Chambana Sun

The Illinois Fighting Illini football team experienced significant moments and changes throughout the 2010s, with notable achievements and challenges marking the decade. Starting with Nate Scheelhaase at quarterback, the team aimed to regain bowl eligibility. The Illini began the 2010 season strong, winning four of their first five games at Memorial Stadium by an average margin of 24.4 points.

"Convincing wins in front of your home crowd are what college football is all about," Scheelhaase reflected on the team's performance. Illinois secured a bowl berth after defeating Northwestern at Wrigley Field and went on to win against Baylor in the Texas Bowl, marking their first bowl victory in over ten years.

The following year, Illinois started with five consecutive home games and achieved a program-record eight home contests for the season. The team capitalized on this opportunity, beginning with victories over Arkansas State and South Dakota State before facing No. 22 Arizona State.

"We talked about it all offseason," Scheelhaase said regarding their strategy for protecting home turf under Coach Zook's guidance.

Illinois continued its success by defeating Arizona State, Western Michigan, and Northwestern, earning its best start to a season in six decades. Despite losing their final three home games of 2011, they won the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl against UCLA.

Ron Zook emphasized the importance of fan support: "Whenever you talk about home-field advantage, it's caused by the crowds."

Under Tim Beckman and later interim coach Bill Cubit, Illinois saw moderate success until athletic director Josh Whitman hired Lovie Smith as head coach in 2016. Smith became Illinois' first Black head football coach.

"My first impressions of him were great," linebacker Jake Hansen said about Smith's leadership.

In 2019, Illinois achieved a memorable upset against No. 6 Wisconsin during Homecoming weekend at Memorial Stadium. Tony Adams recalled how they entered as underdogs but maintained belief in each other.

"You always prepare like you're going to win," Hansen stated regarding their mindset going into the game.

Adams' interception set up a game-winning field goal by James McCourt as time expired: "It was just chaos," Hansen described his reaction to McCourt's kick securing victory.

Despite falling short in some seasons, these moments contributed to building momentum for future campaigns amidst challenges like COVID-19 affecting college sports worldwide during early 2020s pandemic restrictions which led Big Ten conference-only schedule delays without typical fan presence impacting gameplay atmosphere significantly according Tony Adams experiences shared reflecting upon unique circumstances faced that year:

"It was really weird... Games felt more like scrimmages because fans mean so much."