We Love No Other

Hard to believe we're here. 19 wins in two years. Beat South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl and then beat Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. Just... hard to believe we're here. 

This FTS is From The Field. The very cold, slippery, snowy, awesome field. 8-4, baby. 

I recorded this on my drive to Wisconsin. So if you detect me being chipper here, it’s because the 27-10 loss hadn’t happened yet. But here’s me answering questions from Slack for 90 minutes. 

I'm flabbergasted. Confused. That's just not the kind of game we play against a 3-7 football team. This is me trying to process it for 17 minutes. 

Come for the football talk, stay for the old man ranting about children climbing on a howitzer. 

This is one of the more random From The Standses that I've recorded. It bounces around a lot. But I stuck my phone up to my face and recorded 20 minutes after a terrible loss. 

Not much you can say. We handed them the game on a silver platter. 

I paced for half of the third quarter and all of the fourth quarter. And, in a game where we were favored by 8.5, we won by 16. This whole "calmly win on the road with big plays" thing will require some adjustments on my part. 

It’s rather chaotic because I nearly passed out after the field goal went through but here’s ten minutes from the stands. 

There are no words. But here are some words about what has to be one of the worst losses by a top-10 team in the history of college football. 

I have no idea why this one is 15 minutes long. I didn't really say much of anything. But here's tonight's From The Stands. 

The shoe feels SO GOOD on this other foot. 

I hope you can hear me. The decision was made to make Club Memorial Stadium even louder this year, so... I hope you can hear me. Sixteen minutes from the stands after the Western Illinois game. 

I had to take my wife to the Indianapolis airport last minute. So with a two-hour solo drive back to Champaign ahead of me, I asked for questions on Twitter and Slack and then answered those questions from I-74. I restricted the questions to four categories: Illini football, Illini basketball, Illini golf, and my high school tennis career. 

Martin & I sat around my kitchen island talking about the 4-month celebration that was the 2024 Illini football season. 

I have no words. I'm still trying to figure out where this one ranks among greatest wins of my lifetime. So here I am wandering around for 24 minutes trying to talk about it. 

I tried to go on the field but they wouldn't let me (said my press pass wasn't one of those with field access. So I went back up in the stands and recorded this as the Illini fans came down to celebrate with the team near the dugout (yes, dugout).  What a win. What a season. What an emotion. 

I knew I had to hit record immediately. So I recorded this one (very short) immediately after the final horn.  I have no idea what just happened but I love it. 

The audio gets better after the first minute. Not much better, but better. This one is just me taking listener questions as I drive from Birmingham to Piscataway dodging snowflakes. 

Just a workmanlike win. It’s so comforting to watch a game like this. So I started talking about it with two minutes left in the game. 

I don't know why, but I started recording during our final drive attempting to tie the game. And then I just kept recording my thoughts immediately after the game. And then I walked out very sad. 

This one was From The Parking Lot as I was headed out. Went on the road, got thumped, showed we still have a long way to go to compete with the best of the best. Here's my ramblings as I sat in traffic. 

Sorry I'm so late with this. I tried and tried to upload it after the game but it just wouldn't go.  But here's TWENTY NINE MINUTES of me wandering around on the field after the game. 

I have no idea what to say. As you will hear after these 22 minutes of ramblings. It’s the worst I’ve ever felt about a win and I have no idea how to process that. 

I thought I had an empty end of the pressbox so this From The Stands is From The Pressbox. But near the end, this Penn State media member starts pacing behind me (no idea why) so I get a little... scattered. It's just hard to gather your thoughts when someone is standing directly behind you while you're seated.  Anyway, here's my thoughts after Penn State beats Illinois 21-7.