11/3 News & Notes

[Dan]

Judging by comments at #Illini practice, team still regretting loss at PSU. DC koenning made comment @ what win wldve meant 4 zook

Asked about team confidence, #illini OC Petrino said "confidence is earned" ... Wants to get back to aggressive big plays.

sryantribune

Change at S is possibility http://t.co/rAn7a0la

Telling comment by #illini DC Vic Koenning today at practice. He spoke of what win at Penn State would've meant for coach Ron Zook

Koenning, a former HC, said "being a head coach is a hard job. You need to have positives b/c you got to deal w/ negatives all the time."

DC Koenning on Penn St. loss: "The thing that probably hurts me the worst is ... that was a game that could ... propel coach (Ron Zook)."

Koenning's words significant b/c in a way, it's first acknowledgement of outside pressure on Zook

Coach Zook rarely speaks to outside happenings, be it job pressure, other college football games, realignment, politics, World Series, etc.

CBSSportsIL

Interesting quote from #illini Vic Koenning today on the Penn State loss: "What it would’ve meant for Coach Zook and the players, the positive aspects that come with all that. Trust me, I understand, being a head coach is a hard, hard, hard job. You need to have some positives (sometimes) because you have to deal with negatives all the time."

WernerConnectFM

[Groundhogday]

So there might be a change at safety, and they are talking about Supo Sanni riding the pine? Who would replace him?

[Dan]

Illini have problems saying 'bye to last loss

Quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase looked like his normal self.

"I never think it should be the coaches to coach up morale," he said. "That's the leaders' responsibility to get guys going. You want the coaches to focus on technique, game plans and all that stuff. As leaders of the team, it's our job to get morale up. It helped having a couple days off, a couple days' rest."

Supinie

[AHSIllini32]

That's something Zook and the coaches have always talked about is needing to have leadership and intensity coming from the players and not from the coaches all the time. I'm glad Nate's one of the guys who's taken up that responsibility.

I think one things for sure and that's that the loss last week was a real killer for a lot of people. It's not very often you hear VK say some of the things he did with regards to Coach Zook.

[FredrickFremont]

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

That's something Zook and the coaches have always talked about is needing to have leadership and intensity coming from the players and not from the coaches all the time. I'm glad Nate's one of the guys who's taken up that responsibility.

I think one things for sure and that's that the loss last week was a real killer for a lot of people. It's not very often you hear VK say some of the things he did with regards to Coach Zook.

That's because it's the kind of thing that only needs to be said once. When the sh!t hits the fan.

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by FredrickFremont

That's because it's the kind of thing that only needs to be said once. When the sh!t hits the fan.

No, it's because I think he understands they let one get away and, unlike most posters here and at scout, they like Zook and want to take as much pressure off him when they can. VK realizes this more than anyone because he felt all kinds of heat when he struggled at Wyoming.

On a different note...I went to coachronzook.com and watched a short highlight tape of Whitney Mercilus since he's been named a semi-finalist for the Lombardi Award and after it was finished I looked the PSU highlight tape and said to myself, "should I watch it?". I convinced myself that I was over what happened last weekend and worked up enough gumption to watch it....mistake...I'm not fully over last weekend.

Our D just played outright nasty for all but 2:00 they were on the field. Our O left 10 points on the field (only 1 missed fg because we wouldn't have had the other miss without the Prosch penalty and then the TD taken away by the Prosch penalty) against a top 5 (right?) D. Jason Ford joined only Trent Richardson as the only backs to go over 100 yards. Nate didn't play fantastic but made throws when necessary. Reilly made plays. Lankford had a huge catch on that last drive. The OL seemed to play better. We left it in the hands of the guy who has been the most reliable player on probably the entire team for the last 2 1/2 seasons and it just didn't happen.

It's a bitter ass pill to swallow and I didn't even play my ass off and leave my heart on the field for 60 minutes like the players and coaches. You just hope that they get over this loss and take it to Michigan.

[BWBW]

Against Michigan, I hope we have:

1. An officiating crew that knows the rule book.
2. An officiating crew that calls penalties as fairly and evenly as possible.
3. An inspired defensive effort.
4. A very inspired offensive effort.
5. A rowdy, obnoxious, Muck Fichigan crowd.

[illynifan34]

Originally Posted by BWBW

Against Michigan, I hope we have:

1. An officiating crew that knows the rule book.
2. An officiating crew that calls penalties as fairly and evenly as possible.
3. An inspired defensive effort.
4. A very inspired offensive effort.
5. A rowdy, obnoxious, Muck Fichigan crowd.

We are playing Michigan so you can cross off 1 and 2.

[BWBW]

Originally Posted by illynifan34

We are playing Michigan so you can cross off 1 and 2.

That's why I'm hoping.:laugh:

[ThaKid101]

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

No, it's because I think he understands they let one get away and, unlike most posters here and at scout, they like Zook and want to take as much pressure off him when they can. VK realizes this more than anyone because he felt all kinds of heat when he struggled at Wyoming.

On a different note...I went to coachronzook.com and watched a short highlight tape of Whitney Mercilus since he's been named a semi-finalist for the Lombardi Award and after it was finished I looked the PSU highlight tape and said to myself, "should I watch it?". I convinced myself that I was over what happened last weekend and worked up enough gumption to watch it....mistake...I'm not fully over last weekend.

