Illinois 55, Minnesota 31 POSTGAME

#128      
Well, sure, there will be 10,000 bumblebees in the stands.

Well, sure ... and I hate to be contributing to that. :p If we can somehow win in Lincoln and this Iowa game was for bowl eligibility AND there is good weather (I know, that's a lot to hope for, LOL), I would think we could push over 50,000 with Iowa fans. Probably wishful thinking, but it would be nice to have a real "home field advantage" in a big game. :/
 
#131      
Trying not to get so elevated on this win. Minny had their back-up QB who was their version of our QB from last year (Chyce??). Who was a run first QB, with limited running ability and limited throwing ability. That being said every player raised their game, especially the O and D lines. WR need to catch the balls in the bread basket. This leads me to my next point.

XMas Wish list- A JUCO/Transfer WR who can stretch the field ala Geromino Allison. Smalling is solid and so are some of the other WR, but we need height/speed.
Another Juco/Transfer LB who has all the P5 abilities to go along with the "smarts"
See above but for Safeties

I think next year we will have the size at the D line to stop the run. We should be deeper and bigger at DT. We already have that on the O line, they just need to get smarter. We should be good at QB (Rivers, Williams) RB (Corbin, Epstein, D Brown, etc...), Punt/PK should be solid again. Our CBs should be improved with Beason, Hobbs.

Hopefully we don't lose anybody, likely Olidipo is gone. Roundtree, Gay, Woods, Milan, Carney and others should be a solid core. Possibly a transfer would help on the DT line.

Just hoping for no more dumb things from our core players, losing B Williams and the TE hurt. Can't have those setbacks as we try to build.

Gophers starting QB wouldn't have changed the ultimate result the way we ran the ball.
 
#132      
On the first one there was a slight bobble on the catch which is why they said he didn't have possession. I won't call it a blatant missed call but I do believe most refs would've ruled that a catch.

Second fumble the Minnesota player clearly recovered in bounds. 100% the right call...but I still enjoyed the boo's.

Point being their supposed to have irrefutable evidence to overturn. No way, no how they had that. Terrible overrule. So proud that the team didn't let that derail them. Great game guys!
 
#136      

Deleted member 645583

D
Guest
Hats off to Dre Brown! So happy for him.

And, yeah, Epstein was out with a foot injury. Bonner is dinged up too.

Dre Brown, DeKalb! I watched him in high school, speed for sure, but what's he going to do in college? Too bad about those injuries, but he sure looked like the Dre of DeKalb High School against Minn. He had long TDs all the time, it seemed, in high school.

And I also noticed the Illini came out with a new and improved attitude - maybe two long rushing TDs right off the bat helped. Boy there was energy all game long. Keep it up!

Good omen: NY Times crossword clue today was "college name from Land of Lincoln". The answer: yep, Fighting Illini! We need that kind of national publicity.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
#137      

Deleted member 645583

D
Guest
One more thing: nice to see Lovie smile at the end of the game. Touching the way he hugged Corbin. Corbin: what an articulate, intelligent young man! Not a bad back either.

Liked the uniforms. They looked like a brand, something Illinois should stick with for identity's sake - don't rely on NY Times! Love the white helmets.

Let's hope we're all so giddy after Nebraska game. I think program is on the upswing.

Hope is that thing with feathers - Gardner Dickinson. No, Emily Dickinson.
 
#138      

Deleted member 645583

D
Guest
I wish I could get a copy of the photo of the Lovie-Corbin thing. It looked like a father-and-child thing. Beautiful thing. Were the Illini a national college football story (except for NY Times crossword clue) it would have made the cover of Sports Illustrated! Keep Lovie - this moment with Corbin sold me on him. I think Whitman made the right move. And I think recruits know what's going on in Champaign.

Beat Nebraska!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
#139      

IlliniFanAtEIU1953

Rantoul, IL
I wish I could get a copy of the photo of the Lovie-Corbin thing. It looked like a father-and-child thing

1541465730980.png


I was able to do a still image capture of Lovie and Reggie Corbin from one of the highlight videos of the Illinois vs Minnesota football game.
 
#141      
I wish I could get a copy of the photo of the Lovie-Corbin thing. It looked like a father-and-child thing. Beautiful thing. Were the Illini a national college football story (except for NY Times crossword clue) it would have made the cover of Sports Illustrated! Keep Lovie - this moment with Corbin sold me on him. I think Whitman made the right move. And I think recruits know what's going on in Champaign.

Beat Nebraska!

To me this is the essence of Lovie. He treats the players as he treats a son. He treats them like men. It HAS to pay off.

I’ve been holding my breath as we were losing. This is a man you want your son to play for.