The Illini drew the short end of the stick in a game that came down to the final seconds of a heated border battle between Big Ten East rival Indiana, and your Fighting Illini.
Quarterback Conner Bazelak capped off the night, driving the Hoosiers 75 yards in 2 minutes, all the way to the Illini 1 yard line with 23 seconds left in the game. Auburn Transfer Shaun Shivers punched the ball in and gave the Indiana squad a 23-20 lead. The stunned Illini, who had led for most of the second half, found themselves in a hole that unfortunately they were not able to dig out of.
In his weekly Monday press conference, Head Coach Bret Bielema started his opening statement by saying “I’m extremely disappointed for our roster, and for our staff, But I’m not disappointed in our roster or in our staff, there is a big difference.” Said Bielema. “Since day one I’ve said, before we can start winning games, we have to stop losing them.” Said Coach Bielema. He then proceeded to explain why he believes the game slipped out of their hands. This to many became music to the ears of fans, who are fighting so hard to find accountability for the tough seasons they have had to deal with over the course of the past several years. Few coaches are more accountable to losses and what led to them than Bret Bielema, who told Illinois fans what is holding their beloved program from sustaining success.
Penalties. The Illini lead the penalty margin 8 to 3 in Friday’s matchup, which presents a disadvantage for the Illini in several ways but giving a Big Ten opponent as many second chances as this team did Friday, is not a recipe for winning according to Head Coach Bret Bielema.
Turnovers. The Illini also led the turnover margin by 2 on Friday, which once again gave Indiana many extra chances to beat you. Four turnovers and a fourth down goal line stand gave the Hoosiers a lot of momentum and second chances to steal a win from under the Illini’s seat. A couple of which came inside Indiana territory, where scoring opportunities were unfortunately wasted, and Indiana was able to slip away with a win of only 3, which could have been matched or overcame, had even one of those turnovers been evaded.
“Mental Errors”. Ryan Walters defense held tough for most of the second half, but unfortunately, they were not able to out play the overall mental errors that ultimately led to the downfall of Fridays nail biter. Late personal foul penalties, and missed assignments are silent killers to winning, and this is something the new staff is trying to instill in this program. “I don’t know how many they committed, but I know how many we did” said Bielema, regarding the “Mental Errors” that hurt this Illinois team Friday.
When concluding his opening remarks, coach Bielema said “Those three things are part of the process, that I want them to understand, and for our coaches to understand, that how we call a game, recruit, build, and practice is based on winning those three basic areas, and if we strike out in all three, it’s going to be very hard for us to have success.” Music to the years of those many looking for the answer of “Why?”
Moving forward, Illinois will have some great opportunities to get things cleaned up and get back on track for what the Illini hope will be a special second season under the new regime. The Illini faceoff in a 3pm showdown with ACC rival Virginia on Saturday, who enter the season with a new coaching staff under Tony Elliot and are treading into Illinois Memorial stadium after a lackluster 34-17 win over Richmond University.
They question is, will this Illinois team be able to effectively clean up and find the keys to winning that slipped through their fingers last week? Will the 42-14 trashing that Virginia dealt Illinois last year be enough to push them into a “must win” mentality? Can Illinois learn before our eyes “How not to lose”? This will be a question for many in Illini Nation moving forward.
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