CHAMPAIGN — A funny thing happened on the way to Illinois’ widely anticipated seventh victory of the regular season, the one that would punctuate months of progress with an about-face after a long, miserable march in the school’s rivalry with Northwestern.
About-face? Oh, no.
Face-plant? Oh, the humanity, yes.
Instead of win No. 7 — which would have ended a four-game losing streak to the Wildcats in the Land of Lincoln Trophy series — the Illini were toyed with, run over and utterly dominated 29-10 by a rival that arrived at Memorial Stadium with an 0-8 record in Big Ten play.
OK, so maybe it wasn’t that funny. For fans of the Illini (6-6), who lost their last two regular-season games after an inspiring four-game winning streak, it surely felt familiarly awful.
The new-and-improved Illini forgot to show up. Instead, some sick, twisted combination of versions 2016 through 2018 took the field on a cold, rainy day when the most sensible thing to do was run the football.
So run it the Wildcats (3-9) did, an unrelenting 65 times for 378 yards and three touchdowns.
And run it the Illini could not. Rather, they failed spectacularly in this critical area, netting all of 14 yards on 26 carries.
“ ‘Disappointed’ doesn’t even seem like a strong enough word for what we did today,” coach Lovie Smith said.
The Illini remain bowl-bound, a big deal for a school that hasn’t done the postseason thing since a forgettable loss to Louisiana Tech in the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl. Likely destination: Detroit’s Ford Field for the Dec. 26 Quick Lane Bowl, which has Big Ten and ACC affiliations.
The bowl could’ve been better, but Smith and his players — none of whom has tasted victory against what Smith likes to call “the school up north” — will take what they can get.
Six wins are, by any math, preferable to the three the Illini averaged in Smith’s first three years at the helm.
It’s a vastly different point of view from where Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats are sitting. For the first time since 2014 — and only the third time since 2007 — they’ll miss out on bowl season.
And make no mistake about it: This was Fitzgerald’s worst team in 14 seasons as coach.
Even in the throes of a worst-ever season, though, there’s something to be said for coming through on the last Saturday of November. Northwestern has five consecutive wins against Illinois for the first time in a series that dates back to 1892. The Wildcats have won 13 of the last 17 meetings, and Fitzgerald has beaten the Illini more times — 10 — than he has any other opponent.
“I’m going to enjoy the [expletive] out of today, is that OK?” he said.
Illini supporters can reach for excuses if they want to. Without question, injuries played a key role. The Illini were without starting quarterback Brandon Peters, top receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe and defensive standouts Jake Hansen, Jamal Woods and Tony Adams, among others.
Backup QB Matt Robinson, a redshirt freshman, was in over his head from the opening series.
But look at the Wildcats, who were led by a first-time starter at quarterback in Andrew Marty. A sophomore, Marty was the team’s No. 4 QB entering the season. He was in control all game, carrying 30 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns and adding a 34-yard scoring pass to Riley Lees.
Converted defensive back Coco Azema led the Wildcats with 123 yards on the first seven carries of his college career. Injuries? Northwestern will list theirs against anybody’s.
“I think our mindset was just that we were going to come in here and win the ‘Hat’ [trophy],” Marty said. “We had no doubt in our mind. We had all the confidence in the team this week, and it was so fun.”
Depends which side you ask.
