Pregame: Illinois vs Purdue, Saturday, October 31st, 11:00am CT, BTN

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#4      
Brohm is out with the covid this weekend.
 
#6      
Welp will be fun for Purdue fans watching Moore and Bell tear up this dumpster fire of a secondary.
 
#8      

illini80

Forgottonia
Out of the spotlight and back to our 11AM standard time where we can continue to refine our mediocrity.
 
#10      

altenberger22

South Carolina
I read earlier today we have a 1% chance of winning at least six games.

With Rutgers currently winning 21-7 at Michigan State, our odds of going 0-9 might now jump to >50%.
 
#11      

Deleted member 746648

D
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I read earlier today we have a 1% chance of winning at least six games.

With Rutgers currently winning 21-7 at Michigan State, our odds of going 0-9 might now jump to >50%.

I hate to be pessimistic but part of me hopes we go 1-8 or 0-9 this year. At least we can get some fresh blood into the program and have some hope again. This team has enough talent to win games, we just need a coaching staff that will get the most out of the roster.

With that being said we better beat purdue next week. I'm not convinced they are any better than us despite that performance yesterday.
 
#12      

altenberger22

South Carolina
Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think anything changes if we go 0-9. I'm stsrting to believe the Lovie hire has as much to do with optics than it does with winning. He had a winning record overall with Chicago and was maybe trending up with TB but obviously not enough to stick so it's not like he was a worldbeater HC in the NFL. I have great respect for the man as a Bears and Illini fan but we could have invested in a proven winner at the college level and we declined.
Luke Fickell waits in the wings......and we already know that Whitman always maintains a "up-to-date list"
 
#15      
Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think anything changes if we go 0-9. I'm stsrting to believe the Lovie hire has as much to do with optics than it does with winning. He had a winning record overall with Chicago and was maybe trending up with TB but obviously not enough to stick so it's not like he was a worldbeater HC in the NFL. I have great respect for the man as a Bears and Illini fan but we could have invested in a proven winner at the college level and we declined.

See this isn’t entirely accurate.

Remember, the college carousel had stopped turning by the time Whitman had the ability to fire Cubit and hire someone.

So either Josh would find an available splash hire in the carousel “off-season” or stick with the lame duck interim coach that everyone knew only had one more season at the helm.

Josh felt getting a splash hire out of cycle had a better chance of helping the program than letting Cubit stay at the helm and basically lose two full recruiting classes.

Maybe he was wrong, but it was a well received, calculated risk at the time.

Whitman nailed the Underwood hire, though, so A) he is completely safe if Lovie fails and needs to be fired, and B) we see the type of coach Whitman goes after during the normal coaching carousel.

I have full confidence in Whitman to make a good hire should he need to replace Lovie.
 
#16      
See this isn’t entirely accurate.

Remember, the college carousel had stopped turning by the time Whitman had the ability to fire Cubit and hire someone.

So either Josh would find an available splash hire in the carousel “off-season” or stick with the lame duck interim coach that everyone knew only had one more season at the helm.

Josh felt getting a splash hire out of cycle had a better chance of helping the program than letting Cubit stay at the helm and basically lose two full recruiting classes.

Maybe he was wrong, but it was a well received, calculated risk at the time.

Whitman nailed the Underwood hire, though, so A) he is completely safe if Lovie fails and needs to be fired, and B) we see the type of coach Whitman goes after during the normal coaching carousel.

I have full confidence in Whitman to make a good hire should he need to replace Lovie.

You're right, though I don't know exactly who was still available in March 2016 so I don't know if there might've been better options.

I don't have any reason to doubt Whitman's ability to hire yet, but I'm not sure how much longer we have to wait for a break through. I just want to know that we hired a guy with a HC record of 104-122 for soemthing other than being immensely likeable.
 
#17      

Deleted member 746648

D
Guest
Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think anything changes if we go 0-9. I'm stsrting to believe the Lovie hire has as much to do with optics than it does with winning. He had a winning record overall with Chicago and was maybe trending up with TB but obviously not enough to stick so it's not like he was a worldbeater HC in the NFL. I have great respect for the man as a Bears and Illini fan but we could have invested in a proven winner at the college level and we declined.

I still believe lovie was the right hire at the time and I don't think that opinion will ever change. The program is in a much better shape on and off the field than how he got it. Unfortunately we never got over the hump for various reasons. Majority of those reasons are on lovie but unfortunately the rest of the west has also improved a lot since lovie took over. I think a hugh freeze would be the best case scenario but I won't be picky at this point.
 
#18      

ILFaninFL

Nature Coast in Florida
What we need to work on this week:

Offense: Uhm ... I don't have time to list everything.

Defense: I was taught that you kept the play in front of you. As a safety, if you see someone in an opponent's jersey that runs past you, bad things happen.
 
#19      
So you're saying their 1st year second string head coach will tear us a new one?
We have a habit of making career games for opposing players and coaches alike. The Mertz kid won't have another game like he did last night if he plays until he is 85.
 
#20      

illini80

Forgottonia
I read earlier today we have a 1% chance of winning at least six games.

With Rutgers currently winning 21-7 at Michigan State, our odds of going 0-9 might now jump to >50%.
At this point it’s easier to make a case for 9 losses than 4 wins. I’m not giving up on the season just yet, but holy crap does it look bleak right now. Any word on Hanson?
 
#21      
At this point it’s easier to make a case for 9 losses than 4 wins. I’m not giving up on the season just yet, but holy crap does it look bleak right now. Any word on Hanson?

I honest to god am struggling to find even one win on this schedule. You can't even count on Rutgers being a cakewalk after their win today.
 
#22      
I honest to god am struggling to find even one win on this schedule. You can't even count on Rutgers being a cakewalk after their win today.
Maryland as the 9th game. Book it. Lovie can go out winning his last game.
 
#23      

redwingillini11

North Aurora
I don't see more than 1 win before the crossover game, and that 1 win would be a lightning in a bottle lucky win against a lesser team. There are no guaranteed wins anymore.
 
#24      
We have a habit of making career games for opposing players and coaches alike. The Mertz kid won't have another game like he did last night if he plays until he is 85.
I dunno... it's so early, obviously,,, just way too early to write the season off. It's entirely possible that this turns out to be one of Wisconsin's better vintages and they just roll everyone not named Ohio State. The Purdue game will be a much better barometer IMO.
 
#25      
If we can beat Purdue and that's a big if, then Iowa is a winnable game. But Purdont looked pretty good in their win against Iowa.
 
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