mdaniels@news-gazette.com
CHAMPAIGN — Doom and gloom didn’t hover over the Illinois football players after their 48-23 loss to North Carolina on Saturday night.
Disappointment and the realization of a missed opportunity to put the Illini back on the national stage did linger, though.
Along with the sight of those yellow flags that littered the Memorial Stadium turf early, often and late.
“We lost to a good team,” Illinois quarterback Wes Lunt said. “The biggest thing that we need to take away is when things go bad, we cannot let it get worse.”
The first chance for Illinois (1-1) to put behind it the loss to the Tar Heels begins at 3 p.