8/26 News & Notes

[Groundhogday]

Brown's one of a kind

"It is a great honor to be thought of that highly, to be recognized with the best in the country," Brown said. "But at the end of the day, you have to go out and make plays. You have to win games."

Brown explains the changes installed by new linebackers coach Mike Ward are minimal.

"We have a few more drops into passing lanes, and this defense is a little less aggressive," he said. "With Coach Vic, we were always pressuring, and that helped us make some plays behind the line. We're more alert to the pass right now."

Tate

Too bad the defense isn't quite as aggressive. If we can trade off fewer sacks for more interceptions, I'll take it. But deep down, I think we'll miss VK.

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

Too bad the defense isn't quite as aggressive. If we can trade off fewer sacks for more interceptions, I'll take it. But deep down, I think we'll miss VK.

Anytime you lose one of the best coaches in the country you're going to miss him. It appears we are going rely a bit more on on our DL to get pressure as opposed to our LB's and DL.

I'm curious though as to what exactly JB meant. Did he mean in passing downs they are going to pressure less? No matter the down they are going to pressure less? Wasn't Cinci's D near the top of the country in TFL's or sacks?

Later in the article Brown says:

"We want to get pressure on the quarterback," Brown said. "That's the emphasis. I'll be blitzing a good amount."

It seems to me that they are talking about the WMU game when discussing dropping into coverage.

[IlliniPoke]

I hope the defensive intensity is the same for the Illini. I have always said that I would love to have the defenses that you have here in Illinois at Oklahoma State. Don't get me wrong I love leading the nation in takeaways or being in the top 10 year in & year out but would like better defensive stats. I will say that our defensive stats were skewed by the fact that we played our second team defense most of the second half in our blowout wins (Baylor, Texas Tech, Kansas & Oklahoma).

BTW I really hope SuccessfulQuon follows Lunt to Oklahoma State. Sounds like we are running a close second to Michigan.

[AHSIllini32]

Originally Posted by IlliniPoke

I hope the defensive intensity is the same for the Illini. I have always said that I would love to have the defenses that you have here in Illinois at Oklahoma State. Don't get me wrong I love leading the nation in takeaways or being in the top 10 year in & year out but would like better defensive stats. I will say that our defensive stats were skewed by the fact that we played our second team defense most of the second half in our blowout wins (Baylor, Texas Tech, Kansas & Oklahoma).

BTW I really hope SuccessfulQuon follows Lunt to Oklahoma State. Sounds like we are running a close second to Michigan.

I wouldn't be so sure. Each of the 4 teams that has been consistently mentioned (UI, UM, Okie St. and OU) have thought at one point of another that they have been at or near the top for this kid. He seems to playing some games to get love from different fan bases (can't say I blame him).

[GoIlliniGo]

Article about Luke Butkus.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/14708...ke-butkus.html

[Groundhogday]

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

Anytime you lose one of the best coaches in the country you're going to miss him. It appears we are going rely a bit more on on our DL to get pressure as opposed to our LB's and DL.

I'm curious though as to what exactly JB meant. Did he mean in passing downs they are going to pressure less? No matter the down they are going to pressure less? Wasn't Cinci's D near the top of the country in TFL's or sacks?

Later in the article Brown says:

It seems to me that they are talking about the WMU game when discussing dropping into coverage.

I think we are still going to blitz and get after the QB, but perhaps not as much as last year. We did a lot more blitzing last year than the year before when we had Liuget. It might be that with Foster putting on 20-30 lbs of muscle and the continued improvement of Buchanan we can get more pressure with our DL than last year.

[Groundhogday]

Grace period will be short for Beckman, Illini

“Illinois is symbolic of the new age,” DiNardo said. “It’s what the BCS has done to coaches and what divisions have done to coaches.”

When Illinois plays host to Western Michigan in the season opener Saturday, the incubation period for new coach Tim Beckman’s program will be terribly short.

With back-to-back bowl victories for the first time in school history, Illinois (7-6 last season) has some momentum, as modest as it is. When athletic director Mike Thomas made the move to fire Ron Zook, the idea was to move forward immediately before the recruiting struggles under the previous coach left the next coach empty handed.

Supinie

[BigStan97]

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

Anytime you lose one of the best coaches in the country you're going to miss him. It appears we are going rely a bit more on on our DL to get pressure as opposed to our LB's and DL.

I'm curious though as to what exactly JB meant. Did he mean in passing downs they are going to pressure less? No matter the down they are going to pressure less? Wasn't Cinci's D near the top of the country in TFL's or sacks?

Later in the article Brown says:



It seems to me that they are talking about the WMU game when discussing dropping into coverage.

I feel like Banks is making our defense more versatile.....yes JB45 is great near the LOS making plays in the backfield....we know he can do that and so does everyone else after last year....I think Banks also knows that and knows that he could in certain situations not have him there and feel better with his athletic ability getting into drops and passing lanes.....

i dont think Banks will be "less Aggressive" but i think he is going to mix it up and hide our scheme and have more of a balance with attacking the LOS and then dropping back into coverage...

Thinking its going to help JB45 and our LBs our if they are more versatile with pressure the line or drop into coverage....

i feel like with our front 4 they are doing to take up a lot of blockers and thats going to free up LBs Safeties and CBs to Blitz and get thru the line faster.....especially if its setup right....we could be seeing a few more turnovers cause of this and thats huge to get the ball for our offense as much as possible

[BigStan97]

Think about what opponents OL coach is going to say we are going to play Illinois and we are going to Man on Man block there front 4????? no chance that will ever be said next year i dont care what team it is (maybe besides Wisky)

Buchanan 6'6 250
Spence 6'1 305
Foster 6'4 285
Kynard 6'3 260/Staples 6'4 245

Buchanan will be consistently chipped by a RB or have a TE over him(8.5 Sacks last year)
Spence will get doubled a lot since hes the Nose Guard and will be in a shade Tech(but he still makes plays regardless)
Foster is a guy who could have a breakout year since the Oline will be busy with everyone else.
Kynard is a guy who is one im cheering for....hes a big body guy who is balanced...solid at pass rush solid at holding up in the running game

Staples who has got bigger to to hold up against the run but still showed his pass rush in the spring game.....

i feel like our Dline we will have plenty of pressure on top of our front 4 we have JB45 whos instincts are unreal to find the ball in a hurry and Ashante Williams Blitzing ability off the edge is something im really excited for

[illinicb]

When Illinois plays host to Western Michigan in the season opener Saturday, the incubation period for new coach Tim Beckman’s program will be terribly short.

The WMU game is only one game, but for Illinois it is huge. If you want to try and build on something, you have to be able to beat a MAC team at home. I have no idea how good either team is, but for a fan base looking for an indication there may be a reason to go to future games, a win this week would be a good step. A loss would just mean they want more evidence and that will then take even longer to do. I'm assuming the same applies to recruits to some degree.

Let's get that W!!!!

[256ILLINI]

Originally Posted by BigStan97

Think about what opponents OL coach is going to say we are going to play Illinois and we are going to Man on Man block there front 4????? no chance that will ever be said next year i dont care what team it is (maybe besides Wisky)

Buchanan 6'6 250
Spence 6'1 305
Foster 6'4 285
Kynard 6'3 260/Staples 6'4 245

Buchanan will be consistently chipped by a RB or have a TE over him(8.5 Sacks last year)
Spence will get doubled a lot since hes the Nose Guard and will be in a shade Tech(but he still makes plays regardless)
Foster is a guy who could have a breakout year since the Oline will be busy with everyone else.
Kynard is a guy who is one im cheering for....hes a big body guy who is balanced...solid at pass rush solid at holding up in the running game

Staples who has got bigger to to hold up against the run but still showed his pass rush in the spring game.....

i feel like our Dline we will have plenty of pressure on top of our front 4 we have JB45 whos instincts are unreal to find the ball in a hurry and Ashante Williams Blitzing ability off the edge is something im really excited for

Why no love for Caldwell? He's probably ahead of Kynard and I wouldn't be surprised if he plays more than Staples by the end of the year

[WesterveltVictoryCigar]

Originally Posted by 256ILLINI

Why no love for Caldwell? He's probably ahead of Kynard and I wouldn't be surprised if he plays more than Staples by the end of the year

Caldwell will back up Buchanon, he plays a different position than Kynard/Staples.

[Kramer116]

Originally Posted by 256ILLINI

Why no love for Caldwell? He's probably ahead of Kynard and I wouldn't be surprised if he plays more than Staples by the end of the year

As stated above, Caldwell backs up Buchanan at the LEO. Now I would not be surprised to see Caldwell at LEO and Buchanan moving over to DE in certain situations.

I think Kynard is going to play a lot at strongside DE, and Staples could even switch a bit between DE and LEO. I love the rotation of 4 players we will have at both positions a lot.

[Groundhogday]

Originally Posted by Kramer116

As stated above, Caldwell backs up Buchanan at the LEO. Now I would not be surprised to see Caldwell at LEO and Buchanan moving over to DE in certain situations.

I think Kynard is going to play a lot at strongside DE, and Staples could even switch a bit between DE and LEO. I love the rotation of 4 players we will have at both positions a lot.

