Bill Cubit officially named Illini head coach
A few hours before IL (5-7, 2-6) took the field, the school announced interim coach Bill Cubit had agreed to a two-year contract.
Cubit joined the IL staff as offensive coordinator in January 2013 before being named interim head coach in August.
“Bill has stepped in during an extremely hard period and done an outstanding job in leading our football program since August”, Interim Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk said in a statement.
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald and his team faced plenty of skeptics this fall after coming off back-to-back losing seasons.
It’s official – Bill Cubit has been extended as the head football coach at the University of IL. Junior Austin Carr led the way with three catches for 61 yards, including a 48-yard reception on a deep post. And Illinois gave Northwestern all it could handle before falling in the season finale, 24-14, at Soldier Field in Chicago Saturday.
The 2015 iteration of the team is also tied as the most successful in history, in terms of wins, and a win in the bowl game will make this the most successful NU squad ever. Thorson connected with fullback Dan Vitale, who bobbled the football before hauling it in and sprinting toward the right pylon for a 19-yard touchdown. A third Wildcat touchdown thanks to running back Justin Jackson in the second quarter pushed Northwestern to 21-7 over the Illini.
What the win means for Northwestern: For just the fourth time in school history, the Wildcats will finish the season with a double-digit win total.
Kicker Jack Mitchell put up a field goal to give Northwestern an additional 3-point edge, 24-14 Northwestern in the final minutes, and that’s where the score stayed. The Illini drove it down there again, this time to the nine-yard line, but Taylor Zalewski missed a 26-yard field goal attempt with 4:10 left, his second miss of the day, and that was all she wrote. VanHoose was hit by Nate Hall as he dove to the ground.