I let myself think it.  After Hawthorne ran down Roundtree, and they reversed the touchdown to place the ball at the one, I thought through one of those fantasies where we stop them on 4 consecutive downs, pull off a 99 yard drive, and take the lead.  And I could then write a blog post praising my boy Black Cat and how he turned around our season with one of the most SEC-speed plays ever made on a Big Ten field.

But this wasn’t necessarily prophetic.  I do it 4 times a game.  3rd quarter of the Penn State game, we punt and Evan Royster has trouble hanging on to it (PSU recovers). And in the moment between the ball popping out an “Penn State ball”, I pictured a scenario where that fumble would be the turnaround point of our entire season – Juice would throw a touchdown to Benn, and suddenly it’s 14-10 with momentum on our side and the wind at our backs for the next pivotal drive…

Of course it didn’t happen.  The LeShoure burst on 4th and 4 in the MSU game didn’t become the impetus for an improbable 4th quarter comeback, either.  Nor did the run by Juice from the Indiana 6 late in the 3rd quarter become the go ahead touchdown and spark that brought us back to .500 after the Michigan game.  Those scenarios never work out.  We’re Illinois Football, and we can’t be trusted.

And then Ian Thomas grabs hold of Carlos Brown’s right leg and suddenly it’s second and goal.  And then Evan Frierson fights off a block and takes on Brown head on. Third down.  And then Corey Liuget forces Brown back inside where Ian Thomas is able to trip him up.  4th down?  Are you kidding?

Wait, this is Illinois Football – we always come up short.  We reach the final game of the season with bowl eligibility on the line and we tie Wisconsin 3-3.  We’ve had 5-win seasons three times this decade, but can’t ever win the bowl eligiblity game.  We reach the ropes at the Hillary Step on Everest, but high winds force us back down, mere steps from our goal.  So when Brandon Minor spun into the endzone on 4th down and I glanced at the 19-7 on the scoreboard, I felt that old familiar feeling of putting another “what if?” dream to bed.

The next few moments are a blur.  A whistle to stop the extra point, saying the play was under review (did he fumble?).  An elbow on the turf at the 6 inch line. (Watching the replay, Aaron Gress drove his blocker inside, closing the hole, and Garrett Edwards – the player I take a lot of heat for defending – made the one on one stop, spinning Minor at the 1 and forcing the elbow down). I remember an Illinois sideline as fired up as I’ve seen in 2 years, I remember high-fiving strangers around me, and I remember watching the scoreboard operator change the 19 to a 13 (again).

The next hour was sweet release.  My Man Mikel up the gut and gone.  Juice to Cumberland.  Tate Forcier’s fumbling exhibition (was it 4?). Juice to his childhood buddy Chris James (more on that in a bit).  Corey Liuget and Josh Brent dominating the middle of the field. And finally, after RichRod was stopping the clock down 3 scores, one final dagger TD from Jason Ford.  The most perfect football I’ve watched in Memorial Stadium this decade.

I know what everyone is thinking.  And I’m sure many of the beat writers are focused on that – “where has this been all season?”  But I don’t even want to go there today.  I’m enjoying this too much.  Many, I’m sure, still see 2-6 and think that yesterday’s victory is just another insignificant win in another insignificant losing football season.  But this was so much more.

The players have been beaten down.  It’s no longer cool to have Rocks for Jocks lecture with Ian Thomas – suddenly, everyone wants to claim that Brandon Paul is in their Rhet 105 class.  When Corey Liuget calls his buddies back in Florida, they avoid the topic of 5 straight losses. The looks on campus, the newspaper every morning – it has to be hard on a 19 year old kid. Talented or not, well coached or poorly coached, these players were beaten down.

So to see Graham Pocic running up and down the sidelines like a mad man made me ecstatic.  To see coaches pulling Donsay Hardeman off the field again and again because he so badly want to be out there chest bumping everyone made me giddy.  It was infectious, sitting behind them, watching their glee.  This was the most emotional I’ve seen this team in a long, long time.  Beating Penn State and Wisconsin in 2007 was fun, but both games were the “build a lead and then hold on for dear life” variety.  This was pure, raw, giddy emotion.

When Juice completed that 40 yard pass to Chris James, I damn near teared up.  Two guys who have been running that play since they were 10 get to do it on national TV to clinch a game at home against Michigan for our first such victory in 26 years.  Life has been hell for Juice the last 2 months, with people around him (and the doubting voices in his head) asking him why he’s not better at this.  So for him to toss a perfect ball to his best friend (who made a perfect catch), well, that’s the stuff of movies.

As I drifted off to sleep last night, I imagined Juice and CJ sitting around Juice’s apartment, trying to tell their friends about the catch, reenacting the over the shoulder grab with a roll of toilet paper thrown from the kitchen to the living room.  Two guys whose careers haven’t played out like we wanted them to, getting to share a moment they dreamed up back at Gately Stadium.

We’re 2-6?  I don’t care today.  Most disappointing season of my lifetime?  I’ll worry about that later this week.  Right now, I’m searching the internet, trying to find a bootleg video of the Illini locker room after the game and the loudest “Illinois Loyalty” you’ve ever heard.

What made it possible?  Black….. Cat.. Black….. Cat..