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Bret Bielema explains late reversal in decision-making during first half of Maryland game
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Bet Bielema and Illinois shocked Maryland over the weekend, beating the Terrapins on a walk-off field goal for their first Power 5 win of the season. The Terrapins entered that matchup as a double-digit favorite, but the Illini spun things around and got the win.
One of the key moments came late in the first half with Maryland clinging to a 14-7 lead. After lining up to kick a field goal, the Illini changed their minds and rushed Kaden Feagin in for a game-tying score before the break.
During his Monday press conference, Bielema was asked about the change of heart on the call. He credited the decision to trusting his coaching staff and particularly his OC.
“The confidence in my coaches, Barry Lunney. I asked him if he felt confident about the call, and he immediately answered, said he felt great about the call,” said Bielema. “All the offensive coaches felt that way.”
Bielema went on to break down the sequence of events that led to his decision, including a mad scramble down the sidelines with the clock running.
“There was a little bit of a 3-headed scenario going into that. We were really close on a pass play, so we were trying to get a read from the officials on whether or not the ball was across,” Bielema explained. “They’ve gotten really hairy about coaches leaving the box, and I was trying to get down there to ask a question, and the clock was running. I had one timeout to use obviously. A little bit of that going on with the addition of ‘Is it short do we want to go for it, kick a field goal?’ Then obviously when they called a timeout it cleared everything up for us.”
No matter how the Illini got there, it was the right call to tie the game at 14-all entering halftime. Then, Griffin had his moment to nail the game-winner, and the rest is history.
Illinois will regroup and move on to face Wisconsin this weekend.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.