Heart of Dallas Bowl: Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech game analysis
Even though the Illinois and Louisiana Tech bowl game might not be widely viewed on television, pay per head bookmaking services believe that it should definitely be worth the watch.
The Illini, who are 6-6, were able to save what was considered to be a dead season with a head coach who was ready to be fired, and QB Wes Lunt not playing in most of the year’s second half due to a broken leg. Even though the odds that they faced were pretty big, the Illini could still manage to take out teams like the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the Northwestern Wildcats, and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Many fans were delighted to see the team’s great resilience, and were truly impressed by the way that they were able to beat the odds.
It’s possible that the Bulldogs, who finished the season 8-5 after they lost to Marshall in the title game of the Conference USA, could have been given an even higher seed this year if things would have ended in a different way under Skip Holtz. The team was expected to be beaten by the Oklahoma Sooners and Auburn Tigers. However, if Louisiana Tech weren’t beaten in week 4 by FCS Northwestern, and if the team would have defeated in overtime by an inexperienced Old Dominion, they would have been able to clinch ten wins. And if the team would have taken out the Marshall Thundering Herd in the game for the title, the chances for them to make it to the Fiesta Bowl would have been quite real.
The offense that the Bulldogs have is pretty balanced, even though it did suffer under center from imprecision as a well as an excess of turnovers. RB Kenneth Dixon could continue to have his great year, and QB Cody Sokol will try to keep connecting with WR Trent Taylor.
In the case of Illinois, nobody knows yet who the QB will be. Perhaps it will be Lunt, who suffered a leg injury that didn’t let him perform as well, or it could also be Reilly O’Toole.
This game could be a close one, but many experts and pay per head bookmaking services believe that Illinois will be the ones to win this meeting. In any case, whatever happens in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl, expect a very interesting matchup.
