Illinois Football: Heart Of Dallas Bowl Gameday Preview
By Ricky Widmer
One last look at the Heart of Dallas Bowl between Illinois football and Louisiana Tech before the team’s take the field.
Information:
- Kickoff – 11:00 a.m. (CST)
- Television – ESPN
- Radio – Fighting Illini Radio Network | SiriusXM Radio (Channel 91)
- Weather – Mostly cloudy with a shower, 46-62 degrees, 40% precipitation (via accuweather.com).
- Odds – Louisiana Tech is listed as an 6-point favorite.
Quick Facts:
- 2nd meeting, Louisiana Tech leads series (1-0-0).
- Head coach Tim Beckman will be looking for his first bowl victory at Illinois. Beckman was 1-1 in his two bowl games at Toledo in 2010 and 2011.
- Illinois will be looking to keep their active bowl winning streak alive today in Dallas. Despite this being the team’s first bowl appearance in three years, the Illini have won their last two bowl games against Baylor in the 2010 Texas Bowl and UCLA in the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.
- No Big Ten team has ever won the Heart of Dallas Bowl. The Illini will try to become the first B1G team to win the bowl in Dallas.
Related: Heart of Dallas Bowl Preview
On Louisiana Tech:
“Very, very good football team. We knew they would be very well-coached and just comes to the habits when you’ve been around Coach Holtz and the type of team that he has been involved with in his day. Very athletic, in my opinion. Very active, I guess, defensively would be a great word to announce what they do because they make a lot of plays happen. They’ve created a lot of turnovers and done some very, very good things throughout the season that’s proven why they deserve to be here and why, you know, they had a great opportunity to beat a Marshall football team. Offensively brought in a quarterback that’s been very, very successful. They’ve run a lot of the spread and a lot of the fast-paced offense. They’ve been successful running the football and throwing it. We know what they can do, you know. And we feel very confident in the things that we’ve worked on here in the last couple weeks. Today was our 13th practice since we’ve been out. We took advantage of the opportunity to get ourselves — our young players better. And then, of course, prepare ourselves for a very, very good Louisiana Tech team.”
Keys of the game:
“Well, we always talk about it as a team. And we are going to stress these each and every time we step out there on the football field. First of all offensively is ball security and defensively is take-aways. I mean, those go hand in hand. We have to secure the football on offense. And then defensively we have got to be active trying to take it from them. The other thing we always talk about to our football team is what we call the red and orange zone. We’ve got to be successful scoring touchdowns offensively in the red zone and orange zone, which is the 10 going in. And defensively, of course, force take-aways or field goals. And then — which has been huge for us this year is really the field possession. Our special teams have done an excellent job of creating field position for us. Our punter Justin DuVernois, probably, or arguably, one of the best in the country has done an outstanding job of changing fields. And then, of course, we’ve got to be more successful kicking field goals and extra points because we haven’t been as successful. So three keys of the game, of course, take-aways and turnovers, scoring in the red zone and not allowing them to score in the red zone and then, of course, creating field position, too, our kicking game.”
The perception and reputation of the team:
“Well, we talked about there is an opportunity to play in a historic place like the Cotton Bowl. I know Skip feels the same way. I mean, when you are raised in the profession, to play in a historic place like the Cotton Bowl is unbelievable and your seniors get to play their last game and the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors play really what we are calling our first game of 2015 with the young guys. It is very important. There is no question about it. You want to go into your winter workouts with success and you want your seniors to leave with success. They have done a great job with this program. I’m proud of them. We have made strides from day one, and we are doing it on and off the football field. I can’t be more proud to say that you got 30 All-Big Ten football players and you got six wins and working for number seven.”
(Video from Illini Productions and quotes from latechsports.com)
Gameday Thoughts:
- Although taking care of the ball will be important for the Illinois offense today, it’s more important that the offense comes on fast and puts points up on the scoreboard first. In their last two wins, the Illini offense hasn’t scored a single point before the two minute mark of the first quarter. This cannot happen if the Orange & Blue want to be victorious in Dallas today. They need to get the ball first to start the game and they need to score!
- Despite being from the C-USA, Louisiana Tech is going to be a tough opponent for the Fighting Illini. They play well on the defensive side of the football and have success running the ball on offense. That right there is a receipt for success. Louisiana Tech also has one common opponent with Illinois…Western Kentucky. Illinois barely beat WKU whereas LA Tech blew them out of the waters. So, based on that little piece of information, Illinois is the underdog coming into today. But that’s how they like it!
- Illinois is playing for a lot today at the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Not just for themselves and Coach Beckman, but for the entire Big Ten conference. The Big Ten has sent a team to the Heart of Dallas Bowl each of the past three seasons and has received no winners. Illinois will be looking to change that today while making sure their head coach wins his first bowl game with the school.
Related: Heart of Dallas Bowl Isn’t Illinois’ First Rodeo
Injury Report:
The Illinois Fighting Illini will have no more new injuries heading into today’s game with the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
Prediction:
It will be a close one, but Illinois football will get the win to close out their 2014 season. The momentum is high for Illinois. The defense will make life hard for the LA Tech offense, but the Illini offense might struggle out of the gates. In the end, the Illini get the 4-point victory and continue their active bowling winning streak.