Looking ahead to 2020

[LHIllinis]

Isn't he better at corner?

 

[Twangers]

Isn't he better at corner?

Certainly looks like it on tape but the bigger issue is putting your best 11 on the field. Trying to square peg a bigger kid at safety and keeping Marquez Beason on the sidelines runs contrary to that objective.

 

[frycicle]

Hopefully Beason at Corner gives us a solid 3 man rotation there and Adams can become a good (enough) safety. I guess we don't have many other options, I don't think putting a bigger guy at safety will help us against the pass, which is a big need area. Lovie COULD try running single high safety with Brown, but it's not really his style. I think the personel for next year fits single high safety much better though.

 

[Twangers]

Hopefully Beason at Corner gives us a solid 3 man rotation there and Adams can become a good (enough) safety. I guess we don't have many other options, I don't think putting a bigger guy at safety will help us against the pass, which is a big need area. Lovie COULD try running single high safety with Brown, but it's not really his style. I think the personel for next year fits single high safety much better though.

I think we’re better with a few different variations that I’ve tossed around in my head but as we are both aware Lovie is not going to make wholesale changes to his defensive sets. And that’s fine, there’s nothing terribly wrong with that it simply puts our current path forward in a bit of a shady spot.

 

[Mch130]

We don’t need to worry, we will just out score everyone. Josh Imatorbhebhe posted on Instagram he will be back

 

[ILLINISON1]

I think we’re better with a few different variations that I’ve tossed around in my head but as we are both aware Lovie is not going to make wholesale changes to his defensive sets. And that’s fine, there’s nothing terribly wrong with that it simply puts our current path forward in a bit of a shady spot.

Can we go 4-2-5? It gives Lovie his beloved two high safeties. Tolson and Hanson can work the middle focused on the run. Then our tweener dbs can zone the middle and beason and hobbs can be locked up outside?
I keep wondering why we went after a nose in shipton. We need edge ( de) a lot more (I know we need more everywhere on the line).
What if Lovie simply decided he had more talent at the second level and got a nose to shift the pressure from a traditional de to a blitz ing back.

Just trying to find where we are going to get pressure. Otherwise who plays db prob won't matter. Imo

 

[Arizona Bob]

Yeah, but compared to other states (Illinois and Washington) there is a lot more pride for the state schools. At least to takethere is here in Austin.

I've spent a lot of time in Texas from Sugarland to Midland with stops in Waco and Abilene and the state pride there is incredible, but the state is divided by college programs. TCU fans rarely root for the other programs, as do Texas Tech, and Baylor. Houston is definitely a local loyalty thing. Texas A&M is an "either/or" team. I can't remember an Aggie ever rooting for a Longhorn. They identify not as "graduates" but "former students" linking themselves to the TAM.

It seems the only program with more than regional appeal is Texas. The rest have their regions of influence, and need to go out of state for top players like TAM whose now a national recruiter.

Bottom line is that TCU, Texas Tech and Baylor are not too far away from the potential at Illinois. Their administrations just seem to take it far more seriously and have more talent nearby. Believe me, Waco isn't a much better destination that CU!

BTW, you'll never see homes flying the US flag any more than in West Texas.....and directly beneath each US is the flag of TEXAS! Ya just don't see that kind of state loyalty in Illinois...

 

[Arizona Bob]

Certainly looks like it on tape but the bigger issue is putting your best 11 on the field. Trying to square peg a bigger kid at safety and keeping Marquez Beason on the sidelines runs contrary to that objective.

Any word on how Beason's rehab is going? After that surgery he must've lost some speed and cutting ability.

 

[Arizona Bob]

I think we’re better with a few different variations that I’ve tossed around in my head but as we are both aware Lovie is not going to make wholesale changes to his defensive sets. And that’s fine, there’s nothing terribly wrong with that it simply puts our current path forward in a bit of a shady spot.

I agree, T. The system can work with the right skill set of players with adaptations for different offensive threats. The problem is that it only works with an outstanding pass rush and a MLB with speed and strength like Urlacher. Without that, it'll get ripped apart.

 

[Arizona Bob]

Wow man we really shouldn’t even bother playing the games next year.

Sure we should! Sometimes miracles happen despite the opposition having better talent and coaching. It happened twice last year....

 

[LHIllinis]

So, if the defense has studs, it helps?

 

[Arizona Bob]

If Tony doesn’t move, we have a problem. How big that problem may be is something I’m still working to reconcile within my own mind but it is a problem.

