TAMPA, Fla. — The ReliaQuest Bowl began with a tribute to late Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, the Bulldogs lining up in his favorite formation and remaining still until the play clock hit zeroes, a delay of game penalty Illinois politely declined.
It ended with the teams coming close to an all-out brawl at midfield, which would have been a terrible shame.
In between, it just kind of was what it was — and not much at that – a 19-10 victory by the Bulldogs in the lowest-scoring game in the history of a bowl that has been a Jan. 1 or 2 staple since 1988.
Illinois came in seeking its first bowl win since beating UCLA on New Year’s Eve in 2011 and its first January bowl win since topping Virginia on New Year’s Day in 1990, not to mention the school’s first nine-win season since 2007 and — no small thing — a victory that would clinch an above-.500 record for the Big Ten this postseason.
Alas, the No. 22 Bulldogs didn’t allow all that to happen. In a matchup of 8-4 teams, they went ahead 13-10 on a 27-yard field goal by Massimo Bascardi with four seconds on the clock, then recovered a fumble on a wild kickoff return full of laterals — sparking a scary-looking skirmish — and ran it back for a salt-in-the-wound score.
The Illini were better than good defensively — especially considering star defensive backs Devon Witherspoon and Sydney Brown had opted out — holding MSU, the pass-happiest team in the country, to only three first-half points and intercepting Will Rogers, the SEC’s all-time leader in completions, twice. But Rogers, facing a secondary with three freshman starters, led a winning drive that began at his 21-yard line with 1:50 to play.
The go-ahead kick seemed to ensure the Illini would end the season with all their losses coming by one score. As it turned out, this one — with a fluke finish that surely sent some gamblers over the edge — ended by two scores. But the point remains: If Year 3 under Bret Bielema is going to represent continued improvement, coming through in tight games is going to have to be part of the deal.
“That falls directly to me,” Bielema said. “As a head coach, we’ve got to find the answers. …
“What I do know about Illinois is Illinois is in a better position now than we were when we got here. There’s no question about that.”
Clearly, the offense has to get better in its second season steered by coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. Quarterback Tommy DeVito, playing his last game for the Illini, scored a touchdown, had a touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams negated by a penalty and moved the team through the air, but he got no help from the running game and was sacked a cringeworthy seven times. Transfer Luke Altmyer from Ole Miss should get the next long look as QB1.
But as disappointing as losses to Indiana and Michigan State were, and as frustrating as it was to struggle in and lose the bowl game, there was more good than bad in 2022. There were the first four games at home, when an Illini defense that would border on vicious didn’t allow a single touchdown. There was the perfect October against division rivals Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.
And there were things that couldn’t be seen from the outside or read on the scoreboard.
“I walk in every single day to our facility and there’s never a moment where there’s not someone doing something extra to get better,” said tackle Alex Palczewski, whose 65th career start tied him for the FBS record. “In years past, it was always do the bare minimum to get [by].”
Receiver Williams, had nine catches for 114 yards, has been around since 2019.
“When I first got here, we just were accustomed to losing, like it was OK,” he said. “But, like, losing is not OK with this squad. We expect to win every time we touch the field.”
In the postgame locker room, positive, determined talk rang out about winning close games and competing on bigger stages than this one.
“I think if we’re disappointed in an eight-win season, we’ve made a step in the right direction,” Bielema said. “But by no means am I going to be settling for an eight-win season.”
