When Witherspoon got beat on the coverage but recovered to make the shoestring tackle, I texted my dad that it reminded me of Hawthorne's hustle play against Michigan from roughly a decade ago.
After the goalline stand, it started to feel more real. Now the comparison feels spot on--and this may replace that moment as my proudest one as an Illinois fan. What a team effort. What an AMAZING gameplan by Lovie to stop the run. Defensive line played their hearts out, linebackers flew around the field, DBs were out of position but played as hard as they could. Offense rose to the occasion.
Man I hope it works out for Lovie, and this made me confident it will. So happy for these players.