Is your concern that Tony can't be an effective corner, or that our safety position is so weak that without his talent it's be a disaster next year?

 

[Arizona Bob]

This is not a realistic perspective, all due respect.

Seriously, T, do you really think we can win B1G games without Peters and BheBhe healthy and playing? Who else do we have that's a ball warrior and deep threat demanding a double team? Do you really think that returning players can generate a pass rush and clog the gaps on the line to control the LOS and running game? Do you really think the OL will improve enough to open holes for a dominant and CONSISTENTLY STRONG running game, and perhaps learn to pass protect? Do you see ANY RB on the roster capable of being a 1,000 yd rusher and a B1G feature back next year except for a healthy Epstein?

Perhaps if you can't answer these issues the darker scenario IS the realistic one...

I've followed CFB long enough to know that anything can happen. That's what make the game so interesting. It's just that what I've seen from Lovie's teams having all these things come together has about the same chance as drawing inside straight...

 

[Twangers]

Can we go 4-2-5? It gives Lovie his beloved two high safeties. Tolson and Hanson can work the middle focused on the run. Then our tweener dbs can zone the middle and beason and hobbs can be locked up outside?
I keep wondering why we went after a nose in shipton. We need edge ( de) a lot more (I know we need more everywhere on the line).
What if Lovie simply decided he had more talent at the second level and got a nose to shift the pressure from a traditional de to a blitz ing back.

Just trying to find where we are going to get pressure. Otherwise who plays db prob won't matter. Imo

Fantastic question!

This post could get very lengthy from me write up wise but I’m watching a tape now so I’ll keep it succinct. We could go Tite 425 with the overhang ala Nick Saban and still play zone or combo coverage as normal. Or, we could go the way I’m thinking: Kirby Smart’s Mint packages. Our personnel fits those looks so well and they kill the offense’s we face in the West (Wisconsin excluded). I’ll do a break down later tonight or tomorrow to illustrate.

We won’t do either though. Too far removed from what Lovie believes.

 

[Twangers]

Is your concern that Tony can't be an effective corner, or that our safety position is so weak that without his talent it's be a disaster next year?

Neither. It’s purely about ensuring that your best players are always on the field.

 

[Arizona Bob]

FYI, Pro Football Focus has a rating of 130 college offensive lines and they apparently grade a lot of players. You can find their ratings here: https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-ranking-all-130-college-football-offensive-line-situations

They rated the Illini at #11 and Green the best lineman. I wonder how accurate their ratings are.

 

[Halloweenie]

Folks, don't drink the Koolaid and look at this thing from a realistic perspective:

1) We only have one QB on the roster currently capable of winning ANY B1G game, and that QB is prone to injury and concussions. It's likely he'll miss two or three games next year due to injury based upon his history.

2) Without our grad transfers, the talent Lovie's recruited is about 3-8 quality. We got a former 5* and 4-4* that joined the team last year, FAR aboce anything Lovie recruited from the preps. That we can get that level of transfer this year is quite a long shot. If we can't get an equivalent OL or two, a CB and a couple safeties of that quality, I expect a drop of in play.

3) We had TWO once in a generation upsets last year in Wisconsin and MSU. It's unrealistic to expect anything like that again. Despite what the coaches said after the games, I think anyone watching the games realized that they had us beat and let up and got sloppy. That was part disrespect, and part poor coaching. That won't happen again against ANY team next year. They won't want to be embarrassed as MSU and Wisconsin were last year. Don't be fooled by the Michigan game. Once they were up by 28 they just played loose until we closed the gap, then got serious again. Look for better teams to pound us next year when they get ahead without mercy to avoid the MSU and Wisconsin fates. We're only gonna beat good teams next year by beating them on the LOS, and from what I saw in the last two games I'm not confident we can, especially on the DL.

4) We can't win without turnovers and long scoring plays. We don't have a "home run hitter" now that Corbin is gone, and our only real deep threat is BHeBhe who's injury prone. If we can't go deep, the OL needs to force holes against quality front 7s and I just don't see them doing that if they play like last year.

