Pregame: Illinois vs Penn State, Friday, September 21st, 8:00pm CT, FS1

[Second and Chalmers]

You don't want to overdraw the conclusion based on one game against a much more talented team with an NFL caliber QB, but the question that's going to define our season is whether Hobbs and Bennett make a big difference for our ability to cover people going forward. Gonna be another lost season if not, but we'll have a ton of chances at B1G wins if so.

 

[Illinisteve25]

Hoping for some extra promotions or special give away to get fans at the game. Always fun to have a night game against a ranked team even if you may get dominated. All I ask is that its competitive till at least half time...

 

[tpbradley]

This looks like a trap game for Penn State.

 

[220Illini]

Biggest mismatch in this one is McSorley vs. our pass rush. If we let him break contain and have 5+ seconds back there get used to 50-60 yard TD's to wide open guys. I hope we compete in this one and don't quit. I think we lose by 21ish. Looking ahead, we have a bye week and then Rutgers. We NEED to win that game with an extra week to prepare and get healthy. It will be a pick'em at worst and we should be favored.

 

[Second and Chalmers]

Biggest mismatch in this one is McSorley vs. our pass rush. If we let him break contain and have 5+ seconds back there get used to 50-60 yard TD's to wide open guys. I hope we compete in this one and don't quit. I think we lose by 21ish. Looking ahead, we have a bye week and then Rutgers. We NEED to win that game with an extra week to prepare and get healthy. It will be a pick'em at worst and we should be favored.

That Rutgers and Purdue back to back is a big time measuring stick.

 

[Deleted member 533939]

Biggest mismatch in this one is McSorley vs. our pass rush. If we let him break contain and have 5+ seconds back there get used to 50-60 yard TD's to wide open guys. I hope we compete in this one and don't quit. I think we lose by 21ish. Looking ahead, we have a bye week and then Rutgers. We NEED to win that game with an extra week to prepare and get healthy. It will be a pick'em at worst and we should be favored.

No chance Gay or Roundtree get home against Penn St's O-line when they haven't done much vs. much lesser opponents. However, what they should be able to do is keep contain. Make McSorley stay in the pocket or else this is blowout city.

 

[BWBW]

No chance Gay or Roundtree get home against Penn St's O-line when they haven't done much vs. much lesser opponents. However, what they should be able to do is keep contain. Make McSorley stay in the pocket or else this is blowout city.

Contain is probably the goal. Coverage should improve if certain secondary players are back. Maybe we will try a few blitzes?

 

[Soxfreak64]

Contain is probably the goal. Coverage should improve if certain secondary players are back. Maybe we will try a few blitzes?

I think we'll see more linebacker and nickel blitzes in the future. With Hobbs, Adams and Williams back, the team will probably play less zone coverage overall. Against McSorley, I'm not sure...may need an LB to spy if the DL can't keep contain.

 

[MadSeason]

No chance Gay or Roundtree get home against Penn St's O-line when they haven't done much vs. much lesser opponents. However, what they should be able to do is keep contain. Make McSorley stay in the pocket or else this is blowout city.

I won't argue that the D-Line needs to play better, but against South Florida it was a tale of two halves. First half they were very disruptive even without getting sacks. They were batting passes down, getting pressure and going sideline to sideline for tackles. Plus our O dominated the time of possession in 1st half keeping them fresh.

Second half they did get worn down and were not effective. Some of that credit goes to USF however as they absolutely mauled Ga Tech in the 4th quarter as well. They are a big, athletic and physical team. There won't be much difference from an athletic standpoint between Penn St and South Florida

 

[DaChief4ever]

Hoping we can stay within 17.....

 

[mhuml32]

 

[TDCumm16]

Friday night, memorial stadium, first conf game, A.J. Bush back, suspended players back, PSU one week out from prime time showdown with OSU... this screams of trap game/ upset potential

Illini win with late 4q drive 33-31 a la the 2001 PSU/Illini showdown

 

[Hoppy2105]

Friday night, memorial stadium, first conf game, A.J. Bush back, suspended players back, PSU one week out from prime time showdown with OSU... this screams of trap game/ upset potential

Illini win with late 4q drive 33-31 a la the 2001 PSU/Illini showdown

Love the enthusiasm!

 

[Illiini]

Friday night, memorial stadium, first conf game, A.J. Bush back, suspended players back, PSU one week out from prime time showdown with OSU... this screams of trap game/ upset potential

Illini win with late 4q drive 33-31 a la the 2001 PSU/Illini showdown

I hope you have that right. Sunday morning will be delicious if you do.

Let's really nail it down, however. Two seconds left for a 54-yard field goal attempt, score 32-30 Penn State. The kick is up...and it's GOOD!

OK, you can now return to your regularly scheduled reality.

 

[breadman]

Best thing about this game is going into the bye week afterwards to lick our wounds and gear up for the don'ts

 

[SKane]

Illini will play them close during the first half (14 - 7).

However, I expect the wheels to fall off in the second half as PSU wears the team down (38 - 14).

I just hope that no one gets injured.

 

[Dan]

Game Notes

FS1: Justin Kutcher, Petros Papadakis & DeMarco Murray

https://fightingillini.com/news/201...k-illinois-vs-10-penn-state-friday-night.aspx

Lovie: If AJ's ready to go, he'll go. If he's not, we'll look at our other options. #Illini

Lovie: This past week (the defensive line) batted down a lot of balls. We didn't get as many sacks as we would like. We've dealt with some injuries. #Illini

Lovie: All of our guys are day to day. Guys that have been suspended have been practicing with the team. Nothing changed today. #Illini

Lovie: We should have that (takeaways) identity. That's how all of our defensive players have been brought up. We have a goal of at least three. We didn't get that (against USF). One more could have made the difference in that game. #Illini

Lovie: Jamal Milan is getting better. Don't know if he'll be ready to go this week. Sydney Brown, the same. #Illini

Lovie: The opponent, of course, gets your attention in itself. The challenge with a short week, Friday night game, you move everything up. We knew this schedule would come into play. Today was a normal Tuesday practice for us. #Illini

Lovie: We got better in a lot of ways — all different positions. There were things we could build on, things that will springboard us to more success in the future. #Illini

Lovie: AJ Bush, he's getting better. #Illini

Lovie: Hopefully we get a couple injured guys back. The guys we will line up with we fill good about. #Illini

Lovie: Now it's about Big Ten play. In an ideal world, Big Ten play you want to start at home. We're excited about the Friday night game. We understand we're playing a good team. ... We understand the challenge. #Illini

https://twitter.com/srrichey

Video: Rod Smith discusses his still young offensive line and the growth process for his entire offense as the season progresses.
http://www.news-gazette.com/video/2018-09-17/illini-offense-has-room-grow.html

Video: Hardy Nickerson talks his group's growth, the importance of takeaways and the challenge Trace McSorley and the Penn State offense will present Friday night
http://www.news-