1. The schedule was fairly tough
Heading into the 2019 campaign, there were a lot of fans who were down on the Illinois football team. Lovie Smith hadn’t won as quickly as they had wanted, and their patience was wearing thin.
After a 2-4 start to the season, those fans got even louder. But Illinois managed an impressive turnaround vaulted by an incredible win over No. 6 Wisconsin. This set off multiple wins in a row and a 6-6 record for the season. The Illini were able to make a bowl game as well.
Usually, when a team that has been struggling sees some success and gets to a bowl game, it is on the backs of bad teams. The bowl team plays a cakewalk schedule. That wasn’t the case with the Orange and Blue in 2019.
Illinois played eight total bowl-eligible teams, including the bowl game. That means they played five non-bowl eligible teams. Only three wins came out of the non-bowl eligible teams, and only two of the wins were against non-conference opponents.
The Illini managed three wins out of the eight bowl-eligible teams which included Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin. Those are all solid wins. We were within 10 points of Eastern Michigan and Iowa as well.
Overall, this was a fairly tough schedule. There were some good teams Illinois was able to beat. We fell to some teams we should have beaten as well. But, just looking at the schedule, a 6-6 record isn’t a bad regular season. It is a good stepping stone to a brighter future.