Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema had Duke head coach Manny Diaz’s brain in a pretzel. His substitution shenanigans had a direct impact on the final score.
The Blue Devils were forced to settle for a field goal after a delay of game.
Meanwhile, their nonexistent college football fanbase let boos rain down on the Fighting Illini for taking advantage of the rules as they are written. They were barely audible because nobody was there.
Where is the Duke crowd?
ESPN went live from Durham, North Carolina at 12:00 p.m. ET. The broadcast did not open with a scenic shot of the stadium as per usual because the Worldwide Leader in Sports tried to keep the minuscule crowd under wraps throughout the entire game with tight camera angles.
Duke fans failed to fill the lower bowl against a ranked opponent.
There was more orange in the crowd than blue. Especially on the far side.
Even though the stadium was barren, ESPN put a microphone near the home team’s most populous section and turned the volume up to make the crowd sound louder than it actually was. That was especially funny when the Blue Devils started to chant “overrated” at the Ilini seven minutes into a 3-0 game.
Bret Bielema uses late substitutions to Illinois’ advantage.
Duke fans also made themselves heard in response to Illinois’ substitution shenanigans. Bielema, who almost got into a brawl with Shane Beamer for similar antics during the Citrus Bowl last season, took full advantage of the rules as they are written.
The defense is allowed to substitute every time the offense substitutes. If the offense substitutes, it cannot snap the ball until the defense has completed its substitution.
Thus, Bielema makes sure to switch out his slowest defensive lineman every time the offense made a switch. The lineman takes his sweet time getting into position.
Manny Diaz was not prepared for the gamesmanship.
The Blue Devils made a very late substitution on offense on 1st-and-goal from the 8-yard-line, which gave Bielema the opportunity to do the same. So he did.
The Illini lineman took so long to get into position that the game clock expired as he was running onto the field from the sideline. The offense was charged with a delay of game penalty.
All 23 fans in attendance were furious with Bielema even though he simply out-smarted their coach. Duke was forced to settle for a field goal on the drive.