Paddock — and Lunney — deserve credit for Illinois’ offensive explosi…

Happy Sunday, Illinois Land!

What in the blue hell did we watch yesterday in Champaign?

As two seemingly mediocre Big Ten teams with pedestrian offenses took the field in Week 11, HBC Bret Bielema and Illinois fans knew that anything could happen.

Confidence in unknown outcomes remains a place of solace for Illinois fans, of any sport.

This particular confidence comes from the fact that not only is anything possible, it often comes to fruition. For Illinois, it’s usually in the worst way possible.

No one expected 662 yards of offense and a thrilling OT victory. Or, the most passing yards by an Illinois quarterback in the history of Memorial Stadium at 507.

Both things happened, and it was glorious.

John Paddock wears the jersey number 4 because Bielema wanted to highlight that he is a fourth-generation Illini.

Paddock recorded his first Illini start against Indiana, and not even HE could have predicted potentially the most unlikely football performance for the university in…