By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
Illinois will host the 20-year reunion for the Fighting Illini's 2001 Big Ten championship team during the opening weekend of college football on Aug. 28. The title team will be honored at the season opener against Nebraska, including former head coach Ron Turner, and members of the team will sign autographs in Grange Grove pregame.Turner will also serve at the honorary captain for the game.
As the 2001 season approached, Coach Ron Turner issued a terse challenge to his Fighting Illini football team: no more excuses.
Following a disappointing performance the year before that saw them limp home with 5-6 overall record (2-6 Big Ten), he candidly urged them to "search their souls" and ask themselves the question "What do you want?".
The 2000 squad had blown opportunities to beat Michigan (a 35-31 loss), Penn State (39-25), Michigan State (14-10) and Ohio State (24-21), and Turner was doggedly determined to turn the tables on those "close-but-no-cigar" efforts.
"We hadn't accomplished what we wanted to in 2000," Turner said. "We were just a few plays away from being a really good team. Spring ball had gone well for us and we knew that we had a chance to be good. The confidence level of the coaching staff and the players was very, very high."
Forty-seven Illini letter winners returned in 2001, including 13 starters: seven on offense and six on defense. Heading the group was senior Kurt Kittner, a talented and well-seasoned quarterback. The 2001 Illini media guide quoted Turner as saying, "I think Kurt is one of the best, if not the best, quarterback in the country."
Many other key pieces of the puzzle also were present. Turner's offensive and defensive lines were tough and nasty. His offensive weapons included a balanced running attack and a potential superstar receiver in Brandon Lloyd. Defensively, the secondary featured an especially deft playmaker in Eugene Wilson.
Illinois began 2001 by sweeping past its first two non-conference foes: 44-17 at California on Sept. 1, then 17-12 against Northern Illinois on Sept. 8.
However, on Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, as Turner and his staff prepared for No. 25 Louisville, football suddenly became an afterthought. America had been attacked by terrorists.
"I remember (secretary) Mary Gallagher knocking on our door during a staff meeting," Turner said. "I said 'Mary, hold on' and she said, 'No, you need to come now.' After we saw what had happened, we immediately got the team together and talked to them about it and let them voice their thoughts. It was a very emotional time, a very tough time. We just told them that football was taking a back seat right now."
Week three's home game against nationally ranked Louisville was ultimately cancelled and delayed until Sept. 22. A sterling defensive effort by the Illini helped Illinois outgain the Cardinals, 504-338, and post a convincing 34-10 victory.
Now ranked No. 22 in the nation, Illinois traveled to Ann Arbor the following week to face No. 10 Michigan. Still today, Turner blames himself for UI's 45-20 loss.
"It was 14-10 in the second quarter and we had a fourth-and-one in our own territory," he remembered. "We went for it and didn't make it, then Michigan scored a touchdown a play or two later, and we never recovered from that. I told the team afterwards, 'Guys, this one's on me.' I got away from being who we were."
Illinois rebounded from the loss with back-to-back victories against Minnesota at home (25-14) and at Indiana (35-14), setting up a huge Homecoming game in Champaign against Wisconsin.
The Badgers were brimming with confidence after having upset No. 21 Ohio State the week before, but fell behind Illinois at halftime, 22-7. Coach Barry Alvarez's team battled back, tallying three consecutive touchdowns to begin the fourth quarter and taking the lead, 35-28. After Illinois tied the game at 35-all with 12 minutes remaining, Kittner led the Illini on a game-winning drive, hitting Brandon Lloyd with a 22-yard touchdown pass.
According to Turner, Illinois' 42-35 victory epitomized its 2001 season.
"That game kind up summed up the kind of team we were," he said. "The last drive showed the determination that the 2001 team had. No matter what happened, it almost always seemed like we could find a way to make big plays."
Illinois then ran its Big Ten record to 5-1 with consecutive come-from-behind victories against No. 15 Purdue (38-13) and Penn State (33-28).
Next up was a game 10 challenge versus No. 25 Ohio State at The Horseshoe. The Buckeyes led 22-21 after three quarters, but the fourth period belonged entirely to Illinois. In an 80-yard drive that ended with Carey Davis's one-yard touchdown, Kittner completed four-of-six passes for 51 yards. Illini linebacker Ty Myers tallied UI's final TD on a five-yard interception of a Craig Krenzel pass.
"It was one of the worst beatings that Ohio State had at home in a while," Turner recalled. "Our guys played really good football and did what we had to do in all phases. That was one of the better games we played all year."
Just five days later, on Thanksgiving Day, Illinois hosted its regular-season finale against Northwestern, a team that it had lost to by 38 points a year before.
"Not only was there revenge, but we knew we could at least clinch a tie for the Big Ten championship," Turner said. "Those were big motivating factors for us. We had a pretty good lead on them (34-13), then they came back in the fourth quarter. But our guys were very determined."
When the clock ran down to zeroes, No. 10 Illinois had beaten the Wildcats, 34-28. Turner vividly remembers the celebration afterwards.
"To see the guys up on the stage and holding that trophy and knowing how hard they had worked, it was just a special, special moment in my coaching career," he said.
When Ohio State defeated Michigan two days later, Illinois was able to claim an undisputed Big Ten championship. Unfortunately, because the Rose Bowl had been designated to host a Bowl Championship Series game, instead of heading to Pasadena the No. 7 Illini were chosen to play No. 12 LSU at the New Year's Day Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Unfortunately, it was a match-up Illinois just couldn't handle, losing 47-24 to the hometown Tigers.
"At the start of the game, we were in awe of LSU's speed," Turner said. "It took a while for us to relax and get our confidence back and start playing. We fought back to where we had a chance, but then we gave up a big touchdown pass and that put it away for them."
Now, 20 years later, the eight-year Illini coach is anxious to reunite with his troops the weekend of August 28.
"Within the first minute of seeing each other, I think it will feel like we've never left," Turner said. "They're in their forties now and I'm just proud of them all. They were champions on the field and now they're champions in life with their careers and their families."
As for Turner, he now resides with wife Wendy in North Carolina on Lake Norman, about 50 miles north of Charlotte.
"I do a lot of walking or I'm out on my boat," he said.
The Turners' four children are scattered around the country. Oldest son Morgan is the tight ends coach at Stanford (going into his 12th year); Cameron is the quarterbacks coach for the Arizona Cardinals; daughter Cally will soon be moving to Texas with her family; and daughter Maddy lives in Charlotte.
