Maybe our throwback can have Jack Ramsey blowing out his knee backing up to field a punt and letting it bounce off him.īlow a chance to win despite looking worse all game? Check. Forget the kingfisher or the Block I, our helmet should feature a cartoon of Carmoni Green diving on a loose punt and turning it over against Rutgers. This is our identity far more than anything Nike tries to pin to us. We’re on our third AD and our 4.5th coach.
I have never known Illinois to not have this problem since I was in college. It took until game 2 for Bret Bielema to continue our time-honored tradition of giving up long first downs on punts. Giving the ball right back to the opponent on a punt return? Check. It wasn’t quite as bad as Western outrushing us 287-3, but 217-146 is pretty bad when your offensive line is supposed to be a strength and your quarterback is Art Sitkowski. Pushed around at the line of scrimmage? Check. Zook excelled at losing these games despite a yardage advantage. Ever since Zook, we’ve lost these games when outgained. Slight variations, but the core plot never changes. It’s most commonly associated with the early parts of a coach’s tenure, though Ron Zook was in year six when his team outrushed Fresno 315-60 and still lost. It usually results in a loss, although a fourth quarter comeback propelled us past Kent State in 2018, a blocked field goal held off Ball State in 2017 and Josh Ferguson put the team on his back to beat Texas State in 2014. This game is simply a thing that happens in around half of Illinois seasons. UTSA’s first season of playing football at any level was also the last time Illinois won more games than they lost.
UTSA played their first season back in 2011, when Illinois was capable of barely holding off Alex Carder’s passing attack for Western Michigan. No, this time it’s the UTSA Roadrunners and their dynamic back Sincere McCormick.
Maybe we’re talking about Tim Fucking Hiller. Maybe it’s Ryan Mathews of Fresno State, who was only there for the 2009 game, not the 2010 edition. While Frost clearly contributed greatly to Nebraska’s demise, we Illinois fans insisted on pointing out that it had only resulted in an Illini victory because things were different this time!Įnter a plucky, upstart G5 team with a young head coach and an offensive playmaker.Īre we talking about Eastern Michigan’s Mike Glass? Kent State’s Woody Barrett? Ball State’s Riley Neal? Western Michigan’s Jamauri Bogan? Perhaps it’s Texas State quarterback Tyler Jones or Quinton Patton of Lousiana Tech. But you don’t remember where they’re fromĪnd you know that this moment in time is for realĪfter Illinois played Nebraska in week 0 only for Illinois to emerge victorious by playing a more disciplined and controlled game than the opponent, Bret Bielema’s coaching chops were lauded by various Illini reporters out there in the Illiniverse.