ILLINI SOAR IN EYESORE
No TDs were scored, but a ‘W’ is a ‘W,’ and the atmosphere was fantastic
CHAMPAIGN — You don’t apologize for winning. Not even when the final score is 9-6, nary a touchdown was scored and all who witnessed four quarters of hideous offensive football were left emotionally scarred, if not literally blinded.
You don’t apologize ever, and sure as hell not if you’re Illinois.
The Illini are 5-1, people. They’re 2-1 in the Big Ten after back-to-back wins at Wisconsin and here against Iowa, which had beaten the Illini eight straight times head-to-head. Apologize? Please. Something good is happening here in Year 2 under Bret Bielema.
The tailgate parties were up and running four hours, five hours, six hours before kickoff. The Grange Grove was popping with unusual energy. A crowd of about 45,000 was the highest since Lovie Smith arrived in 2016 and created a buzz that definitely didn’t last.
In the press box as the game started, a representative from the Citrus Bowl was asked what he thought of the whole scene. “Not bad,” he said.
A pretty legit major-college football scene — and an all-too-rare game of import here — made it a good night.
What’s clear, halfway through the season, is that the Illini have closed the talent and athleticism gaps on the rest of the Big Ten West. Neither offense did anything in this game, but Illinois looked like a team ready to put a respectable number of points on the board until quarterback Tommy DeVito was knocked out in the second quarter. Defensively, Illinois is on fire, putting up numbers Ray Nitschke, Dick Butkus and Simeon Rice would’ve been proud of.
Five more sacks? Allowing the Hawkeyes 1.7 yards per rush? Giving up zero touchdowns through four home games? That’s the real deal.
During the second half, the teams locked in a 6-6 punt-off, the Citrus Bowl rep was asked by a real wisenheimer, “What could be better than this?”
“Anything?” he said.
But this was better — much better — than what has been happening here for more than a decade. For the Illini, the arrow is pointed up.
Three-dot dash
The White Sox didn’t just hand the division to the Guardians, you know. The Guardians also took the heck out of it, just like they took their wild-card series against the Rays with a two-game sweep that ought to leave the big, bad Yankees — next up — plenty worried.
Nobody plays harder than the Guardians, who defend, run the bases and do all the other “little” things beautifully. Before Oscar Gonzalez homered in the 15th inning Saturday to end the longest scoreless postseason game in major-league history, star third baseman Jose Ramirez and first baseman Josh Naylor combined on a spectacular defensive play in the 12th that was every bit as important.
“It’s a lot easier to talk to young guys when your most veteran players play with their pants on fire,” manager Terry Francona said during the team’s final visit to Guaranteed Rate Field. “And they do it every day.” . . .
Everybody at Illinois still talks about the standard-setting work ethic Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu displayed as he ascended to All-American and pulled the Illini up with him. These days, there’s similar talk about Texas Tech transfer Terrence Shannon, a 6-6 guard and Chicagoan who played at Lincoln Park.
Shannon — expected to be an All-Big Ten type of player — is a little over a week into a 30,000-made-shot month. Those are made three-pointers, 1,000 of them per day, all in addition to the team’s regular practices and workouts. The best part: Shannon is getting out of bed at 4:30 every morning to get the shots in . . . .
Pretty sure my new favorite player is Illinois’ Matthew Mayer, a 6-9 wing who played four years and won a national title at Baylor. His answer when asked what he brings to the Illini mix: “I’m the best defender in the Big Ten, so that should help a lot.” Confidence . . . .
Michael Jordan punched Steve Kerr in the face in 1995, and it was, “Wow! What a competitor, that guy.”
Bobby Portis punched Nikola Mirotic in the face in 2017, and it was less charming. But Portis hardly was taken to task nationally for it.
Why, then, such a strong negative reaction to Warriors star Draymond Green’s punching of teammate Jordan Poole? It has to be the video of the incident that made the rounds. When you see a punch vs. merely reading about it, it hits different . . . .
Congrats and a farewell of sorts to Bill Behrns, who leaves Loyola this week after a long, terrific stint running communications for its athletics programs. Behrns worked at the school for 22 years, which isn’t Sister Jean territory but gave him plenty of time to make a mark, which he did, especially during this heyday for Ramblers basketball. Next up: a communications role at his old high school, Notre Dame College Prep in Niles.
This you gotta see
Giants vs. Packers (Sunday, 8:30 a.m., NFLN): The Packers are the last of the NFL teams — No. 32 — to travel to the United Kingdom for a game. Look, you try finding a flight from Green Bay to London.
“38 at the Garden” (Tuesday, 8 p.m., HBO): No one who watched undrafted Harvard guard Jeremy Lin drop 38 points on the Lakers at Madison Square Garden in 2012 will forget the “Linsanity” that ensued. As this documentary reexamines, not all of it was positive.
Blackhawks at Avalanche (Wednesday, 8:30 p.m., TNT): For the visitors, it’s a season-opening test against the best of the best. For the champs, it’s pretty much just another exhibition game.
Only because you asked
From emailer Rick:
“What’s wrong with you?” There ain’t enough ink in the barrel, pal.
The bottom five
The Blackhawks: Outscored 22-6 in the preseason? Who do they think they are, the Bears?
Northwestern: One week after Illinois made Wisconsin look like Illinois, the Wildcats made Wisconsin look like Wisconsin again. The Wildcats really are going to go 0-for-America this season, aren’t they?
Brian Kelly: How great is life postNotre Dame? Tennessee 40, LSU 13, that’s how good.
Kevin Cash: Fifteen innings in Cleveland, and Tampa Bay’s skipper didn’t even think of calling Jason Heyward and asking him to give an extra-innings pep talk to the Rays on speaker phone.
Commanders at Bears: Ugh, fine, I’ll sign up for Amazon Prime so I can watch Thursday’s game, but I’ll be damned if anybody’s going to make me stick around for “Mrs. Maisel.”