The Trench Report: Wisconsin
Steve Sturm, IlliniGuys Football Analyst
October 23, 2023
We've all seen this story before. The Illini come out ready to play. Look pretty good. Catch a bad break, and fold. We've seen it happen several times already this year, not to mention all the games we can recount from past coaching staffs and generations. These games have haunted we Illini football fans for most of our lives. When Illinois' best player was ejected on a questionable targeting penalty and the defense gave up a few big plays after that because they were out of sorts, Illini fans through Memorial Stadium and around the world started to think "We're going to lose this game aren't we?" The stadium was hushed. The players on both sides of the field felt it, and it truly did affect the game. This was one of those moments just like the Bartman/ Moises Alou play in 2003 when a bad break spiraled into a loss because everyone wearing the home team's colors is so used to catching bad breaks. As I was leaving that game listening to other Illini fans recount where that game landed on the list of bad losses at Memorial, I had to wonder whether the team might have won that game if they were playing on the road.