The Illini football program just seems allergic to consistent success. The last time Illinois went to back-to-back bowl games was 2010-2011, and that was with two six-win regular seasons. The last time Illini football went bowling to consecutive years before that was 1991-1992, and again, it was with two six-win regular seasons.
So there have been times when Illini Football has been mediocre/just above mediocrity/kind of good. And then there have been times when the Illini have been bad, sometimes really quite bad.
You already know that, but the Illini are still favored by 3.5 points Friday night at home to Nebraska. And the bestnongamstopcasino betting sites have the Illini -166 on the money line too. With the Cornhuskers at +140. With the total at 43, it looks like a 23-20 Illini could be very possible. ESPN Matchup Predictor only gives Nebraska a 38% chance of winning.
But what about the year when Illini football has been legitimately good? And By that we mean 8+ wins in a season, and in recent years, it has happened four times: 1999, 2001, 2007 and 2022.
Unfortunately, disaster ensued the next season, and that’s what we’re going to chronicle here.
Those first three breakthrough campaigns were each followed up by a five win season each time and that just makes you wonder- is it going to happen again here?
Maybe five wins isn’t even possible right now, as this current team just got drilled 44-19 by Purdue, who entered with a 1-3 record. But there is still a chance to somewhat save this complete shipwreck, as the remaining schedule is extremely easy.
This Big Ten West division is absolutely horrendous, and one of your two remaining crossover opponents is Indiana, arguably the worst team in the whole conference.
I don’t see them having any chance of making a bowl game, but they will still win games down the stretch here, because their opposition is so weak.
But for now let’s look at where we’ve been, so that we know where we might be going.
2000
Coming off an 8-4 season, including the 63-21 destruction of Virginia in the MicronPC.com bowl, their nucleus of sophomores returned as juniors, so everything is looking up, right?
No! Star wide receiver Brandon Lloyd suffered a freak leg injury during the preseason, and had to sit out the entire campaign. It changed the complexion of Ron Turner’s offensive outlook entirely.
Nevertheless, they started 3-0 and rose to #17 in the national rankings entering the epic prime time clash at home against #10 Michigan. The Illini got absolutely hosed on two terrible calls, and narrowly lost 35-31.
They never recovered from that.
The next week they got absolutely blitzed by a very mediocre Minnesota team and it all went downhill from there. The Illini still had a chance to save the season, late, in November versus #13 Ohio State, but again lost out narrowly; ending the year 5-6.
The next year Illini football had a generational season, with that same nucleus then becoming seniors.
Exclusive interviews with 1998-2002 Illini Football Stars
Kurt Kittner Rocky Harvey Brandon Lloyd
2002
It was about 20 years before Illini football got an outright Big Ten title (1983), and it has been 20+ and counting since the last one. The 2001 team went 10-1 before getting annihilated by LSU in the Sugar Bowl.
QB Kurt Kittner graduated and Turner first tried to replace him with local product Dustin Ward, who was awful to say the least.
His arm was so much weaker than Jon Beutjer, an Iowa transfer who was the obvious choice from the jump to take over the position.
Had Turner understood this, and started Beutjer form the get go, they never would have started 1-5, with the lowest of lows coming in home loss to San Jose St. Again they had a chance, late in the year, to save the season versus #2 Ohio State at home, but they just couldn’t close the deal in OT.
The Buckeyes got some favorable calls too, which had a lot to do with the result. History really repeated itself as 2000 and 2002 were very similar seasons.
Coincidentally, this was the season that the Chicago Bears (where Turner came from and then went back to after Illinois) played all their home games at Champaign’s Memorial Stadium (while Soldier Field was being renovated).
Having a NFL team around all the time did nothing to either
a.) motivate the Illini and b.) help recruiting. Turner’s talent level tanked, and so soon did the on-field results. He was canned just two years later.
2008
Coming off a nine win season and a Rose Bowl appearance, it really looked like the Ron Zook rebuild had finally taken shape. It moved along slowly, but it was hard to not believe they truly turned the corner. So much talent, especially from key positions, returned and they got off to a decent 3-2 start.
But once again, a mediocre Minnesota team ruined homecoming, and things went off the rails from there. They even lost to Western Michigan late in the season in Detroit to boot. Although that Broncos team was actually pretty good. The final record? 5-7.
So what is next? Well, Nebraska, Northwestern, Minnesota (Bielema has never lost to them) and Indiana are all very very beatable, but that’s what we said about Purdue (who were 1-3 entering that blowout last weekend). Even Iowa can be had, especially because they’re on their QB3 now, but likely not with this bunch, who seem to have zero identity on either side of the ball right now.
They just don’t do anything particularly well at this point, and it’s hard to really pick them to win in any game moving forward.
If they couldn’t find the motivation to get up for the Purdue game, then how can we trust them to care in any other.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager 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’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.