As it turned out, Illinois’ 41-3 win at Northwestern in Saturday’s regular-season finale didn’t give the Illini passage to Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game. But it did give coach Bret Bielema a reason to smile during a recent blur of bad news, stress and sadness.
Just think of the week he had. The visitation for his mother, Marilyn Bielema, who died unexpectedly Nov. 17, took place Sunday in Prophetstown, Ill., the family’s hometown. At the funeral a day later, Bielema eulogized her. Back on campus Tuesday afternoon, after a meeting with players to discuss the game plan for Northwestern, he found out his father-in-law, Greg Hielsberg, had died. Bielema left the football facility immediately, flew to Florida on Wednesday and didn’t see his team again until late Friday night.
