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What Bret Bielema said following Illinois’ disappointing loss to UTSA
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Illinois suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday in disappointing fashion. After a big win in Week 0 over Nebraska, the Fighting Illini fell 37-30 to UTSA.
Head coach Bret Bielema knew the Roadrunners would pose some challenges for his team. After last week’s victory, though, there was some hope that momentum would carry over into Saturday night’s contest.
Unfortunately, Illinois’ defense couldn’t come up with enough stops to get the win.
Sincere McCormick rushed for 117 yards on 31 carries and Brenden Brady added 67 yards and 2 touchdowns. Frank Harris completed 20-of-32 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for an additionals core.
Zakhari Franklin caught 10 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown.
Illinois couldn’t create turnovers and struggled to get off the field on 3rd down. The offense played well enough to win and even had a shot to send the game to overtime on the final possession, but a pass from Art Sitkowski to Casey Washington sailed a bit too far out of the end zone.
After the game, Bielema talked about Illinois’ first loss of the year:
#Illini Bielema on Keith Randolph: I don't know where he's at, but he could be missing some time.
— Alec Busse (@alec_busse) September 5, 2021
#Illini Bielema on defensive struggles: Without a doubt, the [failure to stop them] on third down.
— Alec Busse (@alec_busse) September 5, 2021
#Illini Bielema: “We’re not going to stay here but unfortunately we have to go through a few days like this to get there.”
— Bret Beherns (@WCIA3Bret) September 5, 2021
#Illini Bielema on lessons of the game: “Respect all, fear none.”
— Patrick Catezone (@p_catezone) September 5, 2021
#illini Bret Bielema: The worst thing that can happen from this point forward is if we don't learn from this moment.
— Joey Wagner (@mrwagner25) September 5, 2021
#Illini Bielema: “We couldn’t get off the field on third down. That was probably the tail of the game.”
— Patrick Catezone (@p_catezone) September 5, 2021
#Illini Bret Bielema: Played behind the chains all game it felt like.
— Alec Busse (@alec_busse) September 5, 2021
Bielema says the turnover on the punt was critical to Illinois losing this football game tonight. #Illini
— Matthew Stevens (@matthewcstevens) September 5, 2021
#Illini head coach Bret Bielema on post-game radio show:
"It sucks for our guys. I knew this was going to be a very difficult challenge…it's just tough to take."
— Matthew Stevens (@matthewcstevens) September 5, 2021
#illini Bret Bielema on radio: I knew this was going to be a difficult challenge, knew we had to play error-free football. Losing the ball on the punt hitting Kerby Joseph was critical point of the game.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) September 5, 2021
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB