Pregame: Illinois vs Louisiana Tech, Saturday, September 22nd, 7:00pm CT, BTN

[Dan]

__vs__

Illinois Fighting Illini (2-1) vs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (2-0)

Date: Saturday, September 22nd, 2012

Location: Champaign, IL

Time: 7:00pm CT

TV: BTN


Series: First meeting


Illinois 2012 Results (2-1)
09/01: Illinois 24, Western Michigan 7
09/08: Arizona State 45, Illinois 14
09/15: Illinois 44, Charleston Southern 0

Louisiana Tech 2012 Results (2-0)
09/08: Louisiana Tech 56, Houston 49
09/15: Louisiana Tech 56, Rice 37


Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL (60,670) Seating chart Buy tickets

[Hoppy2105]

I'll be getting back from deployment just in time to be at this game! Illinois comes together and scores enough to win while the D gives up some points but holds em off.

27-24 Illini

[quhawks12]

EXTREMELY WORRIED THIS WEEK! This game will dictate therest of the season.

[quhawks12]

Originally Posted by Hoppy2105

I'll be getting back from deployment just in time to be at this game! Illinois comes together and scores enough to win while the D gives up some points but holds em off.

27-24 Illini

Get back safe! And I hope you get to see an Illini W!

[BWBW]

No offense to ROT, but I hope Nate returns completely healthy and is on a mission after missing two games. It would be good to see Pocic back, as well. Any other injured players who would like to return are welcome, of course.

It would be nice in the first quarter to control the ball on offense, score on every drive, force some three and outs. Build an early lead and don't look back.

[AHSIllini32]

This is the game that will pretty much tell us where we're headed. It appears they have a pretty potent offense but they also haven't exactly played anyone. Their defense appears to be horrible. I really wish they would have gotten that aTm game in to start the season because that would have really given us an idea or where they are.

I would bet that 5 of the guys who missed the games yeterday are back in Nate, Ferg, Pocic, Bates, and Immekus. I don't know about Millines but if his shoulder was in a sling during the game I can't see him making it back (man it sucks that he appears to be one of those kids who just can't stay healthy).

[illinichick]

Hopefully a night game fills the stands and gets the crowd pumped for a great atmosphere! Get's hope Nate is healthy and we get some good momentum going into conference play,

[trevdv]

This game will decide the rest of the year for us--no more of the "doesn't matter" games. From this point out, almost every game is a toss-up that means much more than 1-0 or 2-1. Their offense appears to be fantastic, however I wish they'd played the Aggies so we could've seen what they were REALLY like against a solid team. If Nate can return at 100%, I say we win a close one. If he doesn't, we most definitely lose. Overall, I'd say:

- 31
La Tech - 28

[Lake Camelot]

First game this year I don't feel good about. Shows I am not always right.

LTech 38
Il 21

[Juice]

Don't know much about LATech... But it looks like they don't have much of a defense and give up quite a few points. However, that is cancelled out by their ability to score points. They haven't faced a defense like Illinois yet, so I see us holding them enough to win this game in a close one, if we can score points with our beat up offense. I see is winning a close one, 24-21.

[RyanK]

I'll take a 31-21 win if Nate is back.

[blmillini]

I'm concerned that our new DC has tweaked our defense enough to elminate our dominance on that side of the ball. We just can't afford that given the struggles on offense.

LT - 24
IL - 17

[jackman404]

First Illini game I'll be at since I left for the Navy! Their defense looks terrible, but so does our offense. I'll go with a 31-27 win, hope I'm right!

[txillini]

Their offense looks strong, but the teams they've played have had horrible defenses. Chicken/egg thing here. I think it's probably both. Not ready to make a prediction but this game has me scared. Big time.

[Paignt It Orange]

I find it comforting that they have given up 49 points to Houston a team who got beat by Texas St. and 37 to Rice who is a perennial doormat. I actually have a good feeling about this game. NS comes back with a vengeance and leads the O & B to a victory. Not sure of the score yet, but we will get the W.

[U of I 89-05-10]

My sister (who is a senior in high school here in Iowa City) just committed to play soccer at Butler, so she won't have any Fall weekends free for the next four years. Because of this, we're making the trip over from Iowa to Champaign for this one!

I'm hoping we see a fairly large crowd and an Illini win! I think Nate will play, and I think we win 31-21.

[Illini2016]

I am not ready to make a prediction. I agree with those who are very scared about this game. I also think, however, that it is a good thing that we are scared. We know of the possibility that they could come in and beat us. I hope the players and coaches are just as scared. That way we can prepare with that in mind. Much better than getting taken by surprise because we were looking ahead a week at Penn State.

[Dan]

Some fun facts about LaTech's offense after two games-

# QB Colby Cameron: 53-76 (69.7%), 629yds, 7TDs, 0INT.
# 83 offensive plays per game (54% run, 46% pass).
# They've scored 17 TDs on 30 possessions (56.7%).
# They've had one turnover (one lost fumble, zero INTs).
# They've given up one sack.
# They've had two 3-and-outs.
# They've had zero field goal attempts.
# 11.9 yds/pass completion.
# 8.3 yds/pass attempt.
# 6.4 yds/rush attempt.

[Illini125]

Their punter was the Ray Guy Award winner last year. Their offensive numbers look decent, but they've also not played a defense like ours. Assuming the ASU game defense doesn't show up on Saturday, should be a good game.

[Ramrod2010]

I'm not feeling this one...yet

La Tech - 38
Illinois - 34

[Groundhogday]

Originally Posted by Paignt It Orange

I find it comforting that they have given up 49 points to Houston a team who got beat by Texas St. and 37 to Rice who is a perennial doormat. I actually have a good feeling about this game. NS comes back with a vengeance and leads the O & B to a victory. Not sure of the score yet, but we will get the W.

This SHOULD be a game to build confidence on offense. SHOULD. We will see. This will also be a chance to see if the ASU defensive performance was a fluke, night game / west coast thing, or an indication of real vulnerabilities.

[Wokker]

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

This SHOULD be a game to build confidence on offense. SHOULD. We will see. This will also be a chance to see if the ASU defensive performance was a fluke, night game / west coast thing, or an indication of real vulnerabilities.

Totally agreed. I think (and hope) it's the former. The D should still have a bitter taste in their mouths from two weeks ago. I just don't see that happening again. The D will step up IMO.

27-17 Illini

[mattcoldagelli]

Terrified.

[mdonsbach]

30-24 Illini with a big stop on 4th down in red zone defense.

[DrewD007]

- 38
Louisiana Tech - 31