Boots is made for riding a bus

CHAMPAIGN – Maybe Illinois officials should talk to the folks at Middle Tennessee State about transportation. The Blue Raiders had no trouble Friday getting to Champaign-Urbana.

The players and coach Boots Donnelly left Murfreesboro at 6:30 a.m. for the six-hour bus trip. Donnelly rode in one bus with his seniors. The rest of the team split up in the other two.

"If I can get our players in and out within a six or seven hour time frame, we'll bus," Donnelly said. "It's more headaches to load and unload charter flights."

Donnelly and his players made it a leisurely trip. They stopped at a rest area near Benton to eat box lunches. The team pulled up to Memorial Stadium at about 1:45 p.m.

Middle Tennessee players, wearing bright blue sweat pants and sweat shirts, worked out on the field for about an hour.

Donnelly said the Blue Raiders were excited about their first trip to the Big Ten.

"You can say it's not a big deal, but it is," Donnelly said.

Is it a big deal for the 20-year coach?

"When you're younger, I think it becomes a bigger deal," Donnelly said. "I'm one of the old guys. I've been in this business too long. I've seen a couple county fairs and a couple of circuses."

Up late

Donnelly would prefer an earlier start. Coaches don't like it when their teams have to sit around a hotel all day.

"I'd just as soon kick it off at 10 or 11 (in the morning)," Donnelly said. "I don't know if there's any football coach who wants to play at night. Let's get up. Let's get a little bite in our stomach. Let's get the cobwebs out, the sleep out of our eyes and go play the game. Unfortunately, we have to wait until 6."

Back to Rantoul

The Illini had a 45-minute workout late Friday afternoon on the Memorial Stadium field. Because it's the first home game, Illinois coach Ron Turner showed the players where to stand during stretching and on the sidelines.

After practice, the team went to dinner and then a movie. The choice: "Blade."

"Who picks it? Me," Turner said.

Following the movie, the team took buses to Rantoul's Fanmarker Inn.

Comments

Add a Comment