It was a great weekend for the Illinois football program, as we secured a massive victory.
The Illini controlled the game against USC, but the Trojans stormed back and took the lead late in the contest. This enabled Luke Altmyer to put on his cape.
Illinois had under two minutes to go, and Altmyer led the offense down the field to get into field goal range. David Olano nailed the field goal to win the game. Bret Bielema took the podium for his postgame press conference and espoused his belief in this team.
Here are five interesting Bret Bielema quotes from the Illinois football presser vs USC
- “I grabbed Kaden (Feagin) at halftime, and I said hey man, what is behind us is behind us. We have got to go forward.”
Momentum really turned at the end of the first half. Kaden Feagin was going in for a touchdown, but fumbled the ball. This was a 10-point swing.
Bielema pulling him aside and talking with him shows the great leadership of our coach. The result was a 10-0 run to start the second half, which included a 64-yard catch and run for a touchdown by Feagin. Bielema didn’t lose faith in our massive running back.
- “I know playing these guys, we knew we were going to play a certain type of style and instill our will.”
You could tell that Illinois was playing how we wanted to play throughout the game. We started controlling the clock and chipping away at the USC Defense.
Illinois had three drives in the first half. Each drive was at least 10 plays, and the shortest drive took 3:48 off the game clock. This was the style Bielema was talking about, and he followed through on the game plan.
- “I told these guys last night, there are two things you can’t buy in this world. You can’t buy time. Nobody can buy yesterday or look ahead to tomorrow, no matter how much money you have. And you can’t buy reputation.”
After a thrashing by Indiana, the Illini had a decision to make. We could either fold up shop and punt on the season, or this program could come out fighting.
From the first drive, you could tell the answer. Illinois came out of the gates with desperation, and it showed. Bielema had the Illini ready to go to battle.
- “I knew we had a strong minute and a half…with two timeouts, there is nobody in this country I would rather be on this field with than Luke Altmyer.”
I would argue that Illinois has not had a quarterback that a head coach has trusted like Bielema trusts Luke Altmyer. He has earned this trust, considering the numbers he is putting up and the leadership he has shown on the field.
When it is all said and done, Bielema and Altmyer might end up being the greatest head coach-quarterback combination in program history.
- “What more can Hank (Beatty) do? He should play defense. I want to get an interception.”
Bielema was asked the question about what more Hank Beatty can do on the field. The answer from Bielema was priceless. He jokingly said that Beatty should play defense and get an interception.
The answer by Bielema reminded me of another legend. Bobby Boucher. Maybe he, too, can take a few tips from Captain Insano because, as we all know, Captain Insano shows no mercy.