Heart of Dallas Bowl: Illinois and La. Tech make returns to postseason play
Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl
Illinois (6-6) vs. Louisiana Tech (8-5)
Dallas, Texas
Dec. 26, 2014
Louisiana Tech and Illinois will both return to postseason play for the first time since 2011 when the two meet in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Friday.
The Illini, in their third season under Tim Beckman, have slowly but steadily improved in each season with Beckman at the helm. The Illini won two games in his first season and four games in his second season. This year, they added two wins again to finish 6-6 and clinch bowl eligibility.
Postseason play looked unlikely when Beckman’s squad dropped to 4-6 on Nov. 15 with two games left in the season. However, the Illini responded with back-to-back wins over Penn State and Northwestern to round out the regular season.
After struggling offensively for most of the season, the Illini found a bit of a rhythm with Reilly O’Toole at quarterback (replacing Wes Lunt) and true freshman Mike Dudek emerging at wide receiver. The speedy Dudek was especially impressive and tallied 69 receptions for 965 yards and six scores on the season.
While the Illinois offense hit its stride to an extent late in the season, its defense wasn’t exactly the team’s strong suit. Overall on the season, Illinois allowed an average of 33.9 points and 464.3 yards per game – a seemingly favorable matchup for a Louisiana Tech (8-5) team that averaged 403.8 yards per game and was 13th nationally by putting up 37.5 points per game.
Running back Kenneth Dixon is Tech’s biggest offensive threat. The 5-foot-20, 212-pound junior ran for 1,236 yards and 21 touchdowns this season and had one of his best games of the year in a 26-23 Conference USA title game loss to Marshall on Dec. 6. On just 20 carries, Dixon racked up 156 yards and scored on runs of 33, 30, and 19 yards.
Handing the ball off to Dixon is senior Cody Sokol, an Iowa transfer. After putting up 3,189 yards, 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions on the season, he had a horrible performance – 7-of-20 for 72 yards and an interception – against Marshall.
If the Bulldogs want to outlast Illinois, Sokol needs to bounce back.
ODDS
Louisiana Tech (-6)
FUN FACT
Beckman opted to put Lunt back in the starting lineup when he returned from injury against Iowa on Nov. 15. O'Toole then was put back into the game in the second half when the Illini was facing a large deficit. Lunt also started against Penn State, but was benched in favor of O'Toole, who led the Illini to a win.
In those two games, Lunt led just one scoring drive in 16 chances while O'Toole led five scoring drives in eight chances.
O'Toole then took over as starter in the season finale against Northwestern, another win.
PREDICTIONS
Graham: Tim Beckman is a soothsayer. And while we all doubted his ability to win his final three games and get the Illini to a bowl game, he believed and his team believed. He also said his team would finish the season with seven wins. Dare I go against him? I don't think so. Illinois 31, Louisiana Tech 28.
Nick: I cross my heart (of Dallas) and promise to give all I've got to give to make a prediction in this game come true. In all the world you'll never find a prediction as wrong as mine. Illinois 20, Louisiana Tech 17.
Sam: That Reilly O'Toole to Mike Dudek connection has been pretty impressive, but La. Tech is a solid team that shouldn’t have a whole lot of trouble scoring on the Illinois defense. I’ll take the Bulldogs in a close one. Louisiana Tech 28, Illinois 24.
For more Louisiana Tech news, visit BleedTechBlue.com.
For more Illinois news, visit OrangeandBlueNews.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