I agree. You could write the depth chart as:

Leo: Buchanan, Caldwell, Staples
DE: Staples, Kynard, Buchanan

In essence we can go three deep at each position despite only having 4 guys. And given their different ability we can mix and match to bring a different look.

[Groundhogday]

Originally Posted by BigStan97

I feel like Banks is making our defense more versatile.....yes JB45 is great near the LOS making plays in the backfield....we know he can do that and so does everyone else after last year....I think Banks also knows that and knows that he could in certain situations not have him there and feel better with his athletic ability getting into drops and passing lanes.....

i dont think Banks will be "less Aggressive" but i think he is going to mix it up and hide our scheme and have more of a balance with attacking the LOS and then dropping back into coverage...

Thinking its going to help JB45 and our LBs our if they are more versatile with pressure the line or drop into coverage....

i feel like with our front 4 they are doing to take up a lot of blockers and thats going to free up LBs Safeties and CBs to Blitz and get thru the line faster.....especially if its setup right....we could be seeing a few more turnovers cause of this and thats huge to get the ball for our offense as much as possible

Another thought. Bates' strength is rushing the passer and his weakness is pass coverage. So even if Brown is a better blitzer, it might sense to bltz Bates more and Brown less (for the good of the team.) Last year, Thomas was best in run support and pass coverage, and wasn't a very good blitzer. So if we sent a LB it was probably Brown.

In a nutshell Brown might be blitzing less even if the defense is bltzing as much or more.

[Dan]

Ready or not, here comes Beckman

"I try to be a perfectionist as much as I can be," Beckman said.

And perfection isn't just a football goal. He wants the team to run on the field a certain way. He's got a plan for the walk to the stadium. He's thinking about pregame meals.

"You want it to all be successful," Beckman said.

http://www.illinihq.com/sports/illin...s-beckman.html

[Groundhogday]

I'm not sure where to put this, but Chandler Whitmer has been named the starting QB at UConn. Good to see him get a chance to play.

http://middletownpress.com/articles/...d979356305.txt

[256ILLINI]

Originally Posted by WesterveltVictoryCigar

Caldwell will back up Buchanon, he plays a different position than Kynard/Staples.

If we're going to play Green or Hawthorne at WR to give the team a better chance of winning, then I think we'll see Buchanan and Caldwell playing together on 3rd downs

[Groundhogday]

Originally Posted by 256ILLINI

If we're going to play Green or Hawthorne at WR to give the team a better chance of winning, then I think we'll see Buchanan and Caldwell playing together on 3rd downs

So far, Green and Hawthorne haven't played WR. But that point aside, I think we'll see Buchanan and Caldwell on some passing downs, Buchanan and Staples on some passing downs, Caldwell and Staples on passing downs and even Buchanan and Kynard on some passing downs. Keep in mind that Staples is also a pretty good pass rusher and has more experience that Caldwell. And Kynard, while better at holding the edge on runs, isn't a total slug rushing the passer.

[quhawks12]

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

I'm not sure where to put this, but Chandler Whitmer has been named the starting QB at UConn. Good to see him get a chance to play.

http://middletownpress.com/articles/...d979356305.txt

This actually was announced a few weeks ago. But good for CW...for a kid that was maybe transferring to see him celebrate and still help Nate during the bowl game showed what type of guy he is. I'll always have a bunch of respect for him and hope he does awesome at UCONN.

Edit: A few weeks ago he was named #1 on the depth chart at that time not the actual starter.

[quhawks12]

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

So far, Green and Hawthorne haven't played WR. But that point aside, I think we'll see Buchanan and Caldwell on some passing downs, Buchanan and Staples on some passing downs, Caldwell and Staples on passing downs and even Buchanan and Kynard on some passing downs. Keep in mind that Staples is also a pretty good pass rusher and has more experience that Caldwell. And Kynard, while better at holding the edge on runs, isn't a total slug rushing the passer.

I'll look back but I thought Scheelhaase said in one of his interviews that they ran some plays with Hawthorne on offense? Maybe I was just dreaming because I was hoping to see him get a couple of series each game?

[Kramer116]

More shakeups on the line yesterday.

As I was saying earlier in the week... nothing is really set in stone...

[AHSIllini32]

They've gotta settle on a line starting today don't they? I wouldn't think they would continue to shift the line around during game week.

[quhawks12]

Originally Posted by AHSIllini32

They've gotta settle on a line starting today don't they? I wouldn't think they would continue to shift the line around during game week.

You would think so. Hopefully the shake ups aren't because of injury.

[Groundhogday]

Originally Posted by Kramer116

More shakeups on the line yesterday.

As I was saying earlier in the week... nothing is really set in stone...

Details? Link?