Postscript, Wisconsin

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

(Hey, Robert’s not the only one who can reference great novels.)

Camp Randall is now the site of two of the more memorable games, at least for me, of Bret Bielema’s tenure at Illinois. And they’re memorable for completely opposite reasons.

The last time the Illini played at Wisconsin was the 2022 season. We remember that season fondly for a lot of reasons, but an early October game in Madison might not be one of them for most fans.

That’s because the game wasn’t much of a game. The Tommy DeVito-led Illini only outgained the Badgers by 100 yards, 303 to 208, but Wisconsin was only able to run for two yards – total, as a team – and they turned the ball over three times on the afternoon. When the final second ticked off the clock, Illinois went home with a tidy 34-10 victory that was tucked away long before that.

That Illinois could win in Camp Randall wasn’t a massive surprise – they were a touchdown underdog in the game, but Wisconsin was showing cracks and the Illini were off to a good start – but a rocking-chair-easy win over a historically tough opponent is why the game endures in my mind. It also surely lives in the minds of Wisconsin fans, as it marked the end of the Paul Chryst era in Madison.

There’s poetry in that moment being contrasted with Saturday’s loss. The last time the Illini visited Camp Randall, Bret Bielema set a new expectation level for the program; on Saturday, the Illini suffered arguably the most disappointing loss – a disappointment due to the raising of expectations – in Bielema’s tenure. The Michigan State loss at Memorial Stadium later in that 2022 season, the Kansas and Northwestern losses in 2023 and even the Washington loss a few weeks ago are in the conversation for different reasons, but writing this 48 hours later and without the benefit of perspective that’s gained with distance from such a loss, I’m inclined to say Saturday’s result was the most disappointing of them all.