Illinois 23, Rutgers 20 Postgame

#101      
Many valid and fair points, but with all do respect, last year was last year! Each year is different! Each team is different! CT did awesome considering! He and IW definitely need more game time!
No question ly was ly however if the goal is to improve every year, looking at past results should be considered. Is definitely not the only measures.
 
#102      

altenberger22

South Carolina
Here is my take. A couple of weeks ago, CT got his first start against Purdue and put up 305 yards of offense and gave the team a chance to win. 270 of those yard were passing going 17/29. Purdue is better that Rutgers. Yesterday IW got the win putting up less than 300 yards of offense. Both benefitted from the opponent not creating a defensive scheme giving the situation. Next week will be the indicator of how things will go for IW. I get that a win is a win but the score against Rutgers last year was 38-10. What am I missing in terms of something to be overly excited about? I am happy for the win but I really fail to see anything to brag about in this game. To be honest, how many past QB's rushed 31 times? What concerns me right now is missing routine pass plays that you have to make at this level. Next week will tell us a lot more.
Let me offer this.....

A Freshman QB starting his first D1 game ever runs for 190+ yards, leading his team to a dramatic last second victory. I think there's a ton to brag about. His football future looks extremely bright. (With that said, I'm not a Lovie fan and I agree IW has a lot of work to do on his passing game.)
 
#103      

BillyBob1

Champaign
Let me offer this.....

A Freshman QB starting his first D1 game ever runs for 190+ yards, leading his team to a dramatic last second victory. I think there's a ton to brag about. His football future looks extremely bright. (With that said, I'm not a Lovie fan and I agree IW has a lot of work to do on his passing game.)
Agree with your assessment, but you have to admit he made a couple nice throws on the last drive. It was great to see a qb take advantage of a free play (offsides) with a completion.
 
#104      

altenberger22

South Carolina
Agree with your assessment, but you have to admit he made a couple nice throws on the last drive. It was great to see a qb take advantage of a free play (offsides) with a completion.
If grading IW's personal/individual game (first career Division 1 start) vs. Rutgers, I'm going with an A or A-....probably the latter for being too loose with the ball. But hey --- he rushed for 190 yards!

Wisconsin's Mertz gets an A+ for his effort against Illinois in the season opener.
 
#105      
Mike White may have been one of the best evaluators of passing QB's the past 40 years. He said "In order to be a good passer, you'll need to throw 250 times a day. Your arm will be
sore."
 
#106      
If grading IW's personal/individual game (first career Division 1 start) vs. Rutgers, I'm going with an A or A-....probably the latter for being too loose with the ball. But hey --- he rushed for 190 yards!

Wisconsin's Mertz gets an A+ for his effort against Illinois in the season opener.
Wow, that’s generous for a quarterback that was 7/18 for 104 yards and an 80.2 QBR with two fumbles. If he was a RB then sure his running performance was great. How would you grade out a Trevor Lawrence or a legit Heisman candidate?

IW might turn into a legit B1G starter but he’s got to control the football and develop a better feel in the passing game. Right now Brandon Peters is still my starter, but I’m playing IW more to help make the offense less predictable, and maybe he’s the starter by the end of the year. I think we have a lot of talent at WR and TE that’s going to be completely wasted until he figures out that he doesn’t need to run the ball 30 times a game.
 
#107      
Let me offer this.....

A Freshman QB starting his first D1 game ever runs for 190+ yards, leading his team to a dramatic last second victory. I think there's a ton to brag about. His football future looks extremely bright. (With that said, I'm not a Lovie fan and I agree IW has a lot of work to do on his passing game.)

so had Purdue choked off the game like Rutgers would you have said the same for CT? He threw for 270 yards and 2 TDS in his first start?

I don’t believe in recruiting stars, I believe in play on the field. Next week will tell me everything just like last week told me more about CT.

the facts are in their first start CT had 46 touches for 305 and 24 pts. IW had 49 touches for 299 and 23 points. Pretty even with the difference being Purdue vs Rutgers.
 
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#108      

illini80

Forgottonia
so had Purdue choked off the game like Rutgers would you have said the same for CT? He threw for 270 yards and 2 TDS in his first start?

I don’t believe in recruiting stars, I believe in play on the field. Next week will tell me everything just like last week told me more about CT.

the facts are in their first start CT had 46 touches for 305 and 24 pts. IW had 49 touches for 299 and 23 points. Pretty even with the difference being Purdue vs Rutgers.
I agree. Although I did think IW looked like a better runner than CT, there just isn't that much to take away from one game. I suspect for better or worse we will know a lot more in a week unless Peters comes out on fire and IW doesn't get much time.
 
