COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Illinois rewarded with bowl game against Mississippi State

Dec. 31—TAMPA — Neither Bret Bielema nor his Illinois football team have a lot of experience when it comes to playing in a college football bowl game.

The last time Illinois played in the postseason game was 2019 in the Redbox Bowl and Bielema's last time as coach was the 2016 Belk Bowl in North Carolina.

But on Monday afternoon, Bielema will lead the Fighting Illini into the 2022 Reliaquest Bowl against the 24th-rated Mississippi State Bulldogs.

"This game is a reward for our guys," said Bielema, who will take to the field without three key starters.

Running back Chase Brown, the team's leading rusher, along with defensive backs Sydney Brown and Devon Witherspoon have elected to sit out of the bowl game as they prepare for the NFL Draft in April.

"That was a unique challenge," said Bielema, who only had one player in his previous 10 bowl games not play. "One of the most rewarding things that you can have in a program is player success ... I just found out that we have four guys that are going to be invited to the NFL Combine.

"We also have 10 guys coming back next year that we're all-conference. It's fun to see these guys build upon success."

The two opt-outs in the defensive secondary are going to definitely be a concern for new Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry, who takes over for new Purdue head coach Ryan Walters.

Mississippi State (8-4) features the "Air Raid" offense made famous by coaches Hal Mumme and Mike Leach, who had been the head coach of the Bulldogs until his death on Dec. 12.

"When I found out it was Mississippi State, I knew our guys would enjoy the challenge," Bielema said. "Mississippi State is very unique to anything we see in the Big Ten. It's been easy to lock these guys in.

"I don't know what kind of success we are going to have, but when you turn on their film, the things they do will definitely put a lot of pressure on the defense. Our guys have enjoyed the process of preparing for this game."

What does Illinois (8-4) plan to do about those two starting spots.

"We got really banged up in the secondary at the end of the season," said Bielema as defensive backs Taz Nicholson and Tyler Strain each missed games. "We had some guys step up this season and with the way these guys play offense, our secondary will need to be at their best."

According to Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett, who had been the defensive coordinator until the untimely death of Leach, he likes what he sees from the Illinois defense on film.

"We are playing a phenomenal opponent," he said. "When you turn on the film, you see a team that plays the game the way it supposed to be played."

While the opt-outs on defense are concerning, Illinois also lost its top offensive threat in running back Chase Brown, who rushed for more than 1,600 yards and he accounted for 13 of the team's 32 touchdowns this season.

The Fighting Illini figure to go with a running back-by-committee approach with Reggie Love III, Chase Hayden and Josh McCray sharing the load.

"Josh has been 100 percent since we started bowl practices," said Bielema of the sophomore, who has only carried the ball 12 times this season after rushing for 549 yards as a freshman. "We were counting on big things from him before the season and he hasn't been 100 percent since Indiana."

Monday's game will be the first for the Bulldogs since Leach passed away on Dec. 12.

"The best way to honor Coach Leach is go out and play the way he would expect us to play and that's with tremendous effort and toughness," Arentt said.

Danville natives Caleb Griffin (kicker) and Julian Pearl (offensive tackle) are expected to start for the Fighting Illini.

The game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa is set for 11 a.m. kickoff. The game can be seen on ESPN2 and it can be heard locally on the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network including Danville stations WDAN-AM 1490 and WDNL-FM 102.1