History was made at historic Wrigley Field yesterday. First, the Northwestern University Wildcats hosted the

Photo: Miriam Romain

 University of Illinois Fighting Illini in the Allstate Wrigleyville Classic. It was the first time football had been played in Wrigley Field since the Bears left in 1970 and the first time college kicked off there since 1938.

But there was more history made in yesterday’s game. Illinois junior Mikel Leshoure rushed for 330 yards on 32 carries setting a school record for rushing yards and setting the all-time record for rushing yards at Wrigley Field. That performance led the Illini to a 48-27 win.

The week leading up to the game saw the famous red Wrigley Field Marquee painted Wildcat purple. The gridiron was laid out and given the green light for play by the two schools, Big Ten officials and the NCAA. Because the field ran east to west, the east end zone was so close to the outfield wall, thick padding was put over the hibernating ivy and that goal post was attached to the bleacher wall. The right corner, when looking at the east goal post, went all the way into the corner of the stadium, giving no room behind the end zone. Still, everyone signed off on it.

Then the rules started changing. Originally, the infamous Wrigley Ballhawks were looking to get a special souvenir – a football that was either kicked for an extra point or a field goal. Anyone who caught one of those balls was going to be allowed to keep it. Also, the Northwestern team was supposed to ride the “El” (train) on the existing Purple Line to the game and enter Wrigley from Sheffield Ave., renamed Wildcat Way, for the day. During the week it was decided for safety the team would not take the train. Then on Friday, the Big Ten changed its mind about the east end zone stating for player safety, all offensive plays would go toward the west end zone. The Cubs, who had worked hard to make this event happen were extremely unhappy about the situation. The Ballhawks were also upset. Fans were outraged stating they would not see any action in the east part of the field.

At first perhaps, there was a little confusion when the ball was in the east part of the field and had to be brought to the west part to continue play, but overall it did not affect the rhythm of the game, especially for Illinois. In fact, Northwestern intercepted a pass and ran it for a touchdown into the east end zone. The worries about player safety, the brick wall and the lack of room behind the end zone ended up being an afterthought.

Today’s Illinois win makes them Bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.

Used with permission of the author.

Miriam Romain is a Chicago-based sportswriter and national columnist covering the Chicago Cubs for Examiner.com. The Windy City native is also the Associate Editor for SBNation Chicago and has been published in the Maple Street Press Cubs annuals. In her free time, Romain is working on a book titled “Summers At Wrigley With My Dad.”

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