#110      

Deleted member 29907

D
Guest
A lot of fashionable comments here - pillow fight, we wouldn’t win if, etc. We won. Deal with it instead of trying to support your narrative. Both teams made some plays and both made mistakes. What I did see was an actual offense with IW in. I think this is worth exploring. And I wouldn’t advocate playing IW for next year if he was awful. Pre game I thought we had a potential Aaron Bailey on our hands - hype without delivery. But he made things happen, showed a savvy beyond his years and because of his mobility opened lanes for the running backs. We need to go with this instead of the idea that Brandon has to return as starter. Stick with IW for now. We may have found something. Over 300 yards rushing today. Hasn’t happened for us in a big ten game in a long time.
If you think that was an impressive win, you have a pretty low bar. Some fans are "dealing with it" by looking at the bigger picture - such how well can we defend an awful qb (who incidentally had all day to throw the ball) and where the other team provide us some surprise 'gifts' such as throwing the ball when all they needed to do was run a few more run plays to get into field goal position at the end of the game. Yes, we took advantage of it, but it was against another awful team/coaching display. Nothing "fashionable" about looking beyond one "W" because I think most fans want a bunch of "W"s, not just one and the team yesterday did not exude a bunch of Ws. While I am very happy for the players to get a win, I am not pleased with the overall readiness and ability of this team to win consistently. If that's fashion - so be it.
 
#112      
If you think that was an impressive win, you have a pretty low bar. Some fans are "dealing with it" by looking at the bigger picture - such how well can we defend an awful qb (who incidentally had all day to throw the ball) and where the other team provide us some surprise 'gifts' such as throwing the ball when all they needed to do was run a few more run plays to get into field goal position at the end of the game. Yes, we took advantage of it, but it was against another awful team/coaching display. Nothing "fashionable" about looking beyond one "W" because I think most fans want a bunch of "W"s, not just one and the team yesterday did not exude a bunch of Ws. While I am very happy for the players to get a win, I am not pleased with the overall readiness and ability of this team to win consistently. If that's fashion - so be it.
I can’t agree with this more. I’m glad we won, but nothing about yesterday made me think we deserved that win. This team is poorly coached week after week, and the talent on the team isn’t sufficient to get us consistently competitive in the West. The red flags from last year and The year before are still there.
 
#113      
So everyone here knows that next week we will bring Peters in on passing downs and IW in on running plays, right?
 
#114      

altenberger22

South Carolina
Wow, that’s generous for a quarterback that was 7/18 for 104 yards and an 80.2 QBR with two fumbles. If he was a RB then sure his running performance was great. How would you grade out a Trevor Lawrence or a legit Heisman candidate?

IW might turn into a legit B1G starter but he’s got to control the football and develop a better feel in the passing game. Right now Brandon Peters is still my starter, but I’m playing IW more to help make the offense less predictable, and maybe he’s the starter by the end of the year. I think we have a lot of talent at WR and TE that’s going to be completely wasted until he figures out that he doesn’t need to run the ball 30 times a game.
Clemson season ticket holder here --- so Trevor should be an easy one! Remember, we're discussing D1 debut games as a starter.

I can only recall his first game in the opener against Furman, in relief of Kelly Bryant.........3 touchdown passes in less than 1/2 a game. Not sure which game Dabo ultimately named him the starter that year. However, in his first series against Furman, he threw a dart on an out pattern from one side of the field to the other (I think it was an incomplete pass) but the zip he put on the ball was unprecedented for any Freshman QB I had ever seen. A++ arm. Still, I don't recall his first D1 start. An A+ game I'm sure, since he won the Natty later that season.
 
#115      
so had Purdue choked off the game like Rutgers would you have said the same for CT? He threw for 270 yards and 2 TDS in his first start?

I don’t believe in recruiting stars, I believe in play on the field. Next week will tell me everything just like last week told me more about CT.

the facts are in their first start CT had 46 touches for 305 and 24 pts. IW had 49 touches for 299 and 23 points. Pretty even with the difference being Purdue vs Rutgers.
Also keep in mind that CT played almost a full game before his 1st start.
 
#116      
So everyone here knows that next week we will bring Peters in on passing downs and IW in on running plays, right?
And there isn't a chance we will see success doing that.

1. The other team will know exactly what we are doing also.

2. IW had 31 rushes!!! 31! He was successful, but he had a bunch of short gains or got nothing, before bigger gains. IMO, he won't be very successful with 10 rushes a game. And I think we have seen this in his handful of plays he has gotten in other games.
 
