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Illinois to honor former HC Ron Turner, 2001 B1G Champion squad during season opener
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Earlier Wednesday, Illinois announced that the team will be honoring both former head coach Ron Turner and his 2001 Big Ten Championship team during the season opener. That game is scheduled for Aug. 28 against Nebraska.
We're excited to welcome back Ron Turner!
Coach Turner will be back for the 2001 Big Ten champions reunion at Memorial Stadium.
Get Tickets 🎟 » https://t.co/SFuVOJtnt9 pic.twitter.com/OBKDzmXiiJ
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) August 4, 2021
During that 2001 season, Illinois went 7-1 in the Big Ten with wins against Wisconsin, Purdue, Penn State, Ohio State, and Northwestern. They also beat Cal during the season and their only conference loss was to Michigan, who finished directly behind them.
After their Big Ten title, the Illini played in the Sugar Bowl but lost to the LSU Tigers.
After the announcement was made, head coach Brett Bielema quote tweeted the tweet and announced that Turner will be their first guest captain for all home games this season:
Also will be our first guest captain for all home games. Talked with Coach last week and he accepted the invite. Will talk to our team/staff on Friday to provide some Illini history and life perspective #famILLy https://t.co/Mlp3CuLcEN
— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) August 4, 2021
Turner also seems pretty excited to see some of his former players on August 28th:
“Within the first minute of seeing each other, I think it will feel like we’ve never left,” Turner said. “They’re in their forties now and I’m just proud of them all. They were champions on the field and now they’re champions in life with their careers and their families.”
The kickoff for Illinois’ game against Nebraska will be at 1 p.m. EST on FOX.