Our D just played outright nasty for all but 2:00 they were on the field. Our O left 10 points on the field (only 1 missed fg because we wouldn't have had the other miss without the Prosch penalty and then the TD taken away by the Prosch penalty) against a top 5 (right?) D. Jason Ford joined only Trent Richardson as the only backs to go over 100 yards. Nate didn't play fantastic but made throws when necessary. Reilly made plays. Lankford had a huge catch on that last drive. The OL seemed to play better. We left it in the hands of the guy who has been the most reliable player on probably the entire team for the last 2 1/2 seasons and it just didn't happen.

It's a bitter ass pill to swallow and I didn't even play my ass off and leave my heart on the field for 60 minutes like the players and coaches. You just hope that they get over this loss and take it to Michigan.

What people tend to forget is that this team is still relatively young. I think they finish out strong, and if they can build a monster recruiting class and get some guys to stay from leaving early for the NFL (Not likely for a few), next year could be a HUGE year and it would continue the rise of Illini football.

[FredrickFremont]

Originally Posted by ThaKid101

What people tend to forget is that this team is still relatively young. I think they finish out strong, and if they can build a monster recruiting class and get some guys to stay from leaving early for the NFL (Not likely for a few), next year could be a HUGE year and it would continue the rise of Illini football.

Okay, okay. Joke's on us. It's been shtick all along, hasn't it?!

[ford]

Difficult for me to let go of because i think ILL was the better team that day. Had a great opportunity to beat a ranked team at home , again.
What i'm statring to realize more is the offense is significantly behind last years team. Even though leshoure left i thought with the o'line having who they had coming back the drop off would not be as noticeable. That has proven to be an erroneous assumption (do like ford the last 2 games). I really didn't think the receiving corp would miss abeat , but i think Jenkins , McGee , and Fayson have been better than any combo ILL has had on the field this year. And NS hasn't passed the ball well the past 3 games. I didn't think he would put up games like that this year. Not to say he hasn't gotten better i just thought i would see more than he has shown consistently.

[DaytonIllini]

Originally Posted by ford

Difficult for me to let go of because i think ILL was the better team that day. Had a great opportunity to beat a ranked team at home , again.
What i'm statring to realize more is the offense is significantly behind last years team. Even though leshoure left i thought with the o'line having who they had coming back the drop off would not be as noticeable. That has proven to be an erroneous assumption (do like ford the last 2 games). I really didn't think the receiving corp would miss abeat , but i think Jenkins , McGee , and Fayson have been better than any combo ILL has had on the field this year. And NS hasn't passed the ball well the past 3 games. I didn't think he would put up games like that this year. Not to say he hasn't gotten better i just thought i would see more than he has shown consistently.

It is all about Nate. He has been bad the past few games. He cannot throw downfield and when you cannot do that, it becomes hard to run. It also makes it easier to put a spy in the box.

I am still thinking his shoulder is dinged. If so, perhaps the bye week will allow him to throw like we know he is capable of when healthy (see Michigan last year, a couple early season games this year, the Bowl game against Baylor).

[BigStan97]

how many guys that are JRs do u all think will leave....Merc is defin one who will be thinking of leaving....who else?? Hawthorne??? Buchanan???

[BigStan97]

we are set to lose CB Wilson, Henry OLB, Thomas MLB are the SRs who play next year and on offense we lose

2 RBs
2 OL
1 amazing WR
1 K


if we lose Hawthorne and Merc...i think our defense is gonna be hurting bad

[Islander29]

Originally Posted by DaytonIllini

It is all about Nate. He has been bad the past few games. He cannot throw downfield and when you cannot do that, it becomes hard to run. It also makes it easier to put a spy in the box.

I am still thinking his shoulder is dinged. If so, perhaps the bye week will allow him to throw like we know he is capable of when healthy (see Michigan last year, a couple early season games this year, the Bowl game against Baylor).

Honestly I don't think Nate has ever been that good of a passer -- certainly not in comparison to someone like O'Toole. However Nate does tend to do well against weak defenses, probably not such a great surprise. Against Michigan this year I suspect it will be a much different story. Petrino will call the same two or three plays over and over again (isn't that one definition of insanity?), leading to a three and out or two. Eventually Nate will try to force some passes or overthrow his intended receiver and get intercepted again ...

[WesterveltVictoryCigar]

Originally Posted by BigStan97

how many guys that are JRs do u all think will leave....Merc is defin one who will be thinking of leaving....who else?? Hawthorne??? Buchanan???

Mercilus and Hawthorne are the two I'd worry about.

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by Islander29

Honestly I don't think Nate has ever been that good of a passer -- certainly not in comparison to someone like O'Toole. However Nate does tend to do well against weak defenses, probably not such a great surprise. Against Michigan this year I suspect it will be a much different story. Petrino will call the same two or three plays over and over again (isn't that one definition of insanity?), leading to a three and out or two. Eventually Nate will try to force some passes or overthrow his intended receiver and get intercepted again ...

This is just such an asinine comment. You say "certainly not like O'toole" because of his, what, 20 passes? You do realize they run the same set of plays for O'toole so he can be comfortable right? Which is a good idea because if he had to come in and know the whole playbook and if a defense had to gameplan to stop him it likely wouldn't turn out very well.

And that's not a knock on Reilly or saying I don't think he will be a good QB but almost never does a true freshman qb come in and play well enough as a starter over the course of a season to allow his team to win.

Put stipulations and handicaps and say, "yeah but" all you want when talking about Nate's passing but you're just falling into the crowd that loves the backup QB. As soon as Reilly comes in, be it for a start or an extended period of time, and struggles you'd be pining for Nate again.

If Petrino thought Reilly gave us a better chance to win he would be in...he isn't so get over it