Illini Football Team Defends Big 9 Fame
Thursday January 2, 1947
Illinois football followers the world over couldn't have dreamed a happier New Year's day happening in the Rose bowl. The Illini delivered their best football of the season when it was most desired.
The Illinois football team was progressively better as the season advanced. However there was grave doubt that they could do the job on the Pacific coast against a UCLA team which had not been beaten. The Illini carried the weight of the prestige of the Big Nine and the middle west. The coast sports writers chimed in with derision directed at an Illinois team representing a school which voted against the Rose bowl contract, a team which lost two games during the season. The coast writers unanimously 'rode' the Illini because they wanted the Army as a Rose bowl entrant and thought the Big Nine and Illinois should set the 5-year contract aside and let Army come west for the 1947 contest.
The antagonism of the coast writers played into Coach Ray Eliot's hands. Probably no Illinois team in history has gone into a contest with a stronger team spirit, a greater desire to win, and a better mental attitude. That was evident from the radio accounts of the game. The line was outcharging the coast's 'best' line. The backs were running hard from the opening whistle to the final gun.
Illini hearts are smiling today and small wonder.
We congratulate the Fighting Illini, their head coach and all his assistants for what may well be Illinois' greatest sports performance of all time. The University of Illinois is riding high on the football firmament. Long ago the Illini learned to accept defeat gracefully. May its team and followers be humble and gracious in victory.
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