Illinois Football: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Michigan

5. This is still a successful season

How are we feeling this morning, Illinois football fans? After a great 7-1 start that had us in the top 20 in the College Football Playoff, we have now dropped three-straight games.

I am sure people are saying that we weren’t a good team and that we shouldn’t have been ranked. That narrative has to be out there. But those same people haven’t watched the Illini play for the last three weeks. Despite the losses, we are a tough team that is still fully bought into what Bret Bielema and his coaching staff are saying.

Illinois is still 7-4 this season with a legit shot at going 8-4. If you would have said the Illini finished 8-4 in 2022, all of our fans would have taken that in a heartbeat. 8-4 is a really good record and one we can continue to build on moving forward.

I am excited to go to a bowl game this season as well. This doesn’t feel like the bowl game we made a couple of years ago. That one felt like we slopped into playing in the postseason. This time around, it feels like we are a really good team that can compete with any team in any bowl.

Let’s not forget, while it is an outside chance at this point, Illinois is going into the final game of the regular season still having a chance to get to the Big Ten Championship game. No one would have thought that to be a possibility to start the year.

On top of all of that, we have a good recruiting class coming in for 2023, and we have all been able to witness one of the greatest running backs in Illinois history, Chase Brown.

This season has been great. I know the last three weeks have been rough, but it is still a successful year. I can’t wait to see what this program does next season. The future is so bright.