It was Illinois’ biggest victory since a 28-21 upset at No. 1-ranked Ohio State in 2007.
It was Lovie Smith’s biggest “W” since the Bears topped the Seahawks 35-24 in the 2010 NFL playoffs. That’s the last time Smith, in his fourth season at Illinois, won a postseason game of any sort.
Minds: boggled. That’s the case all over after the Illini — who came in 0-3 in the Big Ten — shocked No. 6 Wisconsin 24-23 Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.
Smith’s beleaguered defense forced a late turnover, leading to James McCourt’s 39-yard field goal as time expired.
Just like that, a 30-point underdog notched the upset of the season in college football.
Just like that, Smith unburdened himself — for now — of all the talk about his job status.
“Our program, we needed to get a signature win,” Smith said on the field when it was over. “I was just hoping today was the day — and the day came.”
Just like that, the Illini (3-4) can start thinking about maybe, just maybe, finishing strong enough to make it to a bowl game.
Illinois pulls off the BIGGEST upset of the season over No. 6 Wisconsin! #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/z3lmx1H7kK
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 19, 2019
But that means winning again next Saturday at 2-5 Purdue. It means beating a horrendous Rutgers team a week after that.
It means winning the games the Illini should — must — win, and that does indeed include down-and-out Northwestern at Memorial Stadium in the Nov. 30 regular-season finale.
See how quickly we’ve moved on?
Sorry, Illini. You get to savor this one at least a tiny bit longer.
