Great Weekend for Illinois football
This was an excellent weekend for football teams in the state of Illinois. On Saturday, The University of Illinois toppled the number one team in the land, The Ohio State University. Then on Sunday, despite having to go to back-up quarterback Rex Grossman, the Chicago Bears managed to beat the Oakland Raiders with a couple of late game scores. (Granted the second of the two events was certainly not as exciting as the first, but it is worth mentioning).
I had a feeling that Illinois could play spoiler to OSU and their national championship hopes. They have been playing well this season and I knew that OSU would not be taking them seriously, already thinking ahead to next week game against The University of Michigan.
After Illinois had the lead toward the end of the game, it seemed like OSU was so stunned that they could not put together anything at all offensively.
I was very happy for Illinois, especially the coach and quarterback Juice Williams who were both so obviously touched by what had taken place. The coach revealed that two years ago, after a rough season, he told Williams and the other players that in two years things would be very different, as the team would rebuild and become a force to be reckoned with. The coach obviously knew what he was talking about as Illinois had its biggest victory in years.
Although not as meaningful, certainly, but still important, the Chicago Bears managed to show just a glimmer of their team of last year, as they made a surge in the last few minutes of the game to win over the Oakland Raiders. It is no secret that the Bears have not been one of the good teams this season in the NFL.
The first 55 minutes of game time were pretty dull, as each team only had a field. Oakland took the lead with another field goal and then the Bears turned it on. Rex Grossman, cast aside earlier this season because of his inability to get things done, was put in because quarterback Brian Griese went out with the shoulder injury. Grossman showed his “good” side and capped an offensive drive with a 59 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bernard Berrian. After a Raiders fumble, the Bears added another touchdown for good measure.
Two teams on very different tracks this season, but both had a successful weekend.
Chicago Bears, Chicago, Illinois football, University of Illinois, Illini, football, Juice Williams
Leave a Reply