Illini Football 2020

Status
Not open for further replies.
#205      

altgeld88

Arlington, Virginia
Mackovic didn’t recruit well that’s why the record declined. He had great success principally with Mike White recruits.
That isn't what I recall but it was a long time ago. I don't believe he held onto all White's major recruits in the Class of '88, and didn't really have a proper recruiting class until '90, after his second full season. The decline in performance in '91 flowed directly from that. So, yes, '88-'90 were the result of White's recruits, b/c Mack hadn't brought any in. And then he left, and I doubt Tepper held onto all of the class of '92 recruits. So Mack never really recruited at Illinois to any extent. And in '91 I recall we beat OSU in Champaign and they were ranked in the Top 10. We weren't a bad team that year, just middle of the pack.

Read that Trib article I linked. No one expected anything of that '88 team and they stunned everyone. That's what I remember. I attended the Ohio State game in Columbus in '88, which was our first win there since '68. It was early October and I hadn't seen them play yet as I'd been travelling the prior two months. I remember being really surprised at their performance. Also, see the Indiana game that year in which IU was ranked and we staged a furious late comeback to win after many fans left the stadium. That was Mack's coaching. He was a good coach. The Nick Bell Iowa debacle in 1990 was the only game of his I can recall when he got arrogant and out-coached. We were, IIRC, #5 nationally at the time.
 
#209      
28-3 is on BTN currently
Still baffled that Justice Williams was a returner
 
Status
Not open for further replies.