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Three weeks from Friday, the University of Illinois football team opens against Western Illinois at Memorial Stadium.
It will be the start of season No. 135. The team is 14 games over .500 with an all-time record 642-628-51. Michigan and Ohio State are 1-2 in wins nationally with 1,012 ad 978 wins respectively.
The last Illinois tie game -- and final one in the FBS -- came against Wisconsin 3-3 at the end of the 1995 season. The overtime rule was introduced the next season.
So, there, you have the basics of Illinois football.
With expectations soaring, the Illini bandwagon is bigger than ever. Want to hop on?
This should help.
Perfect view
Start at the 50-yard line at Memorial Stadium and travel straight east toward Roselawn Cemetery.
There, you will find the gravesite of Illinois' all-time winningest coach Bob Zuppke. Zuppke is buried near George Huff, the Illinois athletic director who hired him.
Was Zuppke's grave put their on purpose? It seems that way considering his friendship with Huff and impact on the program and community.
Hall of Fame leader Zuppke would certainly be cheering on his school. especially the 2024 win against Michigan, 100 years after he beat the Wolverines in the dedication game of his building.
The field at Memorial Stadium was dedicated in Zuppke's honor in 1966.
Long, fun ride
The 1951 Illinois football team traveled by train to Pasadena, Calif., for the 1952 Rose Bowl.
He wasn't on the same trip, but future News-Gazette columnist Loren Tate -- still going strong today at age 93 -- made the trip too. Monticello native Tate traveled with a couple fans, including Monticello's Linden Piatt.
Then a sophomore at Illinois, Tate wasn't going to miss it.
The trip was worth it for the team and for Tate. Illinois blasted Stanford 40-7 and finished ranked No. 4.
And Tate got on a poker and spades winning streak during the ride to the game.
It was the first of Tate's three trips to the Rose Bowl. The latter two came as a News-Gazette reporter in 1984 and 2008. He'd like to go again.
Simply Red
Why is there a large boulder near the north end zone at Memorial Stadium? That would be Grange Rock, which was dedicated in legend Red Grange's honor on the 70th anniversary of his monster performance in a 1924 Illinois home win against Michigan.
The rock came from the same Indiana quarry used to build Memorial Stadium.
There are more odes for the legend besides a big rock. Grange Grove, the 77 Club and the bronze statue of him are part of Illinois gameday.
Bubble up
Before fancy indoor practice facilities -- like the Smith Center -- became all the rage, Illinois had the Bubble.
The Bubble, which first went up in 1985, covered the Memorial Stadium turf, allowing the team to practice in the winter and spring.
The Chicago Bears famously used it to prepare for Super Bowl XX in 1986.
Because it was air-supported, entrants had to use revolving doors that seemed to shoot you in and out of the facility.
When the Irwin Indoor Practice Facility was completed, the need for the Bubble ended. Hard to find anyone who misses it.
The (future) Wizard of
Westwood was watching
... from the stands
During a 2003 interview, basketball coaching great John Wooden told me he was at THE GAME: Grange's mind-blowing performance against Michigan in 1924.
Here's how the conversation went:
N-G: Do you like football as a fan?
Wizard of Westwood: Oh yeah. One of my favorite all-time players of course when I was younger was Red Grange. I had the good fortune of seeing him play one time and I just was amazed. He has always been one of my favorites. If there's an all-time team, he has to be on it.
N-G: Who'd you see Grange play against?
WW: Michigan.
N-G: You were at the game in '24?
WW: I was. The first three or four times he carried the ball, he ran for touchdowns of quite a distance.
N-G: How old were you at the time?
WW: 10 years old. I was with family. I saw him play later with the Bears in Chicago.
Will Rooks magic repeat?
On Oct. 11, Illinois hosts defending national champion Ohio State. The home team sure hopes it goes like the 1983 game between the schools.
Illinois trailed 13-10 late against the Buckeyes, who had won 15 in a row in the series.
Quarterback Jack Trudeau led the winning drive, hitting Scott Golden on consecutive 20-yard plays. That set up running back Thomas Rooks, who took a pass from Trudeau and raced down the right sideline toward the north end zone for a 17-13 Illinois victory.
The win kept Illinois on its march toward a 9-0 Big Ten record. The school is the only one in history to sweep the rest of the league teams, a record that will never be broken.
Crazy eight
Who holds the record for most rushing touchdowns in an FBS game? You can see him each week during the football season on BTN's studio show: Howard Griffith.
On Sept. 22, 1990 against Southern Illinois at Memorial Stadium. John Mackovic's Illini fell behind 21-7. Then Griffith went to work.
He scored all eight touchdowns for Illinois from a variety of distances, passing Grange's school-record for touchdowns along the way.
The record score, from 3 yards out, went into the south end zone and his teammates lifted him on their shoulders.
Of course, Griffith had big moments in the NFL too, winning two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos.