Let me introduce to you my first of many Illinois football post-game articles. I am a self-proclaimed football connoisseur, and I am here to tell you my thoughts about the game.
Yesterday’s game was, without question, one of the greatest football games I have ever seen. Coming into the game I wasn’t expecting much. After last year’s two wins, I expected the Illini to put up a good fight, but not actually leave with a victory. I have family members that are Missouri fans and they expected to win by about 3 touchdowns. To give you a small glimpse of how it went, after the game , these Tiger fans were speechless. For those of you who don’t know, Missouri barely won the game 40-36. I am not going to give you the play-by-play, if you want to know the details, follow the link a the end of this article, but like I said earlier, this game was amazing.
The Illini football team showed all of St. Louis exactly what they are made of… and it is good. When Juice Williams got injured, I got really scared. The offense finally starting to produce and it was looking pretty good. When we had to put in a back-up QB, I figured that it would take the offense another 15 minutes to come around. This however, was the opposite. Eddie McGee, the new QB came in and did an excellent job, throwing for 257 yards. This was the first time that this kid played in a real game and he went out there like he was a pro. This is just one of many aspects that made this game spectacular.
The crowd was amazing also. There were over 62, 000 people packed into the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO. There was a good mix of Illini and Mizzou fans often sitting together and the energy was intense. The fans are often referred to as the 12th man, and in this game, the Illini’s 12th man was playing his heart out. When I left the stadium, I was certainly proud to be wearing orange. I will leave you to read the full story of the game for those of you who weren’t there. Let me just explain, in conclusion, the three things I learned from this game.
- Thanks for your time Juice, but we don’t need you.
- The Marching Illini and the Three in One is indeed incomparable.
- 2007 Illini Football is most certainly a brand new ballgame!
Quote from Ron Zook after the game:
“I told them in the locker room that I was proud of them. They could have shut down and quit but they didn’t. They kept fighting and hanging in there. As a coach that makes you feel good, because you know that you have good people, that you have winners. The guys are going to learn from this game and it will help us down the road.”
