Vederian Lowe and Alex Palczewski arrived in Champaign back in 2017 eager to become Big Ten offensive linemen and gradually make their way into the starting rotation. Neither expected to play at all right away as their bodies and minds needed to adjust to the college football environment.

Instead of redshirting or serving as a backup like most freshman student-athletes, Lowe and Palczewski said they were thrown into the fire right away. After missing the 2017 opener, Palczewski started every game after at the guard position. Five games into the season at Iowa, Lowe joined his classmate as a starting tackle.

While earning those starts was shocking to Lowe and Palczewski at the time, it forced them to mature quicker, shaping their next five years. And following last Saturday's game against Rutgers, the two linemen each made their 49th career start at Illinois, breaking the program record.

"We definitely got tossed in the fire a little bit earlier than expected," Lowe said. "But I think that has taught both of us tremendous lessons about this game. We don't take anything for granted. And we're just glad that we've stayed healthy long enough to even be able to say we started in 49 games in the Big Ten. That's a very hard thing to do, obviously not a lot of people have done it. So, I'm just very grateful."

The Illini record was previously held by Nathan Scheelhaase (2010-13), Ryan McDonald (2005-08) and Tim Simpson (1988-91), who each started every game of their career.

Unlike any player that came before them, Lowe and Palczewski gained an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This gave them the opportunity to return for a fifth season after playing just eight games in 2020.

That decision became complicated when Illinois endured a coaching change last December before hiring head coach Bret Bielema. But once Bielema met with the entire team, offered every player a spot on the roster and had individual conversations with guys, Lowe and Palczewski both accepted the offer.

As the pair look back at that decision nearly a year after meeting with Bielema, there's not a thing they would change.

"It's some of the best months I've had in my life," Palczewski said. "Just how much that this coaching staff knows, how much they teach us, how much they truly care about us. Whenever we go in there to ask for help, they will always help us. We can go see Coach B whenever we want and it's just nice to know they actually have true meaning, and they want us to win and get better."

Lowe added that he's grateful for not only the football lessons that Bielema has taught him, but the lesson about life and even fatherhood. He feels confident that he will have a strong bond with Bielema following this year as "he's somebody that you can always go back to and hold a conversation with."

While the new staff has left a lasting impact on both Lowe and Palczewski, the work they've put in leading up to breaking the starts record has mattered the most.

The key to starting nearly 50 games in college is staying healthy every single day throughout the last five years. While both linemen admit they didn't have a steady recovery routine coming into college, the program has helped them understand how important taking cold baths or going in for treatment is.

Lowe and Palczewski also expressed how crucial the Illinois football training staff has been to their physical health throughout college, giving thanks to Chase Louthan, Jeremy Busch, Cameron Ortyl, Nick Eller and Andrew Chang.

"I always think about it like a bank, you always got to put deposits in," Palczewski said. "It was awesome, Coach Tank and his staff were preaching about it in the spring, in the summer, always go to the cold tub, get recovery because you may feel good now, but by the time it gets Week 10, Week 11, you're gonna feel it. So, it's just putting those deposits in earlier, so when it's later it feels a lot better."

Taking care of their bodies has helped both linemen not only have sustained health, but sustained success. In 2020 Lowe was named an All-Big Ten honorable mention by both coaches and media while Palczewski was voted to the All-Big Ten Third Team by coaches in 2019.

This season, the two have helped the Illini offense average 179.7 rushing yards per game, along with seven total rushing touchdowns. According to Pro Football Focus, Lowe and Palczewski are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, among Big Ten offensive linemen in overall rating.

As seniors getting ready to wrap up their time at Illinois, Lowe and Palczewski have tried to set good examples for the younger linemen and provide them with the tools to succeed in the future.

Julian Pearl, who has seen increased action on the offensive line this season, believes learning from Palczewski and Lowe the past few years has been invaluable.

"Being able to learn from both of them, they both offer a very different skill set," Pearl said. "A lot more physical from Palcho, a lot more technical from Vederian and a lot more high motor, energy from Palcho and a lot more just like a quick twitch from Vederian. They have completely different play styles and they both are maximizing what they are good at. Just learning from that has been really good for me."

While the journey to 49 starts has been long, Lowe and Palczewski wouldn't change a thing about it. Becoming close friends with the entire offensive line and watching each other grow on and off the field for so many years has been rewarding for the two.

Now, it's just about finishing up that journey on the best note possible.

"I definitely never thought I'd be at this point," Lowe said. "I thought I was going to come in and just chill. I definitely didn't think I would be starting 49 games. But I'm just so grateful and blessed to be in the position I'm in now and watch how Palcho has grown throughout his career, and see how myself and Doug and everybody has grown since we've been here. It's been a beautiful thing to see. And I'm just so glad that I'm able to be here and experience everything with these guys.