#117      

BZuppke

Plainfield
If you think that was an impressive win, you have a pretty low bar. Some fans are "dealing with it" by looking at the bigger picture - such how well can we defend an awful qb (who incidentally had all day to throw the ball) and where the other team provide us some surprise 'gifts' such as throwing the ball when all they needed to do was run a few more run plays to get into field goal position at the end of the game. Yes, we took advantage of it, but it was against another awful team/coaching display. Nothing "fashionable" about looking beyond one "W" because I think most fans want a bunch of "W"s, not just one and the team yesterday did not exude a bunch of Ws. While I am very happy for the players to get a win, I am not pleased with the overall readiness and ability of this team to win consistently. If that's fashion - so be it.
Harrumph! Hope you didn’t spill your brandy. Lol. Big picture there are a lot of questions about this team and program including the future of Lovie Smith. My narrow point is in evaluating IW he showed a lot of savvy and good decision making in his first start. He has speed and elusiveness. He made some very good throws. My narrow comment is that he showed enough ‘flashes of brilliance’ as I call them to convince me he can be someone special for us.
 
#119      
Harrumph! Hope you didn’t spill your brandy. Lol. Big picture there are a lot of questions about this team and program including the future of Lovie Smith. My narrow point is in evaluating IW he showed a lot of savvy and good decision making in his first start. He has speed and elusiveness. He made some very good throws. My narrow comment is that he showed enough ‘flashes of brilliance’ as I call them to convince me he can be someone special for us.
I love a good Major Hoople reference. :cool:
 
#120      
When was the last time we had two backs have career days? Chase had his best day as a rb and IW had his best day as a qb. Who said a qb has to have an arm like Trevor Lawrence. He will get better as time moves forward.
 
#121      
Wow, that’s generous for a quarterback that was 7/18 for 104 yards and an 80.2 QBR with two fumbles. If he was a RB then sure his running performance was great. How would you grade out a Trevor Lawrence or a legit Heisman candidate?

IW might turn into a legit B1G starter but he’s got to control the football and develop a better feel in the passing game. Right now Brandon Peters is still my starter, but I’m playing IW more to help make the offense less predictable, and maybe he’s the starter by the end of the year. I think we have a lot of talent at WR and TE that’s going to be completely wasted until he figures out that he doesn’t need to run the ball 30 times a game.
If you watched the post game interview that was the gameplan. Not just him running on a whim. He can pass and run quite well. He just has to get comfortable starting and playing again. It's been a while since high school play for him. Anyone would be rusty and a little off. Give him time! 😉
 
#122      
When was the last time we had two backs have career days? Chase had his best day as a rb and IW had his best day as a qb. Who said a qb has to have an arm like Trevor Lawrence. He will get better as time moves forward.
Hope he gets better. No one thinks we need Trevor Lawrence at QB to be successful, but you need an adequate thrower. He could definitely develop, but nothing he has shown us gives me confidence.

That is not to say that I don't think he can get there, though.

Side note: I looked up Denard Robinson stats for fun. 2500 passing yards and 1700 rushing his sophomore year, which was his first year as a starter. Dang. Impressive.
 
#123      
Hope he gets better. No one thinks we need Trevor Lawrence at QB to be successful, but you need an adequate thrower. He could definitely develop, but nothing he has shown us gives me confidence.

That is not to say that I don't think he can get there, though.

Side note: I looked up Denard Robinson stats for fun. 2500 passing yards and 1700 rushing his sophomore year, which was his first year as a starter. Dang. Impressive.
Then I looked up Pat White college stats. That is actually someone we could look at as a hopeful comparison.

passing rushing
Fr: 800 900
So: 1600 1200
Jr: 1700 1300
Sr: 1800 900


edit: And, am I wrong in remembering Rod Smith was at WV when Pat White was there?
 
#124      
Then I looked up Pat White college stats. That is actually someone we could look at as a hopeful comparison.

passing rushing
Fr: 800 900
So: 1600 1200
Jr: 1700 1300
Sr: 1800 900


edit: And, am I wrong in remembering Rod Smith was at WV when Pat White was there?
Sorry if this is off topic. But I am way wrong. Some more reading and digging. Pat White's stats aren't a hopeful comparison! I didn't realize how historical his stats and career were!
 
#125      
Let me offer this.....

A Freshman QB starting his first D1 game ever runs for 190+ yards, leading his team to a dramatic last second victory. I think there's a ton to brag about. His football future looks extremely bright. (With that said, I'm not a Lovie fan and I agree IW has a lot of work to do on his passing game.)
Let's take a deep breath and relax. Rutgers is bad . There play calling and coaching kept the ILLINI in the game and gave them a chance to win. With that being said, you will not be successful with a running QB unless they are 6'2 and bigger. They take to much punishment. This week against an athletic Nebraska team should tell you a lot.