Great Sport Moments: Confidence Booster

In the days following the 9/11 attacks, the Illini football team grew closer together, en route to a Big Ten championship. (Image courtesy of U. of I. Athletics)

It was just before  8 a.m. on a Tuesday, and U. of I. football coach Ron Turner had just started a meeting with his offensive staff.

Illinois had opened the 2001 season with a pair of wins: a blowout against California at Berkeley and a home squeaker against Northern Illinois University. The Illini faced a crucial third nonconference game set for Sept. 15 against Top 25-ranked Louisville at Memorial Stadium. Or so the team thought.

The coaches were in full game-week mode when there was a knock on the door. It was Turner’s assistant, Mary Gallagher. “She said, ‘Coach Turner, you need to come now. Something happened,’” Turner recalls.

The first of two airplanes had crashed into New York’s World Trade Center. The nation was in the middle of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“I went back and told all the guys, ‘Turn the TV on, and then get on the phone to your families,’” Turner says. “I remember it vividly.”

In an instant, preparing for a football game against a ranked team fell way down on Turner’s priority list.

“The main thing was just to comfort everybody,” Turner says. “There was so much uncertainty, and everyone was scared.”

Turner made his team’s well-being his main priority—calling parents to reassure them, sending his staff home to be with their families, and asking his coaches to be available to the players, many of whom were far from home and afraid.

Turner knew his team would return to the field eventually. “What everybody talked about then was that we just needed to get normalcy back in our lives,” Turner reflects.

The two schools and the Big Ten rescheduled the Illinois-Louisville game for Sept. 22. Eleven days after the attacks, a return to normalcy began.

On an emotional day, the Illinois offense gained more than 500 yards, while the defense forced five Louisville turnovers, en route to a 34-10 victory.

“It was a big confidence boost for all of us,” Turner says.

He was thrilled with how his team responded to adversity and let the players know it. “Just very, very proud of that group,” Turner recalls. “It was probably the closest-knit team that I have ever been around. They really cared about one another.”

Ultimately, the 2001 Illini dropped only one game during the regular season, a 45-20 decision at Michigan on Sept. 29. When the Wolverines were upset by rival Ohio State in the season finale, Illinois won its first outright Big Ten title in 18 years.

“It’s hard to believe that was 25 years ago,” says Turner, now 72. “I’m very surprised they haven’t won a championship since then.

“But there will be more coming. Coach Bielema is doing a great job.”

Illinois Alumni, Fall 2026