Homecoming has been around for a long, long time at Illinois, which is credited as the origin of the tradition. Inviting alumni back to school to connect with students and visit their former homes began in 1910 at Illinois and is still going strong 114 years later.
In this span, the Illini have racked up 42 wins, 69 losses and two ties. While the Illini historically perform worse in Homecoming games than their overall win percentage (.503), there have been some instant classics over the years that send alumni and students home partying as one big Illini-lovin’ group.
2019: When the undefeated No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers stepped off the bus in Champaign, ESPN analytics gave them a 97% chance of victory. The 2-4 Illini were poised to lose their fifth consecutive Homecoming affair in front of nearly 40,000 faithful fans.
A 10-0 Badger lead early in the second quarter did little for the hope of those in the crowd, but the players never wavered. A touchdown made it a 13-7 game at the half, but Wisconsin responded in the third.
Illinois found themselves down two scores midway through the fourth quarter, with the ball in future NFL star Jonathan Taylor’s hands. What happened next is one of the greatest seven-minute and 12-second stretches in Illinois football history.
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Taylor fumbled, and the Illini went 75 yards in four plays to make it a two-point game. With 2:30 remaining, Wisconsin coughed up the ball again, their third turnover of the day. Thirty-two yards later, the clock sat at four seconds as the Illinois special teams unit jogged onto the field. Kicker Josh McCourt drilled a 39-yarder, and the Illini bench unloaded onto the field to celebrate a top-six win.
1924: We had the best seven-minute stretch in Illini history; how about the greatest 12-minute stretch? Oh, and it was provided by just one player. The legendary Harold “Red” Grange led the Illini against another unbeaten foe, the Michigan Wolverines.
After a week full of smack talk and trolling from the Michigan team, Grange allowed his performance to speak for himself, single-handedly winning the game in the first quarter. Grange totaled 262 yards of offense and found the endzone four times to give the Illini a dominating early lead. He ended with six touchdowns in the 39-14 victory, giving the Wolverines their first defeat in 21 contests.
1983: One more Homecoming game stood out across the years, and Michigan was once again the foe. The No. 8 Wolverines came to town confident once again, having won 16 meetings in a row with the Illini by an average blowout score of 34-8.
Memorial Stadium saw a record attendance of 76,127 for the matchup, where Illinois didn’t surrender a touchdown. The 16-6 win clinched Illinois’ first Big Ten Title since 1963 and sent them to the Rose Bowl later that season.
@benfader7
