Just as he did at Ohio, Groce has Illini rolling down the stretch

For Groce, that raspy-voiced gesticulating GIF machine on the sidelines, success isn't about the emotion he shows or the good vibes of the alumni. It's simple arithmetic, and we're not talking about the final score.

"I was a math teacher, believe it or not," he said Sunday night. "I used to teach geometry. When students were trying to solve proofs, they couldn't solve them until they knew the theorems. For us, our guys are starting to know some of the theorems instinctively now. So they're able to solve some things instinctively. It's went from becoming just knowledge to habits. I think that's a big difference. I think that natural maturation process is starting to happen for them."

Jon Greenberg