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The Illinois Fighting Illini have what is being classified as a potential must-win game against Purdue this Saturday at 4:15 p.m. ET in Champaign, Ill. The Fighting Illini are looking to bounce back from a 42-19 road loss to Ohio State last week as the Buckeyes put the brakes on a strong offensive attack.

Illinois has still scored 42, 27, 48 and 19 points so far in four games this season, making coach Bret Bielema and offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr.'s unit one of the best in the Big Ten. 

On Wednesday, QB coach Art Sitkowski shared why he believes Illinois' offense has been mostly successful so far this season. 

Lunney, Jr.'s Thumbprints

Lunney, Jr. has spent significant time in Champaign working with Bielema giving him a great deal of knowledge on the Illini's system and personnel groupings.

Lunney's influence was cited as a big reason for Illinois' offensive success heading into the Purdue game this weekend. 

 "There's a lot of reasons, obviously starting with coach Lunney our offensive coordinator, he's been here now going on five years, he does an unbelievable job knowing our players and when to maximize our players' strengths and minimize their weaknesses, he puts our players in a position to have success," Sitkowski said in comments posted by Joey Wagner of 247Sports.com. 

Sitkowski has guided Illinois' passing game to an average of 255 yards per game, and he's done it without star transfer Jayshon Platt, whose undisclosed injury has caused him to miss the first four games of the season. 

Sitkowski played for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights before joining Illinois for two years as one of Bielema's quarterbacks. He became a student assistant in 2023 and was promoted to co-quarterbacks coach in March 2025. 

He helped coach Luke Altmyer in Champaign, who led Illinois to back-to-back bowl wins before signing with the NFL's Detroit Lions ahead of the 2026-27 NFL season. 

A Strength-in-Numbers Approach 

The Fighting Illini offensive coordinator has an all-hands-on-deck approach that empowers his staff to contribute to the greater good of the team. 

Sitkowski praised his philosophy of allowing input from myriad different coaches before each game. 

"And also, I really believe it's the staff around, coach Lunney does an unbelievable job of empowering everybody on our offensive staff," Sitkowski said. 

"It doesn't matter if you're the lowest guy on the totem pole or the highest guy on the totem pole, it allows you to have a voice, and as a person that's in that staff room, that makes you feel important.

"I believe that's what great leaders do and coach Lunney's an unbelievable leader…I'm very blessed to be around (assistant coaches) every day and learn from them, but obviously coach Lunney's steering the ship, he's amazing, he's awesome." 

The goodwill compiled by Lunney, Jr., Sitkowski and others will be tested this weekend against Purdue. Illinois has dropped games to Ohio State and Duke this season and needs a win in the worst way to salvage something great out of the 2026 college football season. 

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