11/29/2018 1 Comment End of 2018 Football SeasonThe 2018 football season has come to an end for the Illini, and it wasn't as good as fans had hoped. They finished at a 4-8 record which is just two wins short of being bowl eligible. The season was not what Illini fans would have liked to see, however it was an improvement from last season when the team only had 2 wins. Towards the end of the season there seemed to be lots of talks of the Head Coach getting fired, however that wasn't the case as he ended up getting a contract extension for two more seasons all the way to 2023. Lovie Smith seemed pretty confident in the team when he said, "Those of us around the program see the progress being made each and every day and we expect to be competing for championships very soon." Only time will tell if the Illini will be able to improve to a championship contender. To recap the last games of the season, the Illini got their last win against Minnesota with a score of 55-31. This was honestly the best the Illini have played in a really long time. The offense made multiple big plays, with four of their touchdowns being longer than 60 yards. Reggie Corbin had a good game with two big touchdown runs from 70 and 77 yards. AJ Bush Jr also had a big game with 2 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns. The rest of the season was a bust for the Illini as they went on to loose their last three games, one being an absolute blowout loosing 63 to nothing against Iowa at home. In their rivalry game against Northwestern the Illini showed some promise, however they were unable to come away with the win after a crucial interception thrown by AJ Bush Jr late in the fourth quarter to ruin any chance of a comeback. Overall this season wasn't really what Illini fans want to see, however it was what they have come to expect. Hopefully over the next couple of seasons the team will continue to improve and maybe one day compete for a championship. Basketball season has now officially started and as usual, the Illini suck. The team's record is 2-5 currently, with their only two wins coming from teams that I have never even heard of. To open up the season the team played Evansville. This wasn't really much of a game as they went on to win 99-60. They then played Georgetown and ended up taking a disappoint loss. Then, over Thanksgiving break the Illini went down to Maui to play in the annual Maui Jim Maui Invitational. This years tournament had some great teams including Duke and Gonzaga who were ranked 1 and 3 heading into the tournament. To start off, the Illini faced Gonzaga and actually played really well however they came up just short losing 78-84. Gonzaga went on to win the tournament beating Duke in the championship and taking the number 1 ranking. As for Illinois, they played Iowa State in their second game, losing 68-84. After two losses the Illini then moved on to play Xavier, who they ended up losing to 73-84. The team ended up placing last out of 8 teams in the tournament, which is a pretty big disappointment especially since the team won it the last time they played in 2012. When the team got back they played Mississippi Valley State which was another easy win with a score of 86-67. The most recent game they played was against Notre Dame and it was actually a really close game, however the Illini missed a buzzer beater to lose 74-76. Hopefully the Illini will be able to find their groove for the rest of the season and make it to the NCAA tournament.
1 Comment
Zalan Shah
12/6/2018 05:57:42 am
This was a very depressing blog to read; it’s pretty said when you can look at a 4-8 season optimistically. I have no idea why you remain loyal to the University of Illinois. They are overpriced and overrated. Join me and Taylor to be a Bradley Brave next year.
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