Illini Football 2019

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#1      

Dan

Admin
Training Camp runs Aug. 2-17 and is open to the public (Fan Appreciation Day set for Aug. 10)
Training Camp Schedule


Aug. 31____Akron_____________________11:00am BTN
Sept. 7____at UConn__________________2:30pm CBSSN
Sept. 14___Eastern Michigan__________11:00am BTN
Sept. 21___Nebraska__________________
Sept. 28___BYE
Oct. 5_____at Minnesota______________2:30pm/3:00pm
Oct. 12____Michigan__________________
Oct. 19____Wisconsin (Homecoming)____11:00am
Oct. 26____at Purdue_________________
Nov. 2_____Rutgers (Dads Day)________
Nov. 9_____at Michigan State_________
Nov. 16____BYE
Nov. 23____at Iowa___________________
Nov. 30____Northwestern______________


All times CT
 
#5      
The game that will set our trajectory is Week 2 @ UConn. Seasons in which we win our non-conference road game have, more often than not, led to a bowl year. There are seasons where we lost and still made a bowl, but that was with a 4 game non-con vs. the now 3 game slate.
 
#6      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
The game that will set our trajectory is Week 2 @ UConn. Seasons in which we win our non-conference road game have, more often than not, led to a bowl year. There are seasons where we lost and still made a bowl, but that was with a 4 game non-con vs. the now 3 game slate.

Yeah that could be a sneaky tough game. They were so horrible last year because their defense was a level of bad that I don't think has any precedent in college football history. They gave up 617 yards of total offense per game and 8.81 yards per play. And they gave up at least 49 points in 10 of 12 games. Needless to say they were the single worst in the country by an order of magnitude in all the advanced metrics, miles worse than us.

They hired a new DC as you would imagine and even a dead cat bounce has to mean they'll be better on D than last year.
 
#7      
The game that will set our trajectory is Week 2 @ UConn. Seasons in which we win our non-conference road game have, more often than not, led to a bowl year. There are seasons where we lost and still made a bowl, but that was with a 4 game non-con vs. the now 3 game slate.
Not convinced of that, I don't really expect any game will set our trajectory this year. I think we get through the 3 non-con and then we get into the slugfest of the Big ten...any of the non-conference could set it in a negative way, but even if we get through all 3, I think it will take the first upset in conference to set up anything in a positive way. It will take a win against NE or MN before I think we should start feeling good about anything...drop those 2 and another loss to MI and we are back to 3-3 with a negative trend...even at 4-2 nothing is given and you need to find another win + Rutgers to get to 6. I wouldn't be surprised to be going into the last game of the year needing to beat NW to get to 6, and quite honestly I would take that at the moment.

On the positive side, I don't think there is a huge difference between 4 wins and 8ish wins...Not quite buying the NE hype yet, there defense was very bad last year & needs to get better, we beat MN last year(but then they went on a tear), PU/NW aren't elite, IA/Wis aren't OSU/Mich/PSU but we would still need to catch them on an off night, I don't think we have much chance against MI/MSU. So we exceed expectations, add some confidence, and everything plays out right and I think we are in the ballpark of NE/PU/MN/NW and good enough to scare WI/IA on there bad night.
 
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#8      

Deleted member 236589

D
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Yeah that could be a sneaky tough game. They were so horrible last year because their defense was a level of bad that I don't think has any precedent in college football history. They gave up 617 yards of total offense per game and 8.81 yards per play. And they gave up at least 49 points in 10 of 12 games. Needless to say they were the single worst in the country by an order of magnitude in all the advanced metrics, miles worse than us.

They hired a new DC as you would imagine and even a dead cat bounce has to mean they'll be better on D than last year.
If that's a sneaky tough game, we're really going to suck.
 
#10      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
If that's a sneaky tough game, we're really going to suck.

I mean that's the thing, if we're any good we're going to coast to 3-0.

If we have to squeak those games out, it's already clearly over, but everyone will be mad at me for saying so :(
 
#11      
I mean that's the thing, if we're any good we're going to coast to 3-0.

If we have to squeak those games out, it's already clearly over, but everyone will be mad at me for saying so :(
No one should get mad over a realistic assessment.
 
#12      

Illinivek23

Gurnee
Not convinced of that, I don't really expect any game will set our trajectory this year. I think we get through the 3 non-con and then we get into the slugfest of the Big ten...any of the non-conference could set it in a negative way, but even if we get through all 3, I think it will take the first upset in conference to set up anything in a positive way. It will take a win against NE or MN before I think we should start feeling good about anything...drop those 2 and another loss to MI and we are back to 3-3 with a negative trend...even at 4-2 nothing is given and you need to find another win + Rutgers to get to 6. I wouldn't be surprised to be going into the last game of the year needing to beat NW to get to 6, and quite honestly I would take that at the moment.

