UVA’s next foe, Illinois, upset by UTSA

By Scott Richey (The News-Gazette)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Bret Bielema really dove into the game film of Illinois’ 2021 opponents this past spring. A little advance work to familiarize himself with what the Illini might see in the fall.

One thing became clear as Bielema became more knowledgeable about Texas San Antonio. Nothing about the early September matchup with the Roadrunners was going to be easy.

What Bielema saw in the spring was going to be replicated in the fall.

UTSA went 7-5 last season and played in the First Responder Bowl. Essentially the same group that put together the best season in program history returned.

All-American running back Sincere Harris was back. So was shifty lefty quarterback Frank Harris. And leading receivers Zakhari Franklin and Joshua Cephus. Not to mention all 11 defensive starters led by safety Rashad Wisdom and nose guard Jaylon Haynes.

“I knew it was going to be a challenge from the get go,” Bielema said.

The first-year Illinois coach was right.

Saturday night’s game at Memorial Stadium did little to change Bielema’s opinion of the Roadrunners. McCormick topped 100 yards rushing — even if he had to work for it — and the dual threat Harris was a problem. So was UTSA’s veteran defense.

The result? A 37-30 upset victory and the first blemish on the Bielema era at Illinois after a Week 0 win against Nebraska.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t good enough to win (Saturday), but the worst thing can happen from this point forward is if we don’t learn from this moment,” Bielema said. “As bad as it tears up your insides — it should hurt; I think it does hurt — this will hopefully be a lesson we had to learn. It sucks to go through it, but hopefully it will be a positive thing for us in the future.”

The Week 0 victory against the Cornhuskers amped up some modest expectations in Champaign with a new coaching staff inheriting a veteran roster. The win was a tone setter for the Illini, as they put their offensive and defensive schemes on display for the first time and took down Nebraska in the process.

The highs of knocking off a Big Ten divisional opponent were countered by the lows of Saturday’s loss to UTSA. How Illinois handles that portion of the roller coaster is important.

“It’s difficult to process,” said Illinois punter Blake Hayes. Only the Illini captains were made available after the loss to the Roadrunners.

“The best thing we can do is really flip it and flip the perspective,” Hayes continued. “You can go one way and be down in the dumps. You can point fingers … or you can really flip it and say this is a great opportunity to learn from it. There were mistakes made. There were also some great plays. What worked and what didn’t work, we can go back next week and critique and try to get better.”

The great plays for Illinois included a trio of made field goals from James McCourt, including two from 50-plus yards — 52 and 53, respectively — that made him Illinois’ new record holder for most made field goals form 50-plus yards. Getting Daniel Barker involved in the passing game after he went without a target against Nebraska was important, too, and the Illini tight end caught five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns.

That wasn’t enough, though, to counter balance the mistakes. One of Illinois’ biggest issue was its third down defense, with UTSA converting 9 of 17 opportunities. The Illini found some answers to that issue late, but early success on third down had the Roadrunners take a lead they ultimately never relinquished.

“We couldn’t get off the field,” Illinois linebacker Jake Hansen said. “Couldn’t stop the run on third down. They did get some momentum going with third downs. We’ve just got to get off the field on third down. That’s the biggest down.

“There’s a lot of (lessons). Situational football. Being able to get off the field on third down. There’s a bunch of different takeaways — positive and negative — but obviously more negative when you have a loss.”

The clock on processing the loss to UTSA started immediately after the game late Saturday night. Veteran cornerback Tony Adams said the Illini have a 24-hour rule.

“Watch this film, get better and then move on to Virginia,” Adams said. “I’m going to watch the film. I’m going to beat myself up. I’m going to be critical of my play. Then I’m going to have to put it to bed. I’ve got to put it to bed. I can’t let it linger on.

“No loss is easy, but you’ve got to move on. I’ve been playing this game way too long. You’ve got to understand what comes with it. You’ve got to hit the reset button and move on. Virginia is going to come to play, so we’ve got to come to play.”

Bielema called Sundays a “big day of learning” for his team. That was true after last week’s win against Nebraska and will be just as crucial following the loss to UTSA.

“The biggest thing is we’ve got to learn why there was failure (Saturday),” Bielema said. “We can’t just say, ‘Oh, this play happened.’ We have to understand it as players, execute it as coaches and we’ve got to be able to communicate that. Sometimes that’s the most difficult challenge.”