By Woodrow Carroll
Last weekend was not a good one for Illinois and Northwestern football. Both teams suffered conference losses on the road. Illinois was a 42-25 loser at Washington, while Northwestern was edged 28-21 at Nebraska. Defeats that left each team with 5-3 overall records.
In the case of Illinois, all three defeats came at the hands of quality football programs: Indiana, Ohio State (defending National champion), and Washington. As for Northwestern, the Wildcats saw their four-game winning streak come to an end in Lincoln, Neb.. Always a dangerous place to play.
At one time, Illinois was in the running for a National championship playoff berth. No longer! For now, the Illini need to concentrate on picking up that sixth victory that makes a team bowl eligible.
Illinois will host Rutgers Saturday, Nov. 1 at 11 a.m., in an attempt to get back on track. The Illini have a bye week after meeting Rutgers, then will playa at home against Maryland and at Wisconsin before hosting Northwestern to close out the regular season.
Northwestern plays at Southern California Friday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. after a bye week. The Wildcats then will host Michigan and Minnesota, both at Wrigley Field, before finishing up at Illinois.
The Northern Illinois Huskies snapped a six-game losing streak last Saturday defeating Ball State, 21-7.
The conquest of Ball State leaves Northern Illinois at 2-6 overall (1-3 MAC). Despite the Huskies lowly record, Northern could still salvage some respect with a strong finish. Namely, winning the final four games of the season.
The MAC is into its midweek run. NIU’s next game will be Wednesday, Nov. 5 at Toledo. A victory over Toledo could spark a strong finish by the Huskies. Games with Massachusetts, Western Michigan and Kent State close out the Huskies’ schedule.
This will be Northern Illinois’ last season in the MAC before moving to the Mountain West Conference. Although asking a lot, a 6-6 regular-season record and bowl bid is still an outside shot for the Huskies.
•In 2024, former Nebraska and Ohio University football coach Frank Solich was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. His induction highlights an interesting series of statistics.
Solich, a Cleveland prep product, played football at Nebraska during a period most view as the golden age of Cornhusker football. Namely, that period when Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne coached Nebraska.
Osborne coached 25 seasons in Lincoln. Osborne closed out with National Championships in 1994, 1995, and 1997.
Solich, who played for Nebraska under Devaney, was picked to succeed Osborne. And, this is where it gets interesting!
Solich coached six seasons at Nebraska compiling a 58-19 record before being fired. The man simply failed to win to the degree Devaney and Osborne did.
Coaching being in Solich’s blood, after a year on the sidelines, he was hired as head coach at Ohio University. Ohio University, a Mid-American Conference school like Northern Illinois, gained a winner in Solich.
Solich coached 16 seasons at Ohio U. After a slow start, the Bobcats took off under Solich. From 2009-2020, the Athens, Ohio school was .500 or better with a 6-6 finish in 2014 the only non-winning campaign in that period.
Perhaps Solich’s darkest hour came in the 2014 MAC Championship game played at Ford Field in Detroit.
Up against Northern Illinois, Ohio was in front 20-0 at half only to see the Huskies storm back to win 23-20 on a 33-yard field goal by Mathew Sims at the buzzer.
Early in the 2020 season, plagued by health issues, Solich stepped down as head coach at Ohio U. after 16 seasons. Not long after, the Ohio U. Football Field was named Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium. (Don Peden was involved in the Ohio U. athletic program for 27 years.)
Think about it! In six seasons at Nebraska, Solich was 58-19 winning over 75% of his games. In 16 seasons with Ohio U. Solich was 115-82 (.584). Not bad! But, not the winning percentage at Nebraska that Solich achieved!