BREAKING NEWS: Illinois To Play In 2019 Redbox Bowl vs. California
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- For the eighth time in school history, Illinois will be playing a postseason bowl game in California.
The Illini (6-6) have accepted the invitation to the Redbox Bowl and will play California on Dec. 30 in Levis Stadium in Santa Clara, California. University of California officials confirmed this news by posting a video of the matchup on Twitter.
“The University of Illinois is thrilled to accept the invitation for our football team to participate in the 2019 Redbox Bowl,” Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman said via a media release. “The game features a traditional Pac-12 opponent, one of our country’s great stadiums, an advantageous date, and a premier television partner. We are excited for our players and fans to experience the San Francisco Bay area, which is home to our University’s second-largest largest concentration of alumni. We hope Fighting Illini faithful from across the country will join us in California to celebrate a memorable season and help our team in its push for win number seven.”
This bowl game also represents two programs who have always been trending in opposite directions. Illinois is on a two-game losing streak after getting bowl eligible following a four-game winning streak from mid-October to early November.
California won back-to-back road games against Stanford and UCLA to give the program back-to-back winning years for the first time since the 2008-09 seasons.
“Getting seven wins, be in a position to win a bowl game, and have a chance to play somebody really good at a great location is really exciting," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said following the 28-18 win at UCLA on Nov. 30.
After starting the season with four straight wins, Cal moved up to No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. It was the team’s best start since 2015, when they started the year 5-0.
Levi’s Stadium, the home of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, is located in Santa Clara just 43 miles southeast of the Cal-Berkeley campus. Illinois has six players on its current roster from California including starting outside linebacker Milo Eifler, who is from the town of Berkeley where California's campus is located and transferred from Pac-12 Conference power Washington before the 2018 season.
California (7-5) has been to 23 bowls in school history, but the team will be going to multiple bowl games in a row for only the fifth time (1921-22, 1949-51, 1992-93, 2003-09). The Golden Bears have one of the nation’s best defensive players in Butkus Award finalist and consensus midseason All-American linebacker Evan Weaver. The middle linebacker leads the nation in total tackles (173 - a school single-season record), solo tackles (95), total tackles per game (14.42) and solo tackles per game (7.92).
“He’s the best linebacker we’ve seen all year. He’s outstanding, big, fast, long, violent, physical (and) special,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said. “He just has to be accounted for, run and pass — and it’s not just accounted for because he’s hard to block. His acceleration from point A to point B is as good as you’ll see in college football.”
California quarterback Chase Garbers (7) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against Stanford at Stanford Stadium.
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Cal quarterback Chase Garbers has an 11-2 record in games where he has played more than half the game, including 5-0 this season. Garbers had 285 yards passing, 72 yards rushing and two total touchdowns vs. Stanford. He has led the team to game-winning scores on their final drive at Washington and vs. Stanford.
Cal's defense, which is led by coordinator Tim DeRuyter, has held its last four opponents to less than 100 yards rushing (Washington State 16, USC 56, Stanford 61 and UCLA 58.
Illinois head coach Lovie Smith reacts with defensive back Stanley Green (7) during the second quarter at Kinnick Stadium.
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Illinois is 4-3 all-time in bowl games in the state of California including a 20-14 win over UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in nearby San Francisco. Illinois leads the all-time series against Cal 7-3 but the Golden Bears have won the last two in a home-and-home contract where Cal won in 2003 (31-24) in Champaign and 2004 (35-20) in Berkeley.