By Melody Miller
The Nits routed Illinois 56-21 in Big Ten Championship Week action, improving to 4-5 on the year after a dreadful 0-5 start.
James Franklin’s team was, in fact, playing its best ball at the end of the season, and following the victory over the Illini decided to pass on a potential bowl to let players and coaches spend time with their respective families.
And that seems to be just as well. Why not allow everyone to reset after a crazy pandemic year as opposed to going to some lower-tier bowl for the sake of preserving a non-losing season? The key, from this angle, is to learn that a strong finish means a heck of a lot more if it follows even a respectable start.
WR Jahan Dotson caught six passes (on seven targets) for 189 yards and two scores, and returned a punt 50 yards. That comes out to 34.1 yards per touch.
He finished the season with 884 receiving yards in only nine games — the 13th-highest total in school history. And that with a starting QB who was lost for much of the season:
