From good start to finished
Bulls stun Illini with late 50-yard touchdown bomb at Soldier Field
On Illinois
Illinois seemingly had the game in hand. A victory was going to be a mark of significant improvement for the Illini.
For long-suffering fans, that bit of advancement would have been sweetly validating. For the Illinois program, it finally would have some hard-core evidence of its promised progress.
Instead, Illinois coughed the game away for a 25-19 loss, allowing South Florida to outscore it 18-0 in the fourth quarter after the Bulls essentially did everything they could to lose.
“Going in, we circled this game,” Illini coach Lovie Smith said, a rare admission of assigning any game significant importance over others. “It was a big game. Finish out the nonconference on a high note against a team that dominated us last year. We were excited about playing at Soldier Field. After the hurt goes away, you can’t let one tough loss beat you the next week.”
Last season’s 47-23 loss in Tampa to South Florida was as devastating as it was embarrassing. It led to nine more consecutive defeats. No more victories for the rest of the season.
This year, Smith and his players said that won’t be the case.
But what exactly should fans read into a game that was still a loss against what seems like a regressed South Florida team? At this stage of Illinois’ grand rebuild project, is it satisfying enough to be in a game and still lose? Or is it beyond aggravating that the Illini had a game within grasp and still couldn’t turn the corner?
Judging by the small crowd of 21,725 at Soldier Field — on a sunny 75-degree day at Chicago’s lakefront — fans still need to see more from the Illini to be convinced a turnaround is coming.
“Obviously it’s not good enough,” senior offensive lineman Nick Allegretti said. “But we’re definitely a lot better football team. We have more playmakers on the field. … Last year, we got beat up and down the field. We played good football and we’re going to carry that on and win Big Ten football games.”
With Illinois’ future Big Ten opponents suffering ugly losses Saturday — Wisconsin losing to BYU, Rutgers falling to Kansas, Maryland losing to Temple and Troy trouncing Nebraska — there’s no question the Illini should feel more hope for the rest of this season.
Their own play for most of the game against South Florida should be an indication too.
Illinois led 19-7 heading into the fourth quarter behind backup quarterback M.J. Rivers II and strong games from running backs Mike Epstein (113 yards on 19 carries) and Reggie Corbin (98 yards on 12 carries).
Rivers, filling in for injured starter AJ Bush Jr. (hamstring), completed 20 of 29 passes for 168 yards but didn’t connect for a touchdown and was sacked five times, often because the freshman held onto the ball far too long.
With six seconds left, facing third-and 15, Rivers overthrew receiver Ricky Smalling in the end zone to end the game. Rivers spiked the ball on third down as time ticked away earlier in the drive when Smith would have preferred a timeout.
South Florida won the game making just a couple of plays. None was more important than the 50-yard third-and-20 touchdown bomb with 2 minutes, 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Blake Barnett connected with Darnell Salomon who burned Illinois for the score and then he hit Randall St. Felix for the two-point conversion.
The Bulls committed 14 penalties for 124 yards and missed two field goals. Drive after drive stalled.
But Illinois, despite holding a lead, struggled to find the end zone as well. Chase McLaughlin connected on all four field goal attempts from 26, 46, 53 and 41 yards.
The Illini were in the game. And for a team that has endured six straight losing seasons, the reality for Illinois is that competitive games are a mark of moving forward.
“We have come a long way,” Smith said. “Last year we weren’t really competitive. This year was a completely different game. Guys came out strong. But it always comes down to the finish.”