Illinois Football: 3 keys for the Illini to beat the Wisconsin Badgers

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Oct 19, 2019; Champaign, IL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini place kicker James McCourt (17) is congratulated by teammates after kicking the game winning field goal against the Wisconsin Badgers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /

Illinois football fans are still reminiscing about the amazing victory over the No. 6 ranked Wisconsin Badgers back in 2019.

This was one of the greatest upsets in school history. A 2-4 Illinois program was down 20-7 in the second half against a national title contending Badgers team. This wasn’t supposed to happen. The Illini would hang around and then lose control in the second half.

Big play after big play for the Illini led to an opportunity to kick a game-winning field goal. Even at this point, the odds of something going badly was pretty high considering not a lot goes right for the Orange and Blue fan base.

The snap is away, the hold is good and the kick is away. Right through the uprights, the kick hits the net and the Illini come away with the 24-23 win. While this was a tremendous victory for the program, that was the 2019 season.

We are now entering the 2020 campaign with a chance to start off 1-0 with a win over a top 25 program. That is what is at stake here. Illinois is going up against a slightly worse Wisconsin program this time around. But the Badgers are still tough and always will be tough.

So, there are some things the Illini need to do to get a victory on Friday night.

Here are three keys for the Illini to beat the Wisconsin Badgers.

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