By Woodrow Carroll
Thanks to a quirk in the scheduling, Illinois, Northwestern, and Northern Illinois all found themselves at home last Saturday facing opponents from California. And, as it turned out, there were good games in store at each venue. And, except for the Huskies of Northern Illinois, the home team prevailed although not before each contest produced plenty of excitement at the finish.
Before a sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., the University of Illinois bested Southern California, 34-32, thanks to a 41-yard field goal as time expired by Illinois’ David Olano.
Long-time bitter intersectional rivals who last faced each other in the 2008 Rose Bowl the Southern California Trojans won, the Rose Bowl 49-17. But now the two teams are in the Big Ten. The series between the Illini and Southern Cal has been a bit lopsided in the Trojans favor. The Men of Troy winning 11 of 13 meetings prior to last Saturday’s game.
Coming off a 63-10 mauling at Indiana, Illinois needed to right the ship against Southern Cal. Illinois (4-1, and 1-1) now has won eight of its last nine games. Yet, the loss to the Indiana Hoosiers still stings and has understandably raised questions as to the true strength of the Illini.
This week Illinois will travel to Purdue Saturday, Oct. 4 and play at 11 a.m.. The Purdue Boilermakers are viewed as one of the weaker Big Ten teams, meaning the Illini will be favored to come away with the win. The following week is a different story. Defending National Champion and No.1 rated Ohio State, will play at Champaign, Saturday, Oct. 11 at 11 a.m.. The question in the minds of many is, will the Illini be looking ahead to the game with Ohio State and be caught off guard by Purdue?
There are 18 teams in the Big Ten and 16 football programs operating out the Southeastern Conference, the two conferences viewed as the best in collegiate football at the moment. At the present, only one team among the 34 schools combined has yet to win a game: The UCLA Bruins! Guess who Northwestern faced last Saturday?
It was not easy, but, the Northwestern Wildcats edged visiting UCLA, 17-14, in Evanston last Saturday. Thus, the Land of Lincoln representatives (Illinois and Northwestern) were able to record two victories over the City of Angels (Southern California and UCLA) just hours apart.
With a chance to make it three straight wins for the states of Illinois over California, the Northern Illinois Huskies came up short against the San Diego State Aztecs.
The weather was nice in DeKalb for the Northern Illinois-San Diego State contest. Many expected a high-scoring affair, but they were wrong! It turned out to be one of those rare contests in which neither team ended up scoring a touchdown, with a San Diego victory of 6-3. It was the seventh meeting between the two schools, with the Aztecs coming away victorious on each occasion.
As Illinois celebrated a last-second victory in Champaign, it was a difference story in DeKalb. As the final seconds ticked off in DeKalb, it was the Aztecs’ Gabe Plascencia’s 25-yard field goal at the buzzer that made the difference in San Diego State’s victory.
Before one questions Northern Illinois’ lack of offense, one might point out San Diego State had shutout California, 34-0, prior to facing the NIU Huskies. And, Northern Illinois for its part had played solid defense in losing to both Maryland and Mississippi State. So, a low scoring game was no real surprise.
Interestingly, the meeting between NIU and San Diego State featured an unusual story line. Northern Illinois is presently a member of the Mid-American Conference and moving to the Mountain West Conference next season. San Diego State is presently a member of the Mountain West Conference and headed to the Pac-12 next season.
With the non-conference portion of the schedule out of the way, the Huskies now head into the school’s final season in the Mid-American Conference.
Saturday, Oct. 4 Northern Illinois 1-3 and 0-0 MAC) will host MAC member Miami (O.) at 2:30 p.m..