That’s Iowa football. They’re going to try to run that outside sprint and inside zone and they’re going to say, ‘There’s nothing you can do about it.’”

The Hawkeyes won 10 games and made it to the Big Ten championship game last year in spite of an offense that ranked at the bottom of the Bowl Subdivision. Brian Ferentz, coach Kirk Ferentz’s son, finished the season as coordinator after athletic director Beth Goetz announced in October he would not be back in 2024.

Lester, hired in January, spent last season as a senior analyst for the Green Bay Packers. The offense may feature more motion and perhaps some run-pass options for quarterback Cade McNamara, but nothing too flashy.

“I think good effort obviously, playing fundamentally sound and not doing things that are going to beat us, would be a good starting point,” he said. “Then if we can get a little momentum going and hit a couple plays, that’s always a good thing, too. That’s usually what it takes for offensive production.”

Wallace is in charge

Head coach Kirk Ferentz will serve a self-imposed one-game suspension along with wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr for committing a recruiting violation

Assistant head coach Seth Wallace, the linebackers coach and assistant defensive coordinator, will take over Ferentz’s game-day duties.

“I would say we want to (win) for him, but at the end of the day, we’re also doing it for our teammates,” defensive back Sebastian Castro said.

Ferentz said there’s no need for the team to rally around his absence.

“We’ve got a good group of guys, and the staff will do a great job,” he said. “To me it’s almost a non-factor. It could be the same thing if I got hit by a truck or something like that.”

Cade says he’s OK

McNamara, who tore the ACL in his left knee in the fifth game last year, made it to game week with no health problems.

“I’ve gotten over it,” he said. “My leg’s not injured. There’s no injury, there’s nothing. This is the best my body has felt, I’m fully confident of that.”

Surprise RB starter

Kamari Moulton is listed as the No. 1 running back on the Iowa depth chart ahead of veterans Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson. Ferentz said Williams has been battling a nagging injury and Moulton merits the job for being consistently sharp at practice. Moulton appeared in four games last season to preserve his redshirt and ran for 50 yards and two touchdowns.

Redbirds’ starting QB?

The identity of Illinois State’s starting quarterback remained a mystery as of midweek. Spack said before preseason practice he’ll likely have a two-quarterback system with 2023 backup Tommy Rittenhouse and Kansas State transfer Jake Rubley.

Thanks for the memories

The Redbirds have played eight games against a Bowl Subdivision team since Spack took over in 2009. Five of those have been against Big Ten opponents, with the Redbirds beating Northwestern 9-7 in 2016. They’ve also knocked off Colorado State (2018) and Eastern Michigan (2012). Iowa will pay Illinois State a $650,000 guarantee.

“What I like about them is it’s a bus ride — you don’t spend a lot of money on an airplane — and the kids in the Big Ten (footprint), most of them are from the Midwest, if not Illinois and the Chicago area. They watched these teams and now get to play against them.”

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Illinois

Expert breaks down how big the hailstones were in Indiana, Illinois storms

Published

10 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Expert breaks down how big the hailstones were in Indiana, Illinois storms

Our team coverage of last nights severe storms continues. We’re speaking with a hail expert.
Victor Gensini, professor and meteorology program advisor at NIU, joins the show.

Posted March 11, 2026 5:42pm CDT

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Illinois

Ask the Meteorologist: How one storm produced a violent tornado, 6-inch hail in Illinois

Published

22 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Ask the Meteorologist: How one storm produced a violent tornado, 6-inch hail in Illinois

One storm near Kankakee, Illinois, produced a large, destructive tornado Tuesday. It also produced what will likely go down as a record hailstone for the state.

It looked like something out of a weather textbook. Let’s show you the moments we knew destruction was happening.

The hail

We’ll start with the hail.

I was getting ready for bed around 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday (since I’m up before 2 a.m.), and I checked my radar app.

The image below is what I saw.

A textbook supercell (rotating thunderstorm) was moving south of Chicago, but there was a unique feature that caught my attention.

I’ve highlighted that in the image. It doesn’t look like much, but it’s a huge teller of large hail. It’s called a TBSS, or three body scatter spike.

As the radar beam hits hailstones, it gets scattered three different times. That results in the appendage you see on radar extending off the storm.

Moments later, reports came in of hail that was baseball-sized and larger. One such report could break the state’s record for largest hailstone.

The report suggested a hailstone of 6 inches in diameter.

According to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, this would break Illinois’ previous record for largest hailstone – and by a long shot.

The largest hailstone on record in the U.S. happened in South Dakota, and it was measured at 8 inches in diameter.

Insane!

The tornado

While it takes time to assess the damage and come up with a rating, there was zero doubt that a tornado spawned from this storm too.

It’s common during tornadoes for there to be hail on the northern flank of the storm. It’s called the “hail core,” and it is a result of rapidly rising air.

In terms of the actual tornado, it became evident that one was active when looking at radar.

A hook echo is commonly seen in supercell thunderstorms. It’s an indication of warm air flowing into the storm, while cold air flows down its rear flank. This is your rotational aspect of the storm that extends down to the surface.

The air spins rapidly and – eventually – it picks up debris. This can show up as a ball on the southern tip of the storm.

Every bit of this storm was something out of a meteorology textbook – a marvel for those who admire the atmosphere, but a nightmare for those at ground level enduring its fury.

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Illinois

Central Illinois could see tornadoes tonight. How to sign up for alerts

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Central Illinois is expected to be hit with tornado alerts Tuesday afternoon and evening, with the highest risk between 6 and 10 p.m.

The National Weather Service announced on X that a Tornado Watch is 95% likely in east-central Illinois through 4:30 p.m. The potential storm is forecast to reach a peak intensity of 2-3.5 inch hail, 55-70 mph winds and 120-150 mph tornadoes.

Here’s how to stay updated on weather alerts in your area.

How to sign up for weather alerts in Illinois

Most residents throughout Illinois will automatically receive Wireless Emergency Alerts on their mobile phones from the NWS, warning them of potentially dangerous weather in their area. These will look like normal text messages and will typically show the type and time of the alert, any action you should take and the agency issuing the alert.

Other sources of information include NOAA Weather Radio, the Storm Prediction Center’s live map of nationwide tornado watches and the Emergency Alert System on radio and TV broadcasts.

Residents can also sign up for text alerts through their local county emergency management agency, such as NotifyChicago.

Sign up for USA TODAY Network weather alerts

Illinois residents can sign up for alerts from the USA TODAY Network to receive texts about current storms and weather events in their area.

Tornado watch vs warning

The NWS explains the difference between the varying tornado alert terminology on its website.

A tornado watch means tornadoes are possible in the area, while a tornado warning means a twister has been sighted or indicated by the weather radar. A tornado emergency is the most severe alert, meaning a violent tornado has touched down in the area.

The website uses the phrases “be prepared,” “take action” and “seek shelter immediately” to summarize the three alerts.