The Fight in Fighting Illini

Coming into a road conference game at Michigan State, Illinois was a 14.5 point underdog. As I had outlined last week, here were the stakes:

Win one and you're going bowling for the first time since 2014.
Win two and you've got a winning record in the Big Ten for the first time since 2007.

20 minutes into the game, Michigan State was up 28-3. Here was the reaction on twitter, chronologically from bottom to top:

Things were not going well. At this point, a lot of teams just pack it in. Here's the first moment that gave Illinois life.

I know it's blurry because the camera is panning, but that State receiver on the goal line is about to catch the ball. He holds onto it, and it's 35-3 at the half. But he doesn't hang onto it. Here's the play:



One Illini hits him, pops the ball up an another makes the interception.
Illinois can't do anything, punts it away, and then makes another interception.
On the last play off the half, Peters looks deep, then looks short. There's 6 seconds left. If he throws it short, maybe there's a chance for a field goal but probably not.

Instead he steps and throws it to the end zone. So the ex-Michigan QB Peters finds the ex-USC Josh Imatorbhebhe for a TD. 28-10 at the half. Was that look to short a tactic trying to shake off the secondary or was he really considering a short read at the point? I don't know.

The Illini capitalize on that momentum by allowing a field goal on the first drive and not scoring in the 3rd quarter.

MSU was winning by 21, covering the 14.5 to start the 4th quarter.

First play of the 4th quarter: Peters finds Imatorbhebhe again.

If MSU makes that tackle, it's a modest gain. They don't. Imatorbhebhe takes it to the house for his second TD.

After forcing a 3 and out, Illinois drives in 5 plays to make it 31-24. 

THE VERY NEXT PLAY, State has a bad snap and Illinois gets the ball inside the 10!

But then on 3rd and goal from 12, down 7, Brandon Peters throws a pick.

That turnover gives MSU life and they start driving down the field. It doesn't look good. With 6 minutes left, MSU has the ball at midfield up 7. For many teams, this would be the breaking point.

But then the Illinois D comes up with another interception...and takes it to the house!

And just when Illinois is about to tie it up, they miss the XP.

That gives MSU new hope and they break off a 40-yard run on the first play. MSU makes a field goal giving them a 4-point lead with 3 minutes to go.

Which soon becomes 4th and 17. (The TV graphics have it as 4th and 16, but it's 4th and 17 on the scoreboard and in the official game book.)

Illinois dials up this play:

You know the play, where your quarterback is about to get hit by two defenders so he chucks it up wildly off his back foot. You know this play because you've seen it fall INCOMPLETE a million times over the years. But on this particular pass, it fell IMATORBHEBHE.

Illinois gets another 4th down chance from the 4. Fade to the corner. Incomplete.

Except the wise and infallible refs call pass interference. First down Illini.

Illinois eventually scores with 5 seconds left.

Lovie even brought a damn bowling ball to East Lansing.

So many points at which it would have been easy to give up. But this team kept fighting. Look, they're not as good as the top of the Big Ten. We know this. I wouldn't even want them to go to the Big Ten Championship and get blown out. But, damn you have to love the fight in this team. Even if in two years they go 4-8. This team earned their bowl game.

(Galaxy Brain Take: Missing that XP at 30-31 helped Illinois. I think Michigan State plays differently if they're tied. And down 4, Illinois couldn't settle for a field goal so they had to be aggressive. At the end, they would have kicked and gone to OT and then you're back to a 50-50 shot. So nice job missing the XP.)

We even had the MSU paper feeling ILL:

But my favorite moment was between Josh Whitman and Lovie Smith. Lovie had to know that his job was in jeopardy if this season went poorly. And by extension, Whitman knows he could get on the hot seat quickly if has to admit that Lovie wasn't the fix. To see two people who've promised winning and suffered through a lot of losing find catharsis while the Marching Illini play our freaking fight song on their field, well it's just pretty great.

What a moment between Lovie Smith and Josh Whitman after the #Illini clinch a bowl bid pic.twitter.com/pqKWbdzIRA

— Isaac Trotter (@isaac_trotter2) November 10, 2019

This is all Illini fans right now: