CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — If you live in the Quad Cities, regardless of the sport, when the Fighting Illini and Iowa Hawkeyes play each other it matters.
On Saturday, the Illini will invade Iowa City trying to do something they have not done since 1999. But this is not the Illini of old. Third-year head coach Bret Bielema has the Illini believing they can play with any team in the conference.
RELATED: Paddock throws for 507 yards and his 4th TD pass gives Illinois a 48-45 overtime win over Indiana
Did I mention Bielema? The Illinois leader started his playing career for the Hawkeyes from 1989-1992; the Prophetstown native coached for his alma mater from 1994-2001. Obviously a place he excelled in.
The Iowa fan base is quick to remind Illinois fans about Bielema's tattoo of a Tiger Hawk on his left leg during his college days as a Hawk. Bielema said in an earlier press conference that he was young at the time and is often reminded about it.
Last year on the gridiron, Illinois defeated Iowa 9-6 in a defensive battle. It was the first time since 2008 that a win was over their rival in Memorial Stadium.
This year, Illinois had not won back-to-back games all year. That was until the last two weeks.
Starting sophomore signal caller Luke Altmyer went out late in the fourth quarter at Minnesota. Senior walk-on John Paddock was called on with no warm-up throw coming in with fourth and 11, trailing by five points with under two minutes to play and drove the Illini downfield for a go-ahead touchdown.
This past weekend, Paddock got the call again and set Illini Nation on fire. He broke a record for an Illinois quarterback, dialing up 507 yards passing at Memorial Stadium. It is the second-highest performance ever by an Illinois quarterback. Illinois racked up 662 total yards, the most this season and scored a season-high 48 points.
Now Bielema will have a tough decision to make: Which quarterback will he call upon Saturday against the Hawkeyes who have one of the best defenses in college football? The Hawkeyes ranked ninth in the country defensively, only giving up 281 yards.
Arguably the biggest item, if you are keeping track: Win or lose, Iowa has already locked up a share of the West Division, sitting 5-2 in the conference and 8-2 overall. But, if Illinois could beat Iowa and Northwestern, and if Iowa loses to Nebraska, Illinois would be in contention to win the Wild West.
That is a lot of "if"; like the coaches say, it is one game at a time. Iowa will have to prepare for two different quarterbacks this week. Bielema was asked about who will get the nod on Saturday and he danced around the topic.
"Luke will probably be involved on Tuesday moving forward. John has done a lot of really good things and put himself in this position. The good news is we have two quarterbacks," Bielema said.
Coach's rule: players do not lose their jobs due to injuries. In this case, it is not that Altmyer is losing his job; he will lead the Illini camp for two more years. But for now, maybe riding the hot hand all the while allows Paddock to continue this journey. He grew up an Illinois fan, left Ball State to compete for the Illinois job and lost it to Altmyer. Paddock is living his dream. His great-grandfather, grandfather and uncle all played at Illinois.
Paddock said last week, “It’s really nice for me because I love this place so much, and I love the University of Illinois so much that I want to see this team succeed regardless if it’s today, tomorrow or 20 years down the line."
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