Friday brings the 100th anniversary of Red Grange’s historic Homecoming performance against Michigan in the Memorial Stadium dedication game on Oct. 18, 1924. In that game, the Gray Ghost scored four touchdowns and racked up 262 total yards in the first 12 minutes, then ran for a fifth touchdown later on, and after that threw for a sixth TD to lead the Illinois Fighting Illini to a 39-14 victory in what many consider the greatest single-game performance in college football history.
Michigan came into that contest riding a 20 game win streak.
Symposium: “Ghost Stories at Memorial Stadium” – Red Grange & the Game of the Century
Memorial Stadium 77 Club // LIVE STREAM
Thursday, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m. CT
The University of Illinois’ department of recreation, sport, and tourism will host a symposium on Red Grange and his impact to football and Illinois on Thursday, Oct. 17 leading up to the 100th Anniversary of his legendary performance against Michigan. The event will take place in the 77 Club, which dons Grange’s famous #77, inside of Memorial Stadium.Chris Willis, author of “Red Grange – the Galloping Ghost” (2019), will join the event as a special guest. Willis is one of the top football historians in the nation and the head archivist and producer at NFL Films. The event is free and open to the public.
Grange is considered by many to be the all-time greatest player, in the entire history of the college gridiron.
In 2014, on the 90th anniversary of that legendary game, the University of Illinois debuted the “gray ghost” alternate uniforms, for their Homecoming game against Wisconsin. Everyone has an opinion on styles, brands, manufacturers, materials and color schemes, and these differences in opinion always facilitates discussion.
I for one LOVE the gray ghost unis, I think they work perfectly with autumnal hues, and believe the navy blue and white is just enough, to complement the minimalism of the gray.
The unis returned for what was the highlight game of the Lovie Smith era, which came in 2019, and only 37,363 were in attendance to see it- the biggest upset in college football last season.
Freaky Fast 77 Yard Dash: “The Galloping Ghost” has returned to Memorial Stadium for Year 2 of The Freaky Fast 77 Yard Dash presented by Jimmy John’s. Between the third and fourth quarters, an Illinois student will race Red Grange inside the hashes of Zuppke Field at Memorial Stadium. The student racing the modern-day version of Red will have a chance to win free Jimmy John’s for a year. Fans can interact and take photos with Red Grange inside Grange Grove on game days beginning three hours prior to kickoff.
100th Anniversary Museum: Illinois has installed a free pop-up museum celebrating the history of Memorial Stadium inside of the Great West Hall. The museum features imagery and artifacts from the greatest moments in Memorial Stadium history.
It’s understandable why attendance was so low, as unranked Illinois entered as a 30.5 point underdog to visiting #6 Wisconsin. They had a record of 2-4 overall, including a 0-3 conference record and an inexcusable home loss to Eastern Michigan. The Badgers had an undefeated record that included an impressive victory over No. 11 Michigan.
You know how it ended though- with Illini placekicker and Irishman James McCourt booting the game winning field goal that made Illinois 24–23 victors.
It was their first conference victory of the season, as the Illini were unranked and coming off a 4-game losing streak.
Illini fans rushed the field for the first time since 1998, when the school ended a 20 game losing streak by beating Middle Tennessee State. McCourt was carried off the field by his teammates and became a sports hero on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Illini Head coach Lovie Smith called the game his “signature win,” as many believed, understandably so that the game saved his job. With extremely popular and ultra-divey campus bar Kam’s closing its doors for the final time the day after the upset, the game was nicknamed the “Kam’s Miracle!”
However, Kam’s was just moving from its location it held since 1975, and later opened up (with high cover charges) in a new location. By point spread, it was one of the largest upsets in college football history, and it propelled the Illini to a mediocre .500 season, but that was enough to make a bowl game for the first time in six years.
It also ended Illinois’ Homecoming game victory drought, which is key, as UI claims to have invented the concept of Homecoming.
With the win, McCourt, Smith and company joined Grange in the annals of Illini history.
And now, comes something even more special! Illinois will wear 1920s era uniforms, complete the look of old-timey leather helmets. They are real, normal modern helmets, but just designed to look like leatherheads. This is going to be off the hook!
It’s going to be nationally televised on normal OTA television, Illinois vs. Michigan, ranked versus ranked, at a sold out Memorial Stadium, 100 years and 1 day to the Red Grange, dedication game. It’s going to be electric!
We’ll be back tomorrow with our game preview.
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.