The game was the final contest of the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams, and ended in a 63–21 victory for Illinois. Illinois and Virginia had previously met in the postseason at the 1990 Florida Citrus Bowl, also won by Illinois, 31–21.
Game summary
The Illini took advantage of the school's first bowl appearance in five years with an impressive 63–21 victory over highly touted running back Thomas Jones and the Virginia Cavaliers. In a game which pitted two evenly matched, 7–4 squads, the Illini dominated with 611 yards total offense and nine touchdowns. On the first drive of the game, Kurt Kittner led the Illini down field 71 yards and scored on a one-yard run. The Illini then rattled off 35 unanswered points, including a flea-flicker pass from wide receiver Brandon Lloyd to Kittner for 30 yards and a halftime score of 42–7. Kittner threw a school record 24th touchdown pass on a one-yard reception to Jameel Cook. The Illini broke 22 Illinois and Micronpc.com Bowl records that night and scored the second-most points in collegiate bowl history.
Scoring summary
Quarter
Team
Scoring summary
Score
Illinois
Virginia
1
Illinois
1-yard touchdown run by Kurt Kittner, kick by Neil Rackers good
7
0
Virginia
7-yard touchdown run by Thomas Jones, kick by Todd Braverman good
7
7
Illinois
47-yard touchdown run by Rocky Harvey, kick by Neil Rackers good
14
7
2
Illinois
30-yard touchdown reception by Kurt Kittner from Brandon Lloyd, kick by Neil Rackers good
21
7
Illinois
61-yard touchdown reception by Jameel Cook from Kurt Kittner, kick by Neil Rackers good
28
7
Illinois
2-yard touchdown run by Steve Havard, kick by Neil Rackers good
35
7
Illinois
1-yard touchdown reception by Jameel Cook from Kurt Kittner, kick by Neil Rackers good
42
7
3
Virginia
5-yard touchdown reception by Kevin Coffey from Dan Ellis, kick by Todd Braverman good
42
14
Illinois
2-yard touchdown run by Steve Havard, kick by Neil Rackers good
49
14
4
Illinois
9-yard touchdown run by Rocky Harvey, kick by Neil Rackers good
56
14
Illinois
1-yard touchdown run by Kirk Johnson, kick by Neil Rackers good
63
14
Virginia
55-yard touchdown reception by Will Thompson from David Rivers, kick by Todd Braverman good