Thomas Gouard
This weekend the Illinois Fighting Illini takes on the Purdue Boilermakers. Just like last week’s game against the Rutgers Scarlet knights, this is a rivalry game. But unlike the Fighting Illini versus Scarlet Knights rivalry, the Purdue rivalry stems back to 1890.
There has been a total of 93 meetings between the two teams with the Fighting Illini leading the series 44-43-6 over the Boilermakers. Other than the Boilermakers looking to tie this series with the Fighting Illini, there is also a trophy between the two, which both battle it out for.
The history of this trophy, the Cannon, dates back to 1905 when a group of Purdue students brought it to fire after a Boilermaker victory. After the Purdue win the Cannon was never fired. Quincy Hall found the Cannon, and later confiscated it with a group of Delta Upsilon brothers and held it until 1943, when they donated it as a symbol of the Fighting Illini-Boilermakers rivalry. In the series involving the Cannon, Purdue currently leads 35-28-2 with two straight wins over the Fighting Illini in their previous meetings.
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For this Homecoming weekend game the Fighting Illini will be wearing their gray ghost uniforms in honor of legendary Illinois running back Harold Edward “Red” Grange, known as the Galloping Ghost.
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If you look at the ESPN statistics, the Boilermakers are the 72 percent favorites going into this match up, but if you ask me this rivalry has potential to go either way. Whomever gains the victory in this match up, I see it being won by no more than a 10-point lead.
In the past, I have stated “If the Fighting Illini continues to look the way they have, I see 5 possible wins out of what is left in their schedule”. Well! That continues on with the Boilermakers, but it just depends how the Fighting Illini goes into it.
I’m sure the ones with more history or more at stake hurt. With this being the last official month of the season before the playoff losses will sting a little more. Most of the seniors want to go out with a blast, so they can be selected for the NFL draft, so I would imagine that it hurts.
I can’t eve imagine how much they must hurt at the end of the game!
I’m sure the ones with more history or more at stake hurt. With this being the last official month of the season before the playoff losses will sting a little more. Most of the seniors want to go out with a blast, so they can be selected for the NFL draft, so I would imagine that it hurts.