The gold & black huns from that state to the west will be in town this week. As if Bruce Pearl, the pink locker room, Nick Bell and Jake “The Lockport Messiah” Christensen aren’t enough reasons to feel the hate, I remind my readers that Illinois has lost five straight games to Iowa, including last year’s offense dud. It is high time to end the misery. BEAT IOWA.
October 1, 1983: Iowa arrived in the 217 highly ranked, undefeated and featured the top offensive team in the country and the second-ranked passer in the country, Chuck Long, the pride of Wheaton. Illinois won at Michigan State in its prior game, setting up an important early Big 10 clash.
The Illinois defense forced Iowa to punt, and Jack Trudeau led the Illinois offense down the field for a Chris White field goal and a 3-0 lead. Illinois forced another Iowa punt. On the very next play, Trudeau threw deep to Mitchell Brookins, a running back converted to wide receiver. Brookins flew by two Iowa defenders for a 54-yard touchdown. “I made a little move to the outside and then turned it back inside.”
Iowa then gave the ball back on a fumble. Illinois promptly took advantage of the Hawkeyes’ error. Trudeau threw to Brookins for a 43-yard completion to the Iowa 11-yard line. After a short run, Trudeau rolled out and threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Cam Benson for a 17-0 lead. Once again, Iowa made another turnover as Eddie Phillips fumbled at his own 11-yard line. Trudeau threw a six-yard touchdown to David Williams and Illinois led 24-0. After another Chris White field goal, Illinois led 27-0 at halftime.
The Illinois defense wanted the shutout. Iowa had a chance to score late in the game, but the Illini kept Iowa out of the end zone on a goal-line stand. “I didn’t want them to cross that line,” said defensive tackle Mark Butkus. Illinois cruised to a 33-0 win. “I can’t remember when our defense played as well as it did today,” said Head Coach Mike White. “They were the ones who allowed us to do the things we were doing on offense.” “All we heard all week was how big and bad their offensive line was. What are we? We’re not exactly little fellows. We were ready today.” said defensive tackle Don Thorp.
The statistics demonstrated how the Fighting Illini dominated. Seven sacks and two fumble recoveries by the defense. Jack Trudeau was 23 of 32 passing for 286 yards and three touchdowns in just three quarters of play.
I end this column on an ironic note. The Chicago Tribune article shows an Iowa defender breaking up a pass intended for Brookins. The player is none other than Nate Creer, father of Illinois quarterback recruit Nate Scheelhaase.
Sources: “Fired-up Illini shock Iowa” by Robert Markus. Chicago Tribune, October 2, 1983. Credit to JDL for video of the game and Detlef’s parents for the research.