Nebraska 42, Illinois 38 POSTGAME

#52      

IllFanInMi

I
Guest
I think people who assume that play dictated the game are people who are too lazy to complete such exercises as simple root cause analysis to figure out how it got to that point in the first place.

Always easy to blame a ref. Takes about as much effort as we showed defensively tonight, very little.

PI on the last pass absolutely had to be called. That’s way to crucial of a play to swallow your whistle. Sadly it appeared the ref. had no idea what he was looking at. These guys make to much money at their little part time gig to blow so many obvious calls. I’m speaking in general across college football, so not sour grapes.
 
#53      

Serious Late

Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
Tonight feels really unfair to be an Illini fan. Not sure if that is because I am pretty sure I could have made better decisions than the head coach, better throws than the starting quarterback, better catches than the receivers or better calls than the referees.

We win if one of those groups does their job better than what I perceive a mediocre job at the role entails.
 
#54      
Nebraska is clearly more talented yet they made a more recent coaching change and gained nearly 700 yards. There is 0 excuse for not being as talented and poor X and Os. Nebraska hadn’t won a road game in 2 years...
 
#55      

sacraig

The desert
I think people who assume that play dictated the game are people who are too lazy to complete such exercises as simple root cause analysis to figure out how it got to that point in the first place.

Always easy to blame a ref. Takes about as much effort as we showed defensively tonight, very little.

I used to agree with this, and certainly each team is in charge of controlling what they can, and the Illini didn't do that well tonight. However, they had a chance to win and that was taken by a blatant blown call. That's plenty of reason to complain.
 
#56      
I’m going to keep it thorough. We played well at times. And are very much improved. The thing is our defense is good in spurts. So that means the offense must score and create positive drives. Rod Smith the last 3 weeks has called a very mediocre game. Reggie Corbin is a weapon we have underutilized greatly. Not just running but passing letting him get into space. I’m upset but atleast we didn’t get blown out. We will win atleast 3 games this year
 
#57      
That had to be the most Illinois way to lose...
  • start the game with a long TD run,
  • force 4 turnovers,
  • be gifted 100+ yards of penalties by the opponent,
  • have them miss a pat
  • and a point blank Field goal,
  • and still have the ball with 2 minutes left to try to take the lead,
  • Only to have our last play be an obvious penalty that isn't called
Only Illinois could've pulled this off. smh
 
#58      
Listen guys, it can't get much worse on defense than giving up 700 yards, right? I'm sure we can turn it around, just a few small adjustments to be made.
There is a flip side. Yes, the defense gave up 700 yards and 42 points, HOWEVER, they gifted the offense 21 points, could have been more, but the offense went backwards when given the ball for a fourth turnover inside the 40.

You simply can't be on the field for 100 plays....no matter the level.
 
#60      
I know there is alot of blame to pass around, but man another year without a starting caliber quarterback on the roster is just painful to watch
 
#62      

Soxfreak64

Bloomington
Just a really bad game again. Without a ton of fumble luck this is another 63-17 loss.

Rod Smith continues to outthink himself. Brandon Peters still can't handle a blitz.

Lovie...at least he's not going to have anybody to blame but himself. He's had a dozen chances to change and decided not to. He never will. So he'll keep losing. Letting the clock run at end of the 1st half? Inexcusable. Absolute refusal to modify the defense in any way? Inexcusable.

I feel so bad for the players. Yeah, they missed assignments and tackles. It's college football. They played their hearts out for damn near 100 plays, constantly having to overcome a system/scheme that puts them out of position for modern college offenses.

Outside of Rutgers, I feel like any other current B1G coach could lead this team to six wins. That opportunity will be there next year—I hope Whitman takes it. Or this program will burn for another 4 years, minimum.
 
#64      
It is not just the coaching. It is literally everything else. Poor game management and does not seem like an inspiring presence.

It feels like we are actively finding ways to lose. It's a cultural thing and while I really don't like calling for jobs but this experiment needs to end. I don't know how anyone can say the arrow is trending anywhere but down at this point. It looks like Peter's and the coaching staff are not on the same page and the play calling is predicable on both sides of the ball.
 
