By Woodrow Carroll –
Take nothing away from the University of Illinois kicker, James McCourt, whose 39-yard field goal when time expired gave the host Fighting Illini a 24-23 upset victory over heavily-favored Wisconsin Saturday. Yet, a tip of the hat is in order for Neuqua Valley High School product Donny Navarro.
Navarro, who spent a season at Valparaiso University before transferring to Illinois, hauled in a 48-yard scoring toss against the Badgers to make the score 10-7 Wisconsin, late in the second quarter. Navarro’s touchdown marked the first time in almost 10 quarters Wisconsin, which had shutout four of its first six foes, had been scored on. Suddenly, Illinois was not the pushover most observers had envisioned.
Illinois glory of the big upset may prove fleeting. Illinois, 3-4 and 1-3 in the Big Ten Conference West, is a one touchdown underdog at 11 a.m. Saturday at Purdue, 2-5 and 1-3 Big Ten West, in a matchup of two teams seeking the six victories needed for bowl berths.
A look at the records of both Illinois and Purdue paints an interesting picture! A victory over Purdue followed by a victory over struggling Rutgers 1-6 overall, 0-5 in the Big Ten East, the following week would leave the Illini in need of only one victory in its final three games to become eligible for a bowl game.
However, after Rutgers the schedule gets rougher for Illinois with road games at Michigan State November 9 and Iowa November 23 prior to playing host to Northwestern November 30 to finish regular-season play.
Visualize, if you will, Illinois needing to beat Northwestern in its final game to become eligible for a bowl game, and, Northwestern in the spoiler’s role.
Unlucky 34-31 for both Illinois and Purdue: Favored Illinois lost, 34-31, to Eastern Michigan in the third game of the season. Favored Purdue lost its season opener, 34-31, at Nevada. When the regular season comes to an end losses of this nature often come back to haunt.
Ohio State, 7-0 and 4-0, beat Northwestern, 1-5 and 0-4, by 52-3 Friday in Evanston. The visitors had the edge in fan support which tells you the type of Wildcats’ season.