Nashville, TN – Tennessee got the Music City Bowl off to a fast start against Illinois putting up the first score on their first possession. QB Joey Aguilar took it over from the seven to lead Illinois, 7-0, to cap a 67-yard drive. But Illinois tuned up its offense to drive 75 yards. QB Luke Altmyer (20 for 33, 196 yards, 1 passing TD, 2 rushing) tossed an 18-yard TD pass to WR Justin Bowick. The first stanza ended, 7-7.
Late in the second, the Vols’ Max Gilbert attempted a 39-yard that went wide left. With the time remaining in the half, the Illini started from their 21. With 21 seconds left in the second frame, Illini PK David Olano converted successfully with a 30-yard FG. Illinois took a 10-7 lead into the intermission.
Illinois defense makes late Alum Dick Butkus proud
In the third, after exchanging punts, Tennessee started from their 20. On first down, LB Joe Barna sacked Aguilar causing a fumble. Fellow Illini LB Len Lowery recovered in the end zone for an Illinois TD. Illinois sacked Aguilar four times in this game.
Now trailing, 17-7, the Volunteers who averaged 40.8 points per game, strummed their way for 75 yards. At the two, DeSean Bishop (19 carries, 93 yards, 2 TDs) took it over to close the score. However, the Illini continued to display dominance over the Vols defense. They responded with an efficient 68-yard drive. It finished with Altmyer’s two-yard scoring run. Heading into the final stanza, the Big Ten team (9-4) led by ten going into the final stanza.
Tennessee’s timely turnaround
The high-scoring Tennessee offense came back on a mission. They drove this time for 79 yards. Bishop hit paydirt on a 12-yard TD run. Illinois still showed that the Vol defense could not stop them. Only this time, they could not break the Vols. They only bent them. Olano put up a 28-yard field goal to lead, 27-21, with 5:14 left in the Music City Bowl.
Special teams came into play on the ensuing kickoff. Joakim Dodson fielded the kick for his first as a Vol. The ball bounced off his chest and onto the ground. He mishandled it several times before picking it up. He continued to run to his left. Picking up some blocking he caught several Illini defenders out of position after his misplay. Dodson traveled down the left sideline for a 94-yard touchdown return.
Oh, stirring Memory
Guest Game Analyst (GGA) Dave Hickman (Illinois/NIU grad) claims that it had to be the slowest kickoff return for a TD ever witnessed. Funny, because it brought back a personal memory. We of watched UT Hall of Famer and Olympic Champion Willie Gault returning the fastest kick return in our history. It came back in the 1981 Garden State Bowl in the Vols 28-21 win over Wisconsin. Check it out. I reminisce about it in my Tennessee chapter of Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly. Recalled as an “Orange streak” for 81 yards.
Illinois: Not over till it’s over
Tennessee now led for the first time since their initial possession, 28-27. The Illini, however, demonstrated once again, they had the Vol Defense right where they wanted them. Starting from their 25, they drove to the Tennessee 31. With a fourth and one, HC Bret Bielema did not want to risk the FG distance. Nor did he want to give the ball back to the Vols. TE Jordan Anderson took a handoff. He ran 13 yards for a first down. UT HC Josh Heupel had to use all his remaining time-outs and the two-minute time out. All the while, Illinois set up Olano for his game-winning, encore of a field goal. He put it up from 29 yards away with :03 left for the 30-28 Illinois victory.
Notes and Goats
The Vols finished 8-5. Not one of their wins came against a team with a winning record. It looks like building a defense will be Heupel’s primary goal in the off season. We are hoping to possibly get to a game at Neyland next season as our Auburn connections hope to put something together for us.
The Illini finished 9-4. This game made up for their performance when we saw them in their fourth game of this season. In Bloomington, Indiana for our first time, we witnessed the 3-0 Illini fall to eventual No. 1 Indiana, 63-10. Next Friday, collegefootballfan.com will attend the Peach Bowl to see the Hoosiers in the CFP Semi-final against the Oregon Ducks. We saw the Ducks win twice this season – 59-13 over No. 2 FCS Montana State. Then, we saw them defeat Penn State, 38-30. That started the demise of PSU HC James Franklin.
The Illini outgained the vaunted Volunteer offense 417 – 278 yards. UT’s finished with its lowest output of this season. The Illini victory gave the Big 10 a 2025 bowl record of 6-0 this bowl season. The SEC stands at this point at 2-5. The announced crowd of 52,815 at Nissan Stadium must definitely be based on tickets sold. Nissan Stadium holds 69, 149. At least half the stadium was empty with temperatures down on the high 30s as GGA Dave and I surmised.
Our Season continues
After the Music City Bowl, we headed to Miami Lakes, Florida for the CFP Orange Bowl. Oregon vs. Texas Tech: you already know that outcome by now of course. However, we will provide our brief critique as well anyway. And on Monday night, we will again see the aforementioned Montana State Bobcats play. They mmet the Illinois State Redbirds (11-4) for the FCS championship in nearby Nashville.
Speaking of Willie Gault, read more about our college football history!!
Click on the title about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Among 736 college games attended to date, we’ve seen all 136 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams play in person at least once. This tells our story! Read the reviews on the book page and get your copy today. If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023 and more. You’ll see we know what we’re talking about.
In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote this book. Based on our game story above, this fun, unique life-long Journey continues. Catch up on the last 45 years, and then please submit a review. We hope you will get a “kick” out of our great adventure over the years! Who else can say that? Continue to come back and follow our current and future adventures. Bowls and play-off games lie ahead for the rest of this season. Thanks for checking this out!
