Nov. 20, 1999

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???QB Kurt Kittner

By RICK GANO
AP Sports Writer

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Two years after going 0-11, Illinois is going to a bowl game.

Freshman Brandon Lloyd set up two first-half touchdowns with a punt return and a long reception, and the Illini used strong defense to beat Northwestern 29-7 Saturday.

The Illini (7-4, 4-4 Big Ten), who went 0-11 and 3-8 in coach Ron Turner's first two seasons, became bowl-eligible last week with a victory at Ohio State.

Where the Illini will go in the postseason is still to be determined. But they've earned their first bowl appearance since beating East Carolina 30-0 in the 1994 Liberty Bowl.

A possibility for the Illini will be the Micronpc.com Bowl in Miami. That game pits the No. 6 team in the Big Ten against the No. 4 team from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Sophomore quarterback Kurt Kittner, whose play has been a big reason for the Illini's resurgence, completed 16 of 30 passes for 191 yards with two interceptions. He had only two interceptions in his first 10 games.

Kittner couldn't get the one touchdown pass that would have given him 23, a single-season school record. Instead, he remained tied for the mark set by Jeff George with 22 TD passes in 1989.

But the Illini had plenty of plenty of offensive power behind the running of Steve Havard and Rocky Harvey.

Lloyd's 35-yard punt return to the Northwestern 20 early in the second quarter set a 1-yard scoring run by Havard as Illinois took a 10-7 lead.

On the next series, Lloyd took a 39-yard pass from Kittner to the Wildcat 21. One play later, Harvey broke off the left side for a touchdown and a 17-7 lead. Neil Rackers' 31-yard field goal with 27 seconds left made it 20-7 at the half.

Rackers kicked his third field goal of the game, a 27-yarder, in the fourth quarter, and Harvard scored on a 34-yard run with 5:10 remaining.

The lead could have been much bigger for the Illini, who did not punt in the first half.

They drove to the Northwestern 4 on the opening series of the game, but Havard dropped a swing pass on third down and Rackers had to kick a 21-yarder.

Northwestern, which finished 3-8 in coach Randy Walker's first season, then scored its only touchdown and had its only lead at 7-3 when Teddy Johnson outjumped Illinois' defensive back Johnny Rogers in the end zone to grab Zak Kustok's 17-yard touchdown pass.

Kittner's 46-yard pass to converted quarterback Walter Young had the Illini in position for another score. But on a third-and-11, Kittner's pass for Lloyd was picked off by Harold Blackmon in the end zone - just the third interception all season for Kittner. He was intercepted again in the third quarter by Rashad Morton.

Northwestern, led by the rushing of Damien Anderson, lost three fumbles in the second half, with Illini safety Muhammad Abdullah recovering twice.