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Illinois Football: Top 5 Illini wins in the Lovie Smith era

By Jalen Wilson

IOWA CITY, IOWA- NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini before the match-up against the Iowa Hawkeyes, on November 23, 2019 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini before the match-up against the Iowa Hawkeyes, on November 23, 2019 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /
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WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA – OCTOBER 26: Reggie Corbin #2 and Richie Petitbon #74 of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrate after scoring a touchdown in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on October 26, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA – OCTOBER 26: Reggie Corbin #2 and Richie Petitbon #74 of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrate after scoring a touchdown in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on October 26, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

4. Illinois at Purdue – 2019

Going into the game against Purdue in 2019, it wasn’t nearly as important as the win in the week prior. The Illini were coming off a win against No. 4 Wisconsin. Illinois was 3-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play when they took on the Boilermakers, but we needed this win to show that the upset over the Badgers wasn’t just a fluke.

To start the game it was muddy and rainy. That played right into Illinois’ hands as they had two running backs who were built for this type of game. The game started a little slow for both teams until Dre Brown broke a 44-yard run to put Illinois in Boilermaker territory. That set up an Illini field goal by James McCourt to put the Orange and Blue up 3-0 right before the end of the first quarter.

After trading punts, Illinois got a huge boost of momentum. Purdue quarterback Jack Plummer threw a pass that was picked off by Tony Adams and returned for a touchdown. This gave the Illini a 10-0 lead.

After trading punts again and a missed field goal by James McCourt, the Illini finally put more points on the board. Brandon Peters punched it into the endzone for a 1-yard touchdown.

Almost through the entire third quarter, both teams went scoreless. But the Illinois defense did what they do best and that is force turnovers.

Dele Harding forced a fumble that was recovered by Stanley Green and returned for 29-yards. This gave Illinois great field position. Just three pays later, Reggie Corbin ran for a 20-yard touchdown, which gave Illinois a 24-0 lead. Eventually, the game ended with Illinois coming out ahead, 24-6.

The reason I rank this at No. 4 is that Purdue was banged up during this game. Lovie did a good job coaching and adjusting to the bad weather, which helps put this game in my top five.

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