They really should have changed the name to the I’d Like To Think I’m Worthwhile Bowl, though that might not have gone over well with corporate sponsor Nokia, a company too big to ever to have feelings of self-doubt.
But until Tuesday night, Illinois and Louisiana State were loitering in the court of public opinion, hoping that minds eventually could be changed and hearts softened. They came to the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day with fire in their eyes, bile in their throats and press clippings with the offending passages underlined in red ink.
LSU did most of the powerful persuading in a 47-34 victory Tuesday night, but the Illini get points for effort and entertainment value. They came to the Superdome with so much more in mind, but what had wounded them in other games killed them here. They got off to a horrendous start, and by the time Kurt Kittner went into his save-the-day mode, it was too late.
So No. 12 LSU gets to say it belongs, and No. 7 Illinois is left to wonder what it takes.
“I think we have earned a spot in the Top 10 in the final poll,” Tigers coach Nick Saban said.
For much of Tuesday, LSU reminded the Illini that the Big Ten wasn’t very special this season, not that they needed reminding. They already had read the newspapers, heard the talk shows and thought better of asking their mothers for an honest opinion. But it was the way the news was delivered this time that was so disheartening to the Illini.
Kittner was made to look like an average quarterback at times–and a short one at that. He had so many passes knocked down that it looked as if Shaquille O’Neal had suited up for his old school. But at least the gunslinger went down firing.
The Illini’s secondary was a strength all season, but the only way LSU receivers could have been more open Tuesday night is if they had traveled with bodyguards with body odor. And so distracted was Illinois by wide receiver Josh Reed and his mates that they forgot to take care of running back Domanick Davis. LSU had 595 yards of total offense.
The Tigers were playing what amounted to a home game here, so Illinois needed everything to go right. It could barely get one thing to go right in the first half and trailed 34-7.
Illinois safety Muhammad Abdullah had said before the game that the Illini’s 10-1 record “should speak for itself.” It spoke Tuesday night. It wasn’t convincing enough.
There was too much protesting from both teams in the days before the game, and behind all those big words and grand pronouncements was a large helping of uncertainty: Do they really belong? That was what Tuesday night was all about, though it sure would have been a lot better if LSU could have played Oregon, and Illinois could have played Colorado. Then they would have known for sure. Then there would have been answers that were a little more concrete.
But this answer was fairly concrete: LSU is faster and stronger than Illinois. And better.
“The next step in our program is to learn how to win a game like this,” Illinois coach Ron Turner said.
Turner has done a wonderful job of turning Illinois into a winner after suffering through a 0-11 season in 1997. The Illini might not have wowed many people this season, and their loss to Michigan was a big deflator, but they won and they won often. That’s supposed to count for something, no matter the condition of the Big Ten.
Put the 10-2 record aside for a second and see this season for what it really is: a perfect steppingstone for better things ahead. Illinois is in position to attract better, faster players now and to do it steadily for a long while.
That, ultimately, is how Turner will be judged. Did he build a long-term winner in Champaign or is this another of the up-and-down stories that happens periodically in the Big Ten while Michigan and Ohio State take a brief nap?
Illinois should be able to build a winner. That particular sentiment has been around for the past 30 years, and nothing has changed. It should be able to have a consistent winner, and Turner seems the right man to make it happen.
His team didn’t get started until the second half Tuesday. Next year at this time, Illinois plans on being back in a big-time bowl game. And count on one thing: It won’t be the Low Self-Esteem Bowl.
