Saturday saw Memorial Stadium, at the University of Illinois, with an atmosphere much more electric than usual. It’s extremely rare to see the stadium as full (and as orange) as it was for an 11 am kickoff.
Of course, this is what happens when the Illinois Fighting Illini are ranked #17 in the nation, and playing the nation’s #1 team, who also happen to be the reigning national champions, in the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Everybody shows up, and they’re raring to go! The venue’s positive energy didn’t last long though as Ohio State scored the first 20 points, and took a 17 point lead into halftime.
Illinois cut it 10 in the third quarter, and the stadium stayed entirely full, up until the early portions of the fourth quarter.
By that point, OSU was up 24, and this game was “donezo,” as the kids would say.
Back in the summer, Illini offensive guard Josh Gesky discussed how playing the position of offensive line helps build character, and one could say the same of a result like this.
“It teaches you a lot of valuable life lessons, I think,” Gesky said in an exclusive with RG.org.
“And being able to learn those life lessons early, not needing a ton of praise for you to do what’s expected of you, I think, is crucial in developing; not just on the field, but as a man.”
The 34-16 loss was a character builder, teachable moment, opportunity for growth, pick your cliche.
It showed you the difference between a College Football Playoff team that earned a bye and a Citrus/Reliaquest/Music City Bowl team that likely finishes 9-3 or 8-4.
For what it’s worth, and it’s not actually worth anything except when it comes to the concept of “morale victories,” the Illini won the yardage battle 295-292. They also put 16 points on a team that had not previously surrendered double digits this season.
Illini head coach Bret Bielema was pretty feisty in the postgame press conference, dropping a couple curse words here and there.
“We fought our a$$es off to get to this point, to make this a game that drew some attention, not just because Ohio State is coming to town, but because we had two ranked teams, I’m not going to diminish that,” Bielema said in postgame.
“I’m super proud that we accomplished that, but it’s also a good indicator that we’re nowhere close to where we need to get this thing on a more consistent basis against good teams.”
Bielema also discussed a schematic approach that had been very much working in their favor, and his regret that his team got away from it.
“I actually wanted to go tempo the whole freaking game,” Bielema said.
“Because they couldn’t do s^&t with it…. it seemed like when we went tempo That things Really Began to work our way, we just Needed to go to it sooner.”
Not only was the talent and depth disparity on full display today, but Illinois also committed too many mistakes. The final score is both indicative and not indicative of how the game actually went.
The Illini defense definitely outperformed their offensive counterparts on the day, as the O consistently shot themselves in the foot.
Obviously, you just can’t do that against #1/the defending champs.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter