Illinois 24, Purdue 6 POSTGAME

#52      
Today feels so good. This might sound a little ridiculous to say but it feels better than last Saturday. Last Saturday was supposed to be nothing more than a one-off fluke. To see us come out today and play smart, disciplined, assignment football and win a ROAD Big Ten game, our second in a row, I don’t know..,,it feels much sweeter to me.

Our secondary player has gotten significantly better as the season has gone on, I didn’t count many blown coverages today. That’s a dramatic change for us and it will only improve our chances of more of these wins as the season winds down.
 
#53      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
where-am-i-gif-9.gif
 
#54      
Today feels so good. This might sound a little ridiculous to say but it feels better than last Saturday. Last Saturday was supposed to be nothing more than a one-off fluke. To see us come out today and play smart, disciplined, assignment football and win a ROAD Big Ten game, our second in a row, I don’t know..,,it feels much sweeter to me.

Our secondary player has gotten significantly better as the season has gone on, I didn’t count many blown coverages today. That’s a dramatic change for us and it will only improve our chances of more of these wins as the season winds down.

I agree - was not confident in a win today. By Wednesday or Thursday I was praying for wind and rain. Purdue is not a good matchup for us. The rain gods came thru and I'm grateful. We had another good game plan, we took advantage of mistakes (two more flukes to add to our total!), we didn't have a TON of penalties (still a few stupid c'mon mans), and for the most part we looked polished. We are still conservative but I like that we don't play scared. Much love. Also HOW HAPPY ARE YOU FOR THESE KIDS?!?!? These guys have worked their collective butts off. I hope they get 2-3 more wins. Looking forward to our trap game.
 
#57      

Illiniaaron

Geneseo, IL
This will probably sound stupid but I think today's win was more important than last week. A case can be made that Wisconsin overlooked the Illini last Saturday and didn't come in completely mentally ready to play 60 minutes and a lot of things went Illinois' way in the upset. Today they went on the road and played a team that had embarrassed them a few times in recent years that should have taken the Illini seriously. And Illinois dominated the whole way. Hopefully this is a team figuring out how to win games week to week. Just don't take Rutgers lightly next week.
 
#58      
This will probably sound stupid but I think today's win was more important than last week. A case can be made that Wisconsin overlooked the Illini last Saturday and didn't come in completely mentally ready to play 60 minutes and a lot of things went Illinois' way in the upset. Today they went on the road and played a team that had embarrassed them a few times in recent years that should have taken the Illini seriously. And Illinois dominated the whole way. Hopefully this is a team figuring out how to win games week to week. Just don't take Rutgers lightly next week.
Personally I take much more pride in the Wisconsin win. If you were going to assign a game to be fluky, is pick the one where the goal line marker was floating down the sideline. Of course happy with the win today and looking forward to next week. I'm also happy we had Purdue and Rutgers after the Wisconsin game and not the other way around.
 
#59      
Personally I take much more pride in the Wisconsin win. If you were going to assign a game to be fluky, is pick the one where the goal line marker was floating down the sideline. Of course happy with the win today and looking forward to next week. I'm also happy we had Purdue and Rutgers after the Wisconsin game and not the other way around.

There’s definitely no wrong answer here. For me, beating Wisconsin on a last minute FG at home feels a lot more “fluky” than a 3 TD road win.

Might be the fact that it was a road game that sticks with me. We have been such a terrible road team, getting one in West Lafayette today feels like real progress.
 
#61      

illini80

Forgottonia
I called this a must win for the season and the team really came thru. Conditions probably favored us and we certainly didn’t play a perfect game, but we were the better team today and it wasn’t close. 6 wins looks very achievable if the team keeps this kind of focus and drive. I’m looking forward to the Iowa game to see where we really are at. I have no idea what Michigan State is at this point. Certainly feels like a game we could have a chance at anyway.
 
#62      
Great win today. I still feel like a jaded lover who's having a hard time trusting again because I had so much faith in this staff going into the season...then EMU and Nebraska happened. The last few games have definitely shown progress though. Hope we keep it up!
 
#63      
Old fashioned boiler butt beating. Where is the "we don't match up well eith them" pansie crowd.
I don't think saying we don't match up with them is a "pansie move" lmao. They were without their starting QB and all American WR, and as previously stated the weather made it incredibly difficult to pass. However we still needed to execute and we did. Great win today.
 
#64      
When 25% of your winning team’s highlights are punts...:unsure:

Then again... Hayes was unbelievable today!

If we lost, then that 25% looks bad.

Since we have won the last two, it really does not matter. At best "need to clean it up."

Prefer the win-clean up path.
 
#66      
Great game by coaches and players. Nice to see them take care of business on the road. Another solid game plan. Beat Rutgers!
 
#67      
I feel sorry for all the fire Lovie fans, they are without anything to say now to support their point of view. However, they will probably try to blame our win on the weather... Some people in life look for reasons to not be happy, or to support their negativity.
 
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#69      
I love the crow people are eating 2 weeks in a row. We are a better team and these kids and coaches deserve respect.
 
#70      

Deleted member 654622

D
Guest
I feel sorry for all the fire Lovie fans, they are without anything to say now to support their point of view. However, they will probably try to blame our win on the weather... Some people in life look for reasons to not be happy, or to support their negativity.
The fire Lovie crowd HAD every reason to be like that. Instead of bringing negativity in, let's just enjoy where we are at currently eh
 
#71      
The fire Lovie crowd HAD every reason to be like that. Instead of bringing negativity in, let's just enjoy where we are at currently eh

100%. To be honest, anyone who was NOT deeply concerned about a future under Lovie two weeks ago did not have the best interest of the program in mind. Nobody could have predicted the Wisconsin outcome, and that has clearly given a new mindset to the team.
 
#72      
100%. To be honest, anyone who was NOT deeply concerned about a future under Lovie two weeks ago did not have the best interest of the program in mind. Nobody could have predicted the Wisconsin outcome, and that has clearly given a new mindset to the team.
Agreed, but there are certain fans that want to see Lovie fail.....sounds crazy, but I honestly think some would prefer us to lose just to promote their point of view..
 
#73      
This will probably sound stupid but I think today's win was more important than last week. A case can be made that Wisconsin overlooked the Illini last Saturday and didn't come in completely mentally ready to play 60 minutes and a lot of things went Illinois' way in the upset. Today they went on the road and played a team that had embarrassed them a few times in recent years that should have taken the Illini seriously. And Illinois dominated the whole way. Hopefully this is a team figuring out how to win games week to week. Just don't take Rutgers lightly next week.

I think Wisci overlooked Ohio State as well today. Not sure who they're scheduled to overlook next week.
 
#74      

breadman

Herndon, VA
Excellent win today!! Very focused and workman-like. Need to continue the focus next week back at HOME!!
 
#75      

SycIllini

Sycamore, Illinois
Two weeks ago I was resigned to the idea Lovie has to go and we have to start over with a new coach. Never been so happy to be wrong. I was really impressed with how the team approached this game. Used our running strength to our advantage. And our defensive pass coverage was better than I remember seeing in awhile. Linebackers were dropping into passing lanes. Defensive line was solid against run and pass. Adams with the big pick 6.
I haven’t been this optimistic about Illini football in a long time. For the team I think confidence is showing also. We don’t make every play but, now we have confidence to make the next one.