Will the underdog Illini be able? They can't wait to find out
By: Bob Asmussen
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
PASADENA, Calif. – They will look around in wonder. They will think back to being 10 years old and pretending to suit up.
But today, it's real. For the first time in 24 years. For the first time in their lives.
"I'll get a feel for it and just try to see other great legends who have played there and try to picture myself in their shoes," Illinois quarterback Juice Williams said. "It's going to be an eye-popping experience."
"When you think about it, it gives you chills a little bit to play in a game of this magnitude," Illinois receiver Kyle Hudson said.
Illinois wasn't expected to be here. Not even close. Two wins in 2006. Two wins the year before that. A fired coach in 2004.
The preseason magazines picked the Illini from sixth to 10th in the Big Ten. Nobody dared project a BCS bid. Or a winning record.
The season started with a close loss to Missouri. A disappointing loss for the team and its fans. But a game that showed that the program had signs of life.
There were breakthrough wins against Penn State and Wisconsin. There were losses to Iowa and Michigan that seemed to end the Rose Bowl dream. And there was the all-time upset at Ohio State, arguably the biggest win in school history.
Today's game, against college football's dominant power Southern Cal, puts the program on another level. From New Hampshire to Iowa to Oregon, fans will be tuning in on ABC and watching Ron Zook's guys. It's the Illinois football primary and the team is a heavy underdog. The two-touchdown point spread is the largest of the bowl season.
The forecasts don't matter to the players. They were heavy underdogs at Ohio State, too.
"It's a chance for the University of Illinois to really get on a national stage," linebacker J Leman said. "We were on that stage a couple times this year with the Michigan game and Ohio State. We want to show how far this program's come. I think it's a golden opportunity for us."
Leman grew up a Champaign kid with Rose Bowl dreams. He would play in the yard with his brothers and pretend to be in Pasadena.
"You dream big," Leman said. "In order to make your dreams come true, I've realized that the best thing you can do is take care of today."
Who was the imaginary opponent?
"It was probably somebody like UCLA or USC," Leman said. "They were usually the culprits of the '90s in the game. I was probably playing against them."
The benchmark
The Rose Bowl hasn't been a happy place for the Big Ten in recent years. Michigan lost here three of the last four years. The last league win came in 2000, when Wisconsin beat Stanford 17-9.
The last Illinois trip to the Rose Bowl came before all but one Illini (Bo Flowers) were born. In a strange twist, the hero of UCLA's 45-9 thrashing, Rich Neuheisel, came back to his alma mater this week as head coach. Good news for Illinois, he won't be suiting up.
Before '84, Illinois was perfect in three Pasadena games, winning three games by a combined 102-28.
Though the Illini will all talk about playing for the national title, the Rose Bowl is the yearly goal. There are two Rose Bowl signs in the football complex that the players pass each day. They touch the signs every time. Almost without thinking about it.
The Illini players aren't the only ones who are new to the game. Zook will be making his first appearance, too.
He is trying to find a balance between taking in the experience while not letting it be overwhelming. Zook wants his players to have a memory of the game, one that will last a lifetime.
"We talk about no regrets," Zook said. "You don't think when you're 18 or 19 or 20 years old the same way you think when you're 25 or 30 or 35 years old. I want them to have fond memories of the Rose Bowl.
"It's not whether you win or lose. It's whether when we walk off that field that we know we've given everything we can give. You don't want to have a regret. 'If I had pushed a little more here or I had been in a little bit better shape. If I hadn't stayed out all night, something like that.' Like as a parent, you want your kids to have great experiences."
For years, when the Rose Bowl subject came up at Illinois, you turned to the Mike White-David Williams-Jack Trudeau-led crew from 1983. Now, the 2007 bunch takes the spotlight as "the last to reach the game."
Zook is more interested in the present. He's more interested in how his team performs against Southern Cal.
"Somebody will take pictures," Zook said. "I think that is all for afterward. I think back to the big games I've been in. I always look forward. This is a big, big game. When I was at Florida and we played in the national championship in the Fiesta Bowl, that was a big, big game. When I was with the Steelers and we played in the AFC Championship, that was a big, big game. It's fun. The thing you can't do is you can't get caught up in it."
The new guys
For Southern Cal, the Rose Bowl seems like a regular part of the season.
"They're as loose and as confident as they ever are," said Kirk Herbstreit, who will call the game for ABC. "Every year, they're here. They play UCLA and then go to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl a month later.
"They expect to be here."
Herbstreit doesn't know what to expect from Illinois.
"I don't think we know who Illinois is yet," Herbstreit said. "They are a dangerously confident, young naive team that is very capable of going out and doing some things that could surprise some people."
The oddsmakers and the national media have provided a giant boulder for the Illini shoulders.
"Everybody thinks USC is going to dominate the game and that's good if you're an Illinois fan," Herbstreit said. "You wish the bottom line thing said 100 percent (Southern Cal picks) because you want those players coming in here with an attitude."
The Illini have heard all about the Trojans. The great tradition. The best team not playing in the BCS title game. The NFL-ready defense.
"Our defense is getting ready to come in and play, too," Illinois freshman linebacker Martez Wilson said. "The USC offense hasn't been hit like we're going to hit them."
The Illini have imagined what it will be like if they get a win, one that would certainly push them into the final Top 10 for the first time since 1990.
"Personally, it would be the icing on the cake," Illinois senior safety Kevin Mitchell said. "For the program and the coaches, this is a catalyst for what's to come."