Illinois’ Bret Bielema lets a ref have it during a loss against Wisconsin.
Michael Hickey/Getty Images
You think Illinois getting dump-trucked 44-19 by mediocre Purdue was bad? You think the Illini being held to seven points on their own field by dime-a-dozen Nebraska was embarrassing?
Congrats, you’re correct on both counts.
But what happened Saturday in Champaign was even worse. In a 25-21 loss to Wisconsin, they were outscored 18-0 in the fourth quarter as any hope of a decent season went bye-bye. They mismanaged the clock, lost their composure, wilted under the slightest pressure and, oh, yeah, failed to beat a first-year Big Ten West coach for the third time in as many tries.
And they did it in Game 8 of Bret Bielema’s third season with the Illini, deep enough into his third head coaching stop that you’re not wrong, either, for worrying that the needle has started to move in the wrong direction.
First the Boilermakers’ Ryan Walters bested Bielema, then the Huskers’ Matt Rhule and now the Badgers’ Luke Fickell. One might have hoped Bielema would have the Illini in too good of shape by now to be 3-5 overall and bringing up the rear in the West, yet here they are.
The Illini have lost the physical edge they seemed to have in 2022, when they were 8-5. The offense is incapable of converting in short-yardage situations or draining the clock with a late lead. The defense got steamrolled by the Badgers after defensive star Johnny Newton was ejected for targeting early in the fourth quarter.
And Bielema’s excuse-making won’t help anything. He characterized the targeting call as having been in error and vowed to appeal Newton’s suspension for the first half of the team’s next game, but replays seemed to show — clearly — that the ruling was justified. Bielema also blamed the refs for being out of timeouts in the final half-minute, when the Illini got the ball back in need of a touchdown; he’d had to burn two of them due to officiating errors, he explained.
“Not only just this game but over the course of the year, I’m just tired of it,” he said. “I can’t handle it. I don’t understand it. Very frustrating.”
But it wasn’t the stripes who choked on a two-touchdown, fourth-quarter lead. Squawking about them after such a game is pretty weak.
Bielema didn’t go to Illinois to win five games, as he was fond of saying after Year 1. He didn’t go there to win eight, as we heard heading into this season.
Is this — whatever it is — why he went there?
Not a chance.
On the other hand, at least the Illini aren’t Michigan State. Perhaps only our friends in East Lansing, as prone to epic carelessness as ever, could find a way to top former coach Mel Tucker’s scandalous phone call on the inappropriate-o-meter, but they did.
Indeed, that was a giant image of Adolph Hitler on the Spartan Stadium scoreboard before Saturday’s game against Michigan. Why Hitler? What in the world? The school explained that it was part of a pregame package of trivia entertainment run by a third-party contractor and that, hey, sorry, but look, no one at MSU really vets the stuff. Because of course they don’t. …
How ridiculously good is Michigan? So good, the line for its regular-season finale against Ohio State (yes, God bless America, you can bet it already) jumped from 4½ to 6½ even after the Buckeyes beat Penn State convincingly. The Wolverines crushed MSU 49-0, the Spartans’ worst home loss ever. …
We know what you’re thinking and, yes, it’s a good thing Michigan’s sign-stealing scheme was nipped in the bud or else the score in East Lansing might have been 50-0. …
An absolute heartbreaker for the Hawkeyes in Kinnick.
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 22, 2023
Minnesota goes home with the win and Floyd of Rosedale; Brian Ferentz goes home with 10 points added to his total.
The Climb to 325 continues. Volume up. pic.twitter.com/mHcgHuBeto
It’s in Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz’s contract that the Hawkeyes must average 25 points a game this season or else dad Kirk will take away his constantly criticized son’s whistle. Eight games in, that means the Hawkeyes would have to have scored at least 200 points total to be on pace.
They’re at 156.
Oh, what family fun. …
Kyle Schwarber has hit 125 regular-season home runs since the Cubs decided to move on from him after the 2020 season. Is that a lot?
Then again, Schwarber has only 14 postseason dingers since then, so, you know, nothing to see here. …
With apologies to Schwarber and Phillies teammate Bryce Harper, it’s the Astros’ Jose Altuve who has become baseball’s Mr. October. Call him a cheater if you must. He’s still the baddest little dude on the planet. …
Altuve’s teammate Jose Abreu has done enough damage in his first extended postseason to always be able to say he showed up when it counted and had some huge moments. No doubt, that has more than offset any pain Abreu felt about leaving his former team. What, you don’t remember? It was the White Sox. …
Connor Bedard lighting the lamp less than two minutes into his first Blackhawks home game is the Chicago sports moment of the year. OK, so it’s not like there’s a lot of competition, but still.
