Illinois 55, Minnesota 31 POSTGAME

#51      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
jrichisamazing said:
This game proves to me we already made progress, compared to last year. We now have 6 good games and 3 bad games. I don't care what the final score of that Penn St game is, we were competitive. The offensive transformation has been incredible, especially considering our QB play has been inconsistent.
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It's 8 games of dumpster fire and suddenly a lightbulb comes on. Which is a little unfair to the offense I guess, which has had moments, including last week, but this was the first 60 minute performance from that group.
 
#53      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
the national said:
Well, it was called a catch, and subsequent fumble sooo...

They had no business overturning that, no evidence. Personally, I don’t think he bobbled it, I thought he was repositioning it when it was knocked out. Again, this is just MO
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The evidence was clear. Unfortunately it's a judgement call. Some refs would agree with you and say he had possession the whole time. And others would agree with the ref we had today.

Luckily it didn't affect the game in the end.
 
#54      

Spoon House

Spoon House
Spoon House
jrichisamazing said:
Over the course of this season we have proved to have more good weeks than last season...progress.
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I know that we are not done losing this season, and the board mood, while elevated today, will go back to being cranky and demanding answers from Lovie, as if there is something pressing to answer for.

But I emphasize - and will continue to emphasize - what you have pointed out: that while we may not bowl this year, there are unmistakable signs of progress in this team. At this stage in Lovie's tenure, that is all I am asking of him. Let's see what our schedule looks like next year before we start making hard demands of "bowl or bust."

I am proud of the team for not only refusing to quit, but for stepping on the neck of a conference foe. What a nice feeling that is for football. Let's have some more of it by growing and developing this group of players and the men coaching them into it.
 
#55      

Pekinfan

P
Pekinfan
It’s nice to see just how explosive the Smith offense can be. Can’t wait to see what happens with a few more fast WR’s.
The OLine was just great. And #55 Green...WOW.
The D. Good but not great but most importantly much improved.
 
#56      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
ChiefGritty said:
It's 8 games of dumpster fire and suddenly a lightbulb comes on. Which is a little unfair to the offense I guess, which has had moments, including last week, but this was the first 60 minute performance from that group.
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That's ridiculous. They beat the 2 teams they were supposed to beat early in the season. Then they play USF as double digit underdogs and are 2 minutes away from beating them. I don't care what the PSU score was, we were competitive for 3 quarters then they ran the score up when the game was already over. We dominated a Rutgers team in what was supposed to be a toss up. And now we destroy a Minnesota team that was a 10 pt favorite.
 
#57      

IllinoisFanAtFSU

I
IllinoisFanAtFSU
Saw a tweet by Milo Eifler tonight and remembered that they have him stepping in at LB next year.

Defense basically only loses Delshawn Phillips (big loss in the middle of the field), and switches Milo into that same spot. Every other starter should remain the same unless they are bumped by a very talented freshman.

Offense returns everyone except Bush and Allegretti (biggest loss IMO), adds some young talent. Today renewed my hope for the future. The end of this season and the next two seasons should make everything we have gone through totally worth it.
 
#58      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
jrichisamazing said:
That's ridiculous. They beat the 2 teams they were supposed to beat early in the season. Then they play USF as double digit underdogs and are 2 minutes away from beating them. I don't care what the PSU score was, we were competitive for 3 quarters then they ran the score up when the game was already over. We dominated a Rutgers team in what was supposed to be a toss up. And now we destroy a Minnesota team that was a 10 pt favorite.
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Played absolutely terribly in both the cupcake games, both against very weak teams. Totally helpless on defense against USF and PSU (two fairly pedestrian teams themselves), just very fluky turnover luck almost handed us the former game, and we still couldn't take it. We were okay against Rutgers I guess, but we still let them hang around in a game that should have been over in about half an hour.

There's no comparison to any of that from today. We were the real thing today, in all three phases. If that's our performance all 12 games of next year we've got 8 wins without breaking a sweat. Minnesota is not the joke we made them look like.
 
#61      

Illinir1

Illinir1
Camdenton, MO
Illinir1
RedRocksIllini said:
I believe that's called rowing the boat.
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20181103_163101.jpg
 
#62      

IllFanInMi

I
Guest
IllFanInMi
the national said:
Well, it was called a catch, and subsequent fumble sooo...

They had no business overturning that, no evidence. Personally, I don’t think he bobbled it, I thought he was repositioning it when it was knocked out. Again, this is just MO
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Ruled receiver never had possession, therefore; no catch, football move, fumble. Based on no possession, the call was correct. IMO, it passed the smell test as a catch and fumble, but with replay referees really don’t need eyes anymore.
 
#66      

MadSeason

MadSeason
MadSeason
deucemu said:
Fair enough. I agree we progressed...today.

My point was that if we go back to the defense of old and lose by 3 and 4 TD’s today will be slotted as a win against a bad Minnesota team and this board will resemble attitude of last week instead of this week. Progress is measured as sustainable improvement over time. Not one game where everything clicked against a team that may be less talented and less experienced than we are. JMO.
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I don't think anyone is saying we have definitively turned a corner. I do think the excitement you are seeing is that we just defeated a team who advanced stats tell us is in the middle of the pack in D1 and significantly better than any win we have had to date.

Kent St.? Yes they are a bad football team

Minnesota? Not a bad team by any measure available
 
#67      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
MadSeason said:
I don't think anyone is saying we have definitively turned a corner.
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Who knows what the future holds, but I think the excitement for me is that on this day we skipped the "hey we're getting there" stage and just went and arrived fully formed. That was what this machine is intended to be, that was the finished product.

Our best performance under Lovie by a country mile. And after last week, wow. Did not see that coming.
 
#69      

the national

the national
the Front Range
the national
IllFanInMi said:
Ruled receiver never had possession, therefore; no catch, football move, fumble. Based on no possession, the call was correct. IMO, it passed the smell test as a catch and fumble, but with replay referees really don’t need eyes anymore.
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Maybe I misunderstood, I thought they called it a catch and fumble and then overturned it upon review.
 
#70      

redwingillini11

redwingillini11
White and Sixth
North Aurora
redwingillini11
That game made me happy. Really happy. SO happy. It was just awesome. All season I've watched Minnesota and thought, we can beat these guys. But for the first time in years the team executed and validated my belief. Just absolutely awesome. If we can squeak out one more win then I think we are EXACTLY on schedule. Enjoy this fam!
 
#72      

the national

the national
the Front Range
the national
redwingillini11 said:
That game made me happy. Really happy. SO happy. It was just awesome. All season I've watched Minnesota and thought, we can beat these guys. But for the first time in years the team executed and validated my belief. Just absolutely awesome. If we can squeak out one more win then I think we are EXACTLY on schedule. Enjoy this fam!
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I had similar feelings. I was talking to my brother about this very subject. It’s nice to think some very positive things about the team and not feel ridiculous after the game for thinking that way.
 
#75      

Illiniaaron

I
Geneseo, IL
Illiniaaron
Every conference win is a precious gift for Illini fans. I have been a big critic of Smith's "rebuild" of the program but they have already met two of my preseason parameters that would demonstrate progress. Getting at least four wins with at least two conference wins. One thing they have not done in my opinion is play competitively with the better programs in the conference. Clearly the offense has made a big improvement over last year. But the defense is still concerning. It was better today but still not good. To be determined is whether today was a "lightbulb going on in the head" moment or just a blip on the radar. Nebraska should be a winnable game but they are improving and they have a decent offense. I want to see Illinois finish with three strong performances, even if they lose all three. A side point..if the Illini would have accepted S. Florida's attempt to gift them game 3 of the season, Illinois would be 5-4 and we would be talking about getting bowl-eligible. Kind of amazing.