What Illinois coach Bret Bielema said about facing Tennessee in the Music City Bowl

What Illinois head coach Bret Bielema said on Sunday about facing Tennessee in the Music City Bowl on Tuesday, December 30 (5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville:

On facing Tennessee in the Music City Bowl

“To play Tennessee, a very, very gifted football team. Mirror us a lot, probably in the fact that they have a very dynamic quarterback. Play-caller, Coach Heupel, and his history as a player and coach, I’ve never competed against him. I played Tennessee one time when I was at Arkansas, I was able to play at Tennessee one time. To have this matchup, this moment, is pretty cool. Another quality SEC matchup with the two leagues going on is really, really awesome…”

“… Just got the text from Betsy Altmyer when I was walking in here, she said she thought half of Mississippi was going to be there in Nashville. I was just glad that one of them (quarterback Luke Altmyer) was going to be there from Mississippi. Gives our guys a chance to have a quality opponent there down the stretch. I don’t know anything about who is playing or who is not playing. I’m sure we’ll have a lot of conversations throughout the week…”

Playing an SEC opponent

“I think anytime you’re in these matchups, the matchup is obviously a non-traditional. You don’t get to see them. You go back to the Mississippi State game and everything that unfolded that week with Mike (Leach) was just a very unreal, unusual experience. And then to have South Carolina last year, at this time, they were coming off of a Clemson win and they were probably the next team outside of the playoff. To have, again, last year a very good, talented quarterback who was kind of a marquee guy for them. To play that game the way it did, the way it played out and to have the win, you’re always excited. 

“I think our guys, I shot a group text to the leadership council as soon as I knew who we were playing and what we were doing and they responded very favorably, very quickly. I think they’re excited to play. To play a good quality team you don’t usually get a matchup with, I had no idea until Brett told me today that we had never played each other as a fanbase, so that’s pretty awesome.”

If there is extra juice given rumors that Tennessee tried to poach Illinois QB Luke Altmyer in the spring 

“I can’t speak for Luke. Honestly, I’ve never spoken about that conversation in any way, shape or form. With Luke, one of the things that I’ve really appreciated about Luke’s demeanor, his personality is he’s the same guy every day. We get one more game with him. I think to have an SEC opponent for him is really pretty cool. I know that he has grown up obviously in the SEC world down there, started his career at Ole Miss. To go out here as one of the most decorated players in Illinois football history. More than that, he just stands for all these great things here at Illinois and to have that moment for him is probably the thing I’ll cherish more than anything.”

If he has watched Tennessee this year

“Snuck a peak in there last week. Wednesday, Thursday, did a little Tennessee recon. Just very impressed with offensively, Josh is just an incredibly gifted play-caller. What they do offensively, obviously, their quarterback has put up some very ridiculous numbers. A couple receivers, have a running back that’s running close to a thousand. Defensively, a year ago, they were statistically one of the best in the country. I know things fell off a little this year statisitically but a very optimistic group. I think special teams will always be a challenge in the bowl games.

“I literally will start a file now as you watch all these games unfold just kind of how things are won and lost in these moments. Guys go through a natural break here and sometimes these bowl games kind of have things similar to the beginning of the year where people just kind of forget how you lose football games. We’ve got to keep that in mind.”