{"id":21383,"date":"2015-11-27T09:14:59","date_gmt":"2015-11-27T15:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=21383"},"modified":"2015-11-27T09:32:09","modified_gmt":"2015-11-27T15:32:09","slug":"northwestern-illinois-battle-for-chicago-at-soldier-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/northwestern-illinois-battle-for-chicago-at-soldier-field\/","title":{"rendered":"Northwestern, Illinois battle for Chicago at Soldier Field"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jordan Ray<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

For Northwestern, it\u2019s a chance to get one step closer to making program history.<\/p>\n

For Illinois, it\u2019s a chance to prove Chicago isn’t just the domain of one Big Ten football team.<\/p>\n

The Wildcats and Illini face off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Soldier Field for the first time in the rivalry\u2019s 123-year history. The teams played in Chicago in 2010, but that was at Wrigley Field in a bizarre game that required offensive possessions for both teams to go in the same direction for safety concerns.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to bringing our show to Chicago,\u201d said Jason Lener, senior associate director of Illinois athletics.<\/p>\n

In February, Illinois announced plans to play its next three home games against Northwestern at Soldier Field instead of in Champaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnding the regular season at a historical site and one of the best stadiums in the world will make for a big-time event for our student-athletes and will be a great springboard for our football program into the postseason,\u201d former Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas, who was fired in November, said in a February press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Northwestern brands itself as \u201cChicago\u2019s Big Ten Team\u201d on billboards throughout the city, Lener said Illinois\u2019 \u201chome games\u201d at Soldier Field aren\u2019t meant to \u00a0specifically combat that per se.<\/p>\n

\"NU<\/a>
Breakdown of wins in the Northwestern-Illinois football series rivalry. (Jordan Ray\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a quarter of a million alums in Chicago alone,\u201d Lener said. \u201cIt\u2019s a market that we want to spend more time in, and it\u2019s important to us. (We) just thought it was a good fit to move our game up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

A little extra cash doesn\u2019t hurt, either.<\/p>\n

The Illini played the University of Washington at Soldier Field in 2013, and Thomas\u00a0told Chicago Business<\/a> in February the school netted nearly $2 million from it.<\/p>\n

The financial success of Saturday\u2019s game will depend on ticket sales, Lener said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be paying very similar to what it would cost to run a game here up there,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just there\u2019s more revenue potential to play a game up there than there is at our stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Illinois is marketing the game to season ticket holders and football fans in the Chicago area, Northwestern is not, according to Northwestern assistant AD for communications Paul Kennedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Illinois\u2019 home game,\u201d Kennedy wrote in an email. \u201cThey chose to play it (and their next two home games) here in Chicago. I didn\u2019t even find out about it until they made the public announcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northwestern has the normal allotment of tickets it can sell for any road game. Kennedy added that selling the tickets at $65 per person has been frustrating when Illinois is selling them 50 percent off on Groupon.<\/p>\n

Tickets with a face value of $60.90 were selling on Groupon<\/a> for as low as $30.<\/p>\n

Kennedy told The Daily Northwestern in February<\/a>\u00a0Northwestern was “thrilled” to be playing more games in the Chicago area.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpportunities are rare to play a road game in a venue accessible from campus by public transportation,” Kennedy said. “Particularly over a holiday weekend, this is incredible news for our student-athletes, coaches, families and fans going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/a>
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald is pictured. (Big Ten)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The game itself has major implications for both teams.<\/p>\n

A win would leave Northwestern at 10-2 overall this year. The Wildcats\u2019 senior class would be the first in school history to reach the 10-win mark twice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a pretty special legacy,\u201d Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said on Monday. \u201cThen that would give you an opportunity to go into some uncharted waters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northwestern has never had an 11-win season, but beating Illinois would make that possible in a bowl game. It also would keep Northwestern in the Big Ten’s first tier for a bowl bid and give the Wildcats an outside shot at a New Year’s Six bowl.<\/p>\n

Illinois, on the other hand, is playing to keep its season alive.<\/p>\n

The Illini (5-6, 2-5 Big Ten) need a win to become bowl-eligible, which means the Wildcats have an opportunity to exact some revenge. Last season, Illinois beat Northwestern 47-33 to keep the Wildcats out of a bowl, ending their season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a competitor and athlete, you have to flush those sort of feelings and just prepare for what\u2019s important now,\u201d Wildcats defensive end Deonte Gibson said. \u201cAt this moment now, we have Illinois. Yes, I think about that game, I play it back \u2026 but this is a new year, a different team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reaching six wins would help Illinois interim coach Bill Cubit’s case for staying as head coach. Cubit replaced Tim Beckman, who was fired a week before the season started amid allegations of mishandling players who were hurt.<\/p>\n

“Somebody gave me a little stat: I think the most wins a first-year coach ever had here was six,” Cubit said. “So that’s what we’re gunning for.”<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Soldier Field from afar. (Flickr User Loco Steve<\/a>\/Creative Commons)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jordan Ray For Northwestern, it\u2019s a chance to get one step closer to making program history. For Illinois, it\u2019s a chance to prove Chicago isn’t just the domain of one Big Ten football team. The Wildcats and Illini face off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Soldier Field for the first time in the rivalry\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":21388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[509,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2015","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nNorthwestern, Illinois battle for Chicago at Soldier Field - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/northwestern-illinois-battle-for-chicago-at-soldier-field\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Northwestern, Illinois battle for Chicago at Soldier Field - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jordan Ray For Northwestern, it\u2019s a chance to get one step closer to making program history. For Illinois, it\u2019s a chance to prove Chicago isn’t just the domain of one Big Ten football team. 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