Illinois

Northern Illinois ends their bowl game streak winning Camellia Bowl against Arkansas State 21-19

Published

10 months ago

December 23, 2023

Northern Illinois ends their bowl game streak winning Camellia Bowl against Arkansas State 21-19

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – It was another Camellia Bowl that did not disappoint. Another game coming down to the wire decided by fewer than three points between Northern Illinois and Arkansas State.

Both teams came into the game 6-6.

Northern Illinois gets the ball to start off, landing inside the redzone with Rocky Lombardi tossing one up and a grab from Grayson Barnes for a Huskies Touchdown. They went for two and missed. 6-0 NIU.

Midway through the first, Freshman Jaylen Raynor makes a 42 yard spiral pass to Corey Rucker for a touchdown, Arkansas taking the lead 7-6.

Before the end of the quarter, Northern Illinois makes it back into the endzone. Rocky Lombardi with the QB read barreled into a redwolf defender and goes in for a touchdown. 13-7 Huskies going into the second quarter.

Possibly the play of the game, NIU lined up for a 47 yard field goal but pulls a fakeout. Kanon Woodill the kicker takes it 32 yards. Touchdown Huskies 21-7.

Arkansas State adds two field goals to make it a 21-13 game at the half.

Second half, Woodill seems to have had kicking issues. One bounces off the uprights from 27 yards away. His second miss of the game.

Fourth quarter under two minutes to play Raynor goes to Rucker again. 13 yards and the red wolves are down by 2 but can’t convert so it stayed 21-19. They went for the onside kick and it looked like Arkansas state had recovered! But there is an offsides call against Arkansas state, forcing them to rekick.

Northern Illinois recovered the onside kick and kneeled it out… Huskies are your 2023 Camellia Bowl champions.

“For these guys to win the game and walk off the field as champions is everything to our seniors. It’s everything to our guys coming back,” said Northern Illinois Head Coach Thomas Hammock. “Tough ball game, right? We played complimentary football in all three phases.”

“Football’s a game of accumulation of plays. And not one play wins or loses the game for you. Every play has a flow that dictates different outcomes in the game,” said Arkansas State Head Coach Butch Jones.

Northern Illinois has ended their bowl game streak, winning it’s first bowl since 2012. They end the season 7-6, Arkansas state 6-7.

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Illinois

View map: Illinois Nov. 5, 2024, General Election results by county

Published

5 hours ago

October 31, 2024

Press Room

View map: Illinois Nov. 5, 2024, General Election results by county

Check the Illinois 2024 Nov. 5 presidential election results here

Here is an interactive map showing Nov. 5, 2024, General Election results by Illinois county.

—> Click here to view complete General Election coverage.

More interactive election results maps:

Here’s a look at the nationwide results map:

Michigan 2024 General Election Results

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Illinois

Why are most Illinois schools closed on Election Day?

Published

12 hours ago

October 31, 2024

Press Room

Why are most Illinois schools closed on Election Day?

While many students will still attend classes on Election Day next week, most public school students in Illinois won’t be among them.

Under provisions of an amendment to Illinois’ school code, Election Day is an official state holiday for the 2024 election season, meaning that children in K-12 public schools will not be required to attend classes.

The law also holds that any school that doesn’t have instruction on Election Day can be used by local authorities as a polling place.

In addition to public schools, courthouses and other local and state government facilities, including Secretary of State’s Driver’s Services facilities, will also be closed on Election Day.

Private schools are not included in the terms of the legislation, meaning that students in those institutions may still have class on Tuesday. Universities are also not included, with students in the University of Illinois system still having classes on Election Day.

There have been efforts in the past to make Election Day a federal holiday, but those efforts have not been successful thus far. As a result, many banks, federal facilities including courthouses, and most businesses will be open on Tuesday, according to officials.

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Illinois

Bret Bielema continues rare run with the Illinois football program

Published

20 hours ago

October 31, 2024

Press Room

Bret Bielema continues rare run with the Illinois football program

It has been a pretty special season thus far for the Illinois football team despite the result of the last contest.

If you are judging the 2024 Illini season based on the last game against Oregon, you should probably adjust your expectations a bit. The Ducks have a great program with national title aspirations. Illinois isn’t quite there yet.

That is okay, though. No one thought the Illini would compete for a national championship. Sure, two losses are never a good thing, but they are against two of the top three teams in the country. Sitting a 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten is better than what 99.9% of people thought for this team in 2024.

I have raved about what Bret Bielema has done with the Orange and Blue. This program was completely lost before he entered the picture. The turnaround has been impressive.

Moreover, you know that bottom. You know the floor for Illinois is 5-7 and, in the past, that would have been a decent season. Now that is the worst-case scenario.

Bielema has put Illinois in this position. It is called being competitive and a serious program. Another element Illinois fans need to get used to is the AP Top 25.

Since the turn of the century, Illinois has been ranked in just seven seasons. That is an ugly statistic. Bielema owns two of the seven seasons, and he has only been our coach for four years.

To take that stat further, Bielema has Illinois still in the AP Top 25. We have been ranked in the AP Top 25 for seven straight weeks. The last time an Illini team was ranked seven straight weeks in the AP Top 25 in a season was in 2001. It has been 23 years.

For some of us, the 2001 season doesn’t seem that long ago because we experienced that great run. But if you think about it, anyone who is 23 years old or younger wasn’t even alive for that season, let alone have any memory of the Kurt Kittner era.

My hope is that there will be a few more similarities between the 2024 season and the 2001 campaign.

We have already established the seven straight weeks of being in the AP Top 25. This season, Illinois has beaten three ranked opponents, No. 19 Kansas, No. 22 Nebraska, and No. 24 Michigan. In that 2001 campaign, the Illini also beat three ranked opponents, No. 25 Louisville, No. 20 Purdue, and No. 25 Ohio State.

In 1999, Illinois had a Cinderella season when the program won eight games out of nowhere. We managed to be ranked that season but followed it up with a 2000 season that had us win five games. The 2001 season followed with 10 victories.

In 2022, Illinois came out of nowhere to win eight games and cracked the AP Top 25. Following that season, in 2023, the Illini won five games. Through eight games in 2024, Illinois is 6-2 and has a chance to win 10 games.

Bielema has Illinois football looking good and playing at a level we haven’t seen in over two decades. Being ranked in the AP Top 25 for seven straight weeks is pretty special. Hopefully, we can finish the season strong and get to that 10-win mark.