Two years ago, the Illini finished with an 8-5 overall record. This past weekend against Rutgers (6-5), No. 22 Illinois secured its eighth victory. The team is in a great position to finish the year with nine total wins, which hasn’t happened since 2007.
“We got one more left,” said head coach Bret Bielema after the game. “To get to eight wins is absolutely awesome, with an opportunity to make it a big week this week.”
This week is indeed a big week for various reasons. The Illini play their final game of the season against in-state rivals, the Northwestern Wildcats, on Saturday, Nov. 30. The team has demonstrated time and time again that its resiliency is what makes it so solid.
With one last run before their bowl game appearance, the Illini have their eyes set on the prize. They’re a winning team and confident in themselves, their teammates and their coaches. They may have an 8-3 record, but they will always have the 1-0 mentality.
No. 22, nothing new
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Because of the victory over Rutgers, Illinois moved up two spots in the AP poll to land at No. 22. The Illini are familiar with a ranking like this. After a wild Saturday of NCAA football, it makes sense that they’re at this spot with one game to go.
Illinois continues to be in College Football Playoff conversations, and with how determined the team played these past two games, arguments for its placement in the CFP should only get stronger.
The Illini have shown that even when the odds are stacked against them, they can still connect to keep momentum moving. Rankings aren’t everything, but they definitely give an edge to play even harder each week.
Never fear: Pat Bryant is here
“There was no panic; we practice these things every week,” said senior wide receiver Pat Bryant when asked about his thought process before he scored the game-winning touchdown with minimal time left. “We have great playmakers, and at the end of the day, Luke (Altymyer) made a great game-time decision to put the ball in my hands, and I went out there and did what I had to do.”
Bielema awarded Bryant with a game ball after the matchup for his incredible performance, and rightfully so. He finished with 197 receiving yards on just seven receptions, and 131 yards came after the catch.
His speed and alertness on the field have made him one of the best receivers Illinois football has seen in recent years. On top of that, he makes bold moves to achieve greatness for himself and his team.
Originally, he was instructed to go down after he caught junior quarterback Luke Altmyer’s final fourth-quarter pass. However, he trusted himself and his skills to sprint into the end zone to secure the win.
A guy with that type of confidence, competency and admiration for his teammates is hard to come by. The Illini are lucky to have him, and NFL teams will regret passing him up in the draft.
Cleaning up before closing time
Of course, a win is a win. However, that doesn’t mean Illinois was perfect. The Illini had 11 penalties called on them for a loss of 93 yards. There’s nothing more frustrating than getting pushed back 10 or more yards from sloppy pre- and post-snap penalties.
False starts and personal fouls are preventable, and the Illini must recognize how damaging these calls can be. They got lucky with some faulty plays by the Scarlet Knights, but luck doesn’t always save the day. Penalties have plagued the team all year long, and if they want a shot at winning their bowl game, they must be patient and smart with their moves.
“Remember the past, prepare for the future”
Bryant described the importance of Illinois’ journey this season and how far it has come despite the hardships everyone endured. These 11 games illustrated all types of situations the Illini can compete in. No matter what, they always had each other’s backs and fought hard until the very end.
“All the games that we’ve been in, we learned a lot of things, we learned who we were as a team,” Bryant said. “At the end of the day, we got to stay close as a team … You got to focus on that time while it lasts.”
Time is ticking for the Illini. Finishing with back-to-back road wins would give them the extra boost they need to go into their bowl game with maximum energy and excitement. Tough, smart, dependable football has been the motto all year, and Illinois has everything it takes to finish exactly how it started.
@tess_eken
