Illinois is going deep into its football past on Saturday afternoon when defending national champion Michigan rolls into Champaign for an old-school Big Ten battle.
It won’t have anything to do with what happens on the field for the No. 22 Fighting Illini, who have been one of the surprises of the first half of the college football season at 5-1. Instead, when the No. 24 Wolverines take the field for the 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff, it will be all about what Illinois is wearing, specifically its helmets.
The Fighting Illini players will be wearing a custom helmet that will go appropriately with throwback uniforms that are tied to a very important date in Illinois football history. You see, Oct. 19 is 100 years and 1 day after Fighting Illini icon Red Grange’s historic 6-touchdown performance against, yep, Michigan during the Memorial Stadium Dedication Game in 1924…