Robert Rosenthal, writing at his site IlliniBoard, has a wonderful look at what happened 100 years ago.

Red Grange had become a superstar. He was a First Team All American the previous season as a sophomore. People came from far and wide (most importantly, sportswriters like Grantland Rice) to see the Wheaton Iceman. So not only was this brand new stadium going up which fascinated the entire state of Illinois (remember, the Bears had only moved from Decatur to Chicago in 1922 and played at Cubs Park to small crowds so NFL football wasn’t really a thing yet), here was this superstar that everyone wanted to see, guaranteeing that the dedication game would sell out.

There’s a famous photo of that day where you can see a packed Memorial Stadium.

Just the thought of all of those cars making their way to Champaign to see this new stadium + this famous athlete + this “let’s see who the real national champion was last year” game is just incredible to me. Every star aligning around one single game.

And then, in that game, Red Grange scores four times in the first 12 minutes. I’ve been through this on Twitter several times over the last year but one more time won’t hurt:

Touchdowns allowed by Michigan in the entire 1921 season: 3 Touchdowns allowed by Michigan in the entire 1922 season: 1 Touchdowns allowed by Michigan in the entire 1923 season: 0 Touchdowns allowed by Michigan in the first 12 minutes of the 1924 game: 4

This is why I believe Red Grange to be the single greatest player in college football history. ESPN just did this list in 2020 and ranked him 6th overall (and Dick Butkus 8th, meaning Illinois was the only program with two of the top-10 players in college football history). When ESPN did a similar list in 2007 (with a different panel of experts), Red Grange was #1 on the list. He’s not just some famous player from 100 years ago. He’s the greatest of all time.

I think I’ve made my point now. I think you understand the significance. Red Grange, in an era where points weren’t scored and teams often punted as a way to advance the ball closer to the opponent’s goal, literally changed the game of football with what I believe to be the single greatest individual performance in college football history. It happened 100 years ago tomorrow. And we will now celebrated it 100 years + 1 day later on October 19th, 2024. Against Michigan, the defending national champions (like 1924) with a new coach (like 1924).

Time for history to repeat itself.

Wouldn’t that be something? I’ll be there.