With the 2019 college football season officially in the books, it’s time to look back on how the Big Ten did in bowl games.
As we go through all the bowls, in no particular order, we will focus on two main things:
1. How did the bowl performance end the 2019 season? Was it a fitting end or a poor performance, etc.
2. What impact, if any, will it have on the 2020 season.
2019 Redbox Bowl: Illinois vs California
The matchup
Like Indiana and Michigan, Illinois came into this game as an underdog. The Illini had a great season to get to six wins, and their reward was a talented but inconsistent Cal team. Cal was a very good team with Chase Garbers at the helm, but the Golden Bears struggled without him. Garbers was back for this game, which was good news for the Bears.
What went right
The first quarter was a solid one for Illinois. After an opening drive ended in a field goal, the Illini responded to a Cal touchdown with a 15-play touchdown drive of their own. Cal’s advantages in this game were obvious from the outset, but Illinois managed to mask it in the first quarter with a good offensive game plan that was well-executed.
What went wrong
Basically everything else after that. Garbers and the offense weren’t unstoppable, but Illinois couldn’t really get stops. The offense wasn’t explosive, but it did a great job of extending drives and keeping the Illinois defense on the field.
Illinois played well enough throughout the game to possibly keep it close, but the talent disparity was too much to overcome at the level that the Illini did play. It wasn’t a particularly exciting or compelling game, but it was definitely better than last season’s Redbox Bowl disaster.