Notes: Bielema adamant call was missed on two-point conversion

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CHAMPAIGN — Bret Bielema was adamant that his Illinois football made too many mistakes to win a game like Saturday's regular-season finale against Northwestern. Giving up 24 points on turnovers — two interceptions and two special teams fumbles — was not a path forward to success in an eventual 45-43 loss to the Wildcats in front of an announced crowd of 42,310 at Memorial Stadium.

Bielema was equally as adamant that his team was denied an opportunity to complete the comeback it was mounting despite those missteps.

John Paddock hitting Casey Washington on an improbable 80-yard touchdown pass pulled the Illini within two points of the Wildcats with 55 seconds to play. Paddock went to Washington again on the two-point conversion, but it was ruled incomplete and the penalty flag picked up after what the officials deemed pass interference didn't apply because the pass was tipped.

That was not how Bielema saw it.

"I think the two-point play, it's just complete bull— on the call," Bielema said in a colorful way that will likely net him a fine from the Big Ten. "The guy held him."

Bielema has been in regular correspondence with the Big Ten offense this season trying to get clarification on penalties his team was flagged for and calls that didn't go how he perceived them. Count on the failed two-point conversion to be among the next batch.

"I don't think anybody deliberately throws a flag or doesn't throw a flag, but (Saturday) we failed to execute a two-point play because Casey was getting taken to the ground before the ball was even thrown," Bielema said. "That affects the game. These things can be avoided. Go look at that. It's a game-changing play. To me, they should take that upstairs.

"You can easily see it on replay. I saw it in the locker room and saw it here (in postgame). It was the incorrect call. Unfortunately, we've got to end our season. The positive side is hopefully that can be corrected in the future."

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That one play, however, doesn't balance out the mistakes Illinois made. Paddock threw a pair of interceptions that Northwestern turned into 10 points. Isaiah Williams muffed a punt and Kenari Wilcher fumbled a kickoff return, which happened within 9 seconds of each other in the fourth quarter, turned into 14 points for the Wildcats. And a lead Northwestern never relinquished.

"Inexcusable," Bielema said. "We've got to do a better job when we're in traffic. We can shore up the essence and idea of how much more secure we have to be with the football."

The back-to-back special teams mistakes had the potential to break Illinois. Northwestern scoring off both spotted the Wildcats an 11-point lead, which turned out to almost not be enough as Paddock connected with Washington for multiple big plays in the passing game.

"We've had ups and downs all year," Paddock said. "We never flinched one time. If there's still seconds on that clock, we're going to keep fighting."

The end result was another one-score game. Saturday's was the fifth in a row and eighth such game out of 12 this season for Illinois. Losing three of those five, however, was the difference between a bowl bid and seeing the season end Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

"I think it's an understanding of we don't have to play a one-possession game every game," Paddock quipped. "You can beat a team by more than one score. It's a weird thought, I know. I'm just kidding. It comes down to situational football and the little things here and the little things there.

"A bounce here. A tipped pass here. A turnover there. That just comes with discipline and being all on the same page. We were prepared for all those situations. One thing I can say about this team is there was never an ounce of doubt and never a blink of an eye. We had confidence in all of those. It's just how it played out this year."

Washington played his final game in an Illinois uniform by putting up the best game of his career. Nine catches for 218 yards and three touchdowns against Northwestern was nearly more production than he had combined during his freshman and sophomore seasons. And final totals of 49 catches for 670 yards and four touchdowns — the last of which all came in the final three games — sends the Texan out on the highest individual note possible.

"What a performance," Paddock said. "Talk about a guy that had an amazing journey here. There's no one more respected in our locker room than Casey Washington. We developed a great relationship, and it's great to see him have a fantastic game. Obviously, we're both extremely competitive and want to win. We don't care about having great games — we'd rather get that W — but the way he played (Saturday), you can't go out on a higher note."

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Washington found it difficult to keep his emotions in check when he ran onto Zuppke Field before the game during the Senior Day festivities. He was in a similar place after the game in his final postgame media availability at the Smith Center.

"Honestly, I've never really had to process this," Washington said. "After high school was done, it was bright spirits because I was going to be a Division I football player. As I get older and I'm able to perceive things and really process things in my mind, this sucks. Losing sucks. No mater what level or league or sport you're in, losing is absolutely terrible.

"When you have those games, it comes down to the last couple minutes and you come up short, I don't think that feeling ever goes away. It's going to shape me into whoever I become. It's going to shape my teammates and my coaches. It's tough right now, but I'm still grateful and still I-L-L forever."

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Johnny Newton said the full effect of playing his final game at Illinois hadn't hit him in the immediate aftermath of Saturday's loss, but he knows it's coming. Sometime next week, the Illini defensive tackle said, he'll have to come to grips his college career is over and he's played his final game with Keith Randolph Jr.

"Unless, we get drafted together," Newton said. "Hopefully that happens. That would be pretty dope."

Newton plans to stick around for a couple more weeks before taking a vacation. Whether he returns to Champaign or heads home to Florida in advance of the 2024 NFL draft is to be determined. What he'll be doing in the next several months, though, isn't.

"Just grinding," Newton said. "It will feel weird not playing football, but these next few months are going to be taken pretty seriously. I'm trying to showcase what I can do at the (NFL draft combine) and all of the workouts I'll have. Showcasing my talents and locking in these next few months is going to be really big for me."

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The next week for Bielema is also decided. The Illinois coaches can't go out on the road recruiting until Friday, but there's plenty in Champaign to keep Bielema busy.

"It builds in a nice window of time for me as a head coach to evaluate what I can do better and how I can evaluate and make our staff better," the Illini coach said. "That gets into roster evaluation. You really find out what you're working with. Back when I started 15 years ago as a head coach, you kind of knew the lay of the land — who was coming back and who wasn't coming back. Today, with the portal and grad transfers and COVID (bonus years), there's a lot of uncertainty with your roster."

SCOTT RICHEY