5) We need scoring turnovers to win, and that's a dicey thing. 2019 was the first year we were productive at it and it took a number of opponents by surprise. It won't next year, They'll be less likely to have Hansen strip the ball, and he was our main weapon there. Green is gone. Look for fumbles recovered to go down along with wins. We won't get INTs unless we get a lead, force the opponent to pass and put extreme pass pressure on the QB. Rod Smith offenses are notoriously slow starters, so we really need to step up in the second halves. We really need much stronger ;pass rushes from Wole, Gay, and perhaps Coleman, but they've had issues with technique and injuries as well as strength. at tackle we really don't have much of a bull rush returning at tackle and Woods has a good first move but is too often injured.. Who knows. Maybe Davis, Newton and Riggins can improve the pass rush. If not, no INTs....and few wins...

This year the stars aligned and we got lucky to have some really incredible wins, the first in four years of Lovie. The foundation is NOT set after for years as we saw against NW. We're thin at key positions, and one or two injuries and we're 5-7 team.

Our young players have not impressed, except for Witherspoon and maybe WR Casey. Of course last year we were saying the same things about Quan Martin at CB, and we saw how that "sophomore jinx" worked out. We still have no idea how Shammond Cooper will develop, whether Barnes can be decent at LB, and what kind of player Beason will be. It seems that coaching issues will go unaddressed.

I really hope that next year all the developments are positive, we adjust the defense to prevent yards as well as scores, we get turnovers and Peters has a great year, but I'm afraid that would be a triumph of hope over experience....

You would certainly save a lot of time posting doom and gloom and negative things about Lovie if all the developments were positive.

 

[Jguede]

Folks, don't drink the Koolaid and look at this thing from a realistic perspective:

1) We only have one QB on the roster currently capable of winning ANY B1G game, and that QB is prone to injury and concussions. It's likely he'll miss two or three games next year due to injury based upon his history.

2) Without our grad transfers, the talent Lovie's recruited is about 3-8 quality. We got a former 5* and 4-4* that joined the team last year, FAR aboce anything Lovie recruited from the preps. That we can get that level of transfer this year is quite a long shot. If we can't get an equivalent OL or two, a CB and a couple safeties of that quality, I expect a drop of in play.

3) We had TWO once in a generation upsets last year in Wisconsin and MSU. It's unrealistic to expect anything like that again. Despite what the coaches said after the games, I think anyone watching the games realized that they had us beat and let up and got sloppy. That was part disrespect, and part poor coaching. That won't happen again against ANY team next year. They won't want to be embarrassed as MSU and Wisconsin were last year. Don't be fooled by the Michigan game. Once they were up by 28 they just played loose until we closed the gap, then got serious again. Look for better teams to pound us next year when they get ahead without mercy to avoid the MSU and Wisconsin fates. We're only gonna beat good teams next year by beating them on the LOS, and from what I saw in the last two games I'm not confident we can, especially on the DL.

4) We can't win without turnovers and long scoring plays. We don't have a "home run hitter" now that Corbin is gone, and our only real deep threat is BHeBhe who's injury prone. If we can't go deep, the OL needs to force holes against quality front 7s and I just don't see them doing that if they play like last year.

5) We need scoring turnovers to win, and that's a dicey thing. 2019 was the first year we were productive at it and it took a number of opponents by surprise. It won't next year, They'll be less likely to have Hansen strip the ball, and he was our main weapon there. Green is gone. Look for fumbles recovered to go down along with wins. We won't get INTs unless we get a lead, force the opponent to pass and put extreme pass pressure on the QB. Rod Smith offenses are notoriously slow starters, so we really need to step up in the second halves. We really need much stronger ;pass rushes from Wole, Gay, and perhaps Coleman, but they've had issues with technique and injuries as well as strength. at tackle we really don't have much of a bull rush returning at tackle and Woods has a good first move but is too often injured.. Who knows. Maybe Davis, Newton and Riggins can improve the pass rush. If not, no INTs....and few wins...

This year the stars aligned and we got lucky to have some really incredible wins, the first in four years of Lovie. The foundation is NOT set after for years as we saw against NW. We're thin at key positions, and one or two injuries and we're 5-7 team.

Our young players have not impressed, except for Witherspoon and maybe WR Casey. Of course last year we were saying the same things about Quan Martin at CB, and we saw how that "sophomore jinx" worked out. We still have no idea how Shammond Cooper will develop, whether Barnes can be decent at LB, and what kind of player Beason will be. It seems that coaching issues will go unaddressed.

I really hope that next year all the developments are positive, we adjust the defense to prevent yards as well as scores, we get turnovers and Peters has a great year, but I'm afraid that would be a triumph of hope over experience....

Surprisingly pessimistic from you!!!

 

[IlliniReb]

lol

I lived in Tejas (planet Houston) for 6 years after I graduated ('81-'87). You've made a gross overstatement, IMO. School rivalries there are just like everywhere else. There are a lot of Texas-based fans who passionately dislike A&M and the Horns.

Have lived in DFW for 20 years and travel across the state for business. 5 Star is exactly right and not an overstatement.

 

[Twangers]

Seriously, T, do you really think we can win B1G games without Peters and BheBhe healthy and playing? Who else do we have that's a ball warrior and deep threat demanding a double team? Do you really think that returning players can generate a pass rush and clog the gaps on the line to control the LOS and running game? Do you really think the OL will improve enough to open holes for a dominant and CONSISTENTLY STRONG running game, and perhaps learn to pass protect? Do you see ANY RB on the roster capable of being a 1,000 yd rusher and a B1G feature back next year except for a healthy Epstein?

Perhaps if you can't answer these issues the darker scenario IS the realistic one...

I've followed CFB long enough to know that anything can happen. That's what make the game so interesting. It's just that what I've seen from Lovie's teams having all these things come together has about the same chance as drawing inside straight...

I don’t believe you are correctly analyzing our transfer portal efforts.

 

[mhuml32]

Fantastic question!

This post could get very lengthy from me write up wise but I’m watching a tape now so I’ll keep it succinct. We could go Tite 425 with the overhang ala Nick Saban and still play zone or combo coverage as normal. Or, we could go the way I’m thinking: Kirby Smart’s Mint packages. Our personnel fits those looks so well and they kill the offense’s we face in the West (Wisconsin excluded). I’ll do a break down later tonight or tomorrow to illustrate.

We won’t do either though. Too far removed from what Lovie believes.

You get us all excited and then drop that last sentence

 

[LHIllinis]

Fantastic question!

This post could get very lengthy from me write up wise but I’m watching a tape now so I’ll keep it succinct. We could go Tite 425 with the overhang ala Nick Saban and still play zone or combo coverage as normal. Or, we could go the way I’m thinking: Kirby Smart’s Mint packages. Our personnel fits those looks so well and they kill the offense’s we face in the West (Wisconsin excluded). I’ll do a break down later tonight or tomorrow to illustrate.

We won’t do either though. Too far removed from what Lovie believes.

Aren't we kind of going to that with Smith and Gardner projected at LB'er? Both can play safety and gives us the versatility to do just that, at times.

 

[Twangers]

Aren't we kind of going to that with Smith and Gardner projected at LB'er? Both can play safety and gives us the versatility to do just that, at times.

I would highly doubt it.

 

[LHIllinis]

Seriously, T, do you really think we can win B1G games without Peters and BheBhe healthy and playing? Who else do we have that's a ball warrior and deep threat demanding a double team? Do you really think that returning players can generate a pass rush and clog the gaps on the line to control the LOS and running game? Do you really think the OL will improve enough to open holes for a dominant and CONSISTENTLY STRONG running game, and perhaps learn to pass protect? Do you see ANY RB on the roster capable of being a 1,000 yd rusher and a B1G feature back next year except for a healthy Epstein?

Perhaps if you can't answer these issues the darker scenario IS the realistic one...

I've followed CFB long enough to know that anything can happen. That's what make the game so interesting. It's just that what I've seen from Lovie's teams having all these things come together has about the same chance as drawing inside straight...

If Smalling and Sidney are healthy, we have mucho help. Let's not forget we have some frosh WR that have speed and will be sophs next year. Probably add one more from the portal as well. QB room will be much better next year and Robinson could slide down to fourth. Luke Ford's blocking skills added to our OL, is a big time plus. Barker was better, but, still not good enough. Ford is the real deal and he is a big addition. Barker will be another year older as well and should show continued improvement in his blocking. There were a lot of missed assignments from the TE and RB's blocking last season, Ford fixes one of those by himself. Offense should and will be pretty good. Pass rush is an issue. One can hope a couple of DE's have senior years to be proud of. That is not unheard of. Gay started to come on at times late last season. He is what, 20? LB'er is a strength. DT still needs portal help. But, one guy can change it and that is Avery. Defense returns a lot as well, it just depends on what we can add in the portal. Right now, we have four open spots. If we add four more guys from the portal, that is a lot.

 

[illiniwil]

I love me the portal. look what it did for us last year!