#65      

Deleted member 590820

D
Guest
Will they let IW throw next week ? What a joke! Burn one of his 4 games for 2 plays?! Peters isn’t the guy as I predicted in early July. If the D was tired, GET THEM IN SHAPE! There are TV timeouts, reviews etc. Tired excuse is absolute garbage! Run the ball more! Get Peters the hell out of there! Let him take Masters courses somewhere else! Our kickers are wonderful.
 
#66      
Lovies defense needs a makeover, no doubt. But... and I can’t emphasize this enough, how the hell do you expect them to preform when the average offensive drive lasts 3 plays and takes less than 1:30 off the clock?

Defense did what it could. It wasn’t until the third quarter where they really started cracking. The offensive meltdown was underway by that point though.

I mean, what's the answer to fixing the football program. It can’t be this hard....

It just can’t...
 
#69      
I used to agree with this, and certainly each team is in charge of controlling what they can, and the Illini didn't do that well tonight. However, they had a chance to win and that was taken by a blatant blown call. That's plenty of reason to complain.

A 4th and 10 call from our own 20 yard line is a chance to win that was “taken away” huh? Highly curious as to how that play had a larger potential butterfly affect on the outcome of this one than did about, oh, 50 others.
 
#70      

POWURR

From Downtown
We played not to lose at the end of 2nd quarter. Followed by the dreaded feeling that it will haunt us after the break. I had PSU vs ILL 1994 vibes all over again.

It’s an Illinois thing. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️
 
#71      
Lovies defense needs a makeover, no doubt. But... and I can’t emphasize this enough, how the hell do you expect them to preform when the average offensive drive lasts 3 plays and takes less than 1:30 off the clock?

Defense did what it could. It wasn’t until the third quarter where they really started cracking. The offensive meltdown was underway by that point though.

I mean, what the f&$& is the answer to fixing the football program. It can’t be this hard....

It just can’t...

This is definitely a fair point and as stated previously, Rod Smith shares the responsibility for that but the defense really didn’t play well at any point tonight. You take away the turnovers (1 of which was plenty lucky, the kid getting rolled on top of our defender) and there’s nothing positive to say at all about their play. It’s an equal 50-50 blame fest here.

Lovie has to recognize changes are coming yet this is his ultimate downfall. He strays from the ebb and flow, doesn’t get to high or too low and people think he’s the perfect calm, level headed leader when in reality he’s a person who’s far too slow to react to real issues. The old adage, sometimes the worst decision is indecision. Telling everyone he’s disappointed but still saw some good things and we’ll go back to practice and get them corrected doesn’t cut it anymore. An actual, tangible change must be made.
 
#72      
I think Rod got cute.

Which is why we lost.

Rod should have kept IL O on the field doing nothing and wearing the NE D.
 
#73      

Bverdec

West Palm Beach, FL
We had our chances. We're not good enough for Rod Smith to call dumb !!! plays early in a series and waste downs. Lovie has to something to tailor the defense to the personnel he has. Remember, this was one of the worst defenses in the country. The fact they show any competency at all is an improvement. But still have a long way to go.
 
#74      

Deleted member 590820

D
Guest
And with the emphasis on player safety, a clear helmet to helmet contact play where the defensive player openly leads with his helmet has to be called 100 times out of 100. But it wasn’t. You simply won’t hear about it here because 99% of the posters are openly biased and are only concerned with calls that don’t go our way.

If that’s how you want to approach things by all means. However, please count me out.
I don’t like the helmet to helmet call whether on Illinois or against opponent. It’s a big boy game. It’s a COLLISION sport. If you can’t handle it, play tiddlywinks. The rules are too strict. Many times the helmet to helmet hits are unavoidable. If the player can’t deal with it, sit in the stands. It’s football. It’s not safe. So deal with it or get off the field.
 
#75      
I honestly cannot fathom how bad we are defensively. I feel like the coaches could have done nothing and we simply would’ve aged into improvement, yet here we are.
I can't even find the words myself to describe how bad this defense is. "grotesque" maybe? This defense is grotesquely bad.(sounds about right)
It's why I think Lovie might be the worst College coach in the entire country. It's like you said, the lack of improvement is unfathomable.