On the positive side, I don't think there is a huge difference between 4 wins and 8ish wins...Not quite buying the NE hype yet, there defense was very bad last year & needs to get better, we beat MN last year(but then they went on a tear), PU/NW aren't elite, IA/Wis aren't OSU/Mich/PSU but we would still need to catch them on an off night, I don't think we have much chance against MI/MSU. So we exceed expectations, add some confidence, and everything plays out right and I think we are in the ballpark of NE/PU/MN/NW and good enough to scare WI/IA on there bad night.

Didn't Minny dump their DC last year after our game and then trended up afterwards?
 
#13      

Deleted member 631370

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I mean that's the thing, if we're any good we're going to coast to 3-0.

If we have to squeak those games out, it's already clearly over, but everyone will be mad at me for saying so :(


Frankly, the writing was on the wall last year when we had to storm back to narrowly beat Kent State. Of course, some would proclaim that Kent State was deceivingly good.......until Penn State beat them by 53 a week or two later.

You can tell a lot by how a team performs against the patsies. Not always, of course. But narrow wins against cupcakes usually spells trouble.
 
#14      

Deleted member 654622

D
Guest
I mean that's the thing, if we're any good we're going to coast to 3-0.

If we have to squeak those games out, it's already clearly over, but everyone will be mad at me for saying so :(
No one gets mad at you about those comments. Its when we just sign a 5 star athlete and your first response is "well at least the talent level has increased for Lovie's replacement". Those comments rub people on the negative side
 
#15      

3DegreeIllini

Chicago,IL
Frankly, the writing was on the wall last year when we had to storm back to narrowly beat Kent State. Of course, some would proclaim that Kent State was deceivingly good.......until Penn State beat them by 53 a week or two later.

You can tell a lot by how a team performs against the patsies. Not always, of course. But narrow wins against cupcakes usually spells trouble.


Yep. Especially when you watch the game. A narrow defeat in box score only might be one thing (slow start/cobwebs or overlooking the opponent). But I remember being in that game and being shocked at how inept we looked from start to finish.
 
#16      

Deleted member 654622

D
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Yep. Especially when you watch the game. A narrow defeat in box score only might be one thing (slow start/cobwebs or overlooking the opponent). But I remember being in that game and being shocked at how inept we looked from start to finish.
The big things I remember from that game, Ricky dropping a dime on the first play of the game that would have been a TD, Mikey's injury, and telling myself this Auburn transfer QB is going to tear through those lower schools.....wrong on that one
 
#17      
I mean that's the thing, if we're any good we're going to coast to 3-0.

If we have to squeak those games out, it's already clearly over, but everyone will be mad at me for saying so :(

I’m not convinced of this. I think the first could be a squeaker just with a new qb and trouble gelling
 
#18      
Frankly, the writing was on the wall last year when we had to storm back to narrowly beat Kent State. Of course, some would proclaim that Kent State was deceivingly good.......until Penn State beat them by 53 a week or two later.

You can tell a lot by how a team performs against the patsies. Not always, of course. But narrow wins against cupcakes usually spells trouble.

But we also almost beat USF after that and northwestern. Last season was atrociously bad, and we were still within a stones throw of a bowl game with 5 of 6 top receivers injured
 
#19      

Deleted member 29907

D
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But we also almost beat USF after that and northwestern. Last season was atrociously bad, and we were still within a stones throw of a bowl game with 5 of 6 top receivers injured
We basically lost our version of Rondale Moore and lost our starting, mature QB early.
 
#20      

Deleted member 654622

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I’m not convinced of this. I think the first could be a squeaker just with a new qb and trouble gelling
I understand how that could cause issues. But we should be so far ahead of them athletically, that even dumb mistakes cant stop our athletes from running over theirs. If we are not....
 
#21      

Deleted member 645583

D
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I just love BTN.

I was watching football media day coverage today. There's Lovie! And graphics show stats of 2018. Key returners for 2019: Corbin and Bobby Roundtree! I wish.

Wake up, BTN.

How is Mr. Roundtree doing, by the way? I hope big-time improvement. God bless you, Bobby. Get well very, very soon.
 
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#22      
I understand how that could cause issues. But we should be so far ahead of them athletically, that even dumb mistakes cant stop our athletes from running over theirs. If we are not....

But we always see good teams lose to fcs teams. even Bad fcs teams. I think a few broken plays from lack of cohesion happens.
 
#23      

Deleted member 654622

D
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But we always see good teams lose to fcs teams. even Bad fcs teams. I think a few broken plays from lack of cohesion happens.
I don't disagree. But that is not the norm. I am hoping we are finally back in the "norm" this year
 
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