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Illinois stuns Tennessee in Music City Bowl thriller

Dec 30, 2025 | 9:00 PM
Joey Aguilar

Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

By Chris Marler

For the second straight year, Bret Bielema and Illinois knocked off an SEC opponent in bowl season, beating Tennessee 30–28 on a last-second field goal.

The Story 

Tennessee came into Tuesday’s bowl game with the fourth best offense in the country for yards per game. They finished with a season low in output with 278 yards, 104 yards fewer than their previous low on the year. 

Tennessee started the game hot, scoring on their first drive for the tenth time in 13 games this season. From there, things cooled off. They were hampered by self-inflicted mistakes for most of the night. The Vols only had four penalties all night, but all seemed to come on key downs. 

The Tennessee offense was the worst they’ve been all season. Joey Aguilar was held to 121 yards passing, and the offense was held to 278 yards. Illinois continuously weathered the storm in front of what was largely a home crowd for Tennessee. They were also able to win the turnover battle and played more disciplined than the Vols all night. 

In the end, the result was a second consecutive bowl win against Bret Beilema’s former conference and a nine win season for the second year in a row.

The Stats 

2-5: The SEC is now 2-5 in bowl season.

278: Tennessee had only 278 yards of offense. That is their lowest of the season, and their third lowest in any game during the Heupel era. 

121: Tennessee had 121 passing yards against Illinois, which is the third fewest in any game of the Josh Heupel era. 

The Social Media Reaction 

Chris Marler

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