Lovie Smith talks about building a program, looking ahead: 'We respect Rutgers'

Illinois is building something. At least, that’s the sense, right?

Over the last two weeks, the Fighting Illini have beaten Wisconsin and went to Purdue and won 24-6. Illinois is now 4-4. It is two wins away from being bowl eligible.

Lovie Smith knows all this. And on Monday, during his weekly press conference, he talked about building a program:

#illini Lovie Smith: We're building a program. When you build, you'd like it to be a finished program right away. Normally, it doesn't happen like that. Showed signs early in the season, now more of those signs are coming into play.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) October 28, 2019

#illini Lovie Smith: As we continue to build a program, we have to be able to handle these situations (as a heavy favorite). We respect Rutgers. They played their best football last week. We've been favorites in the past against them, and they beat us.

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) October 28, 2019

Smith isn’t on his high horse now. He knows that Illinois isn’t a powerhouse. His team plays Rutgers this week. Rutgers certainly isn’t a powerhouse, either.

Rutgers, realistically, is in a much worse spot than where the Illini are at. Illinois is favored heavily and Smith isn’t going to just buy into that.

Smith is in his fourth year now at Illinois. It has won as many games this year as it has in the last three during a single season (best record being 4-8 in 2018). The Illini are building something, but it isn’t going to overlook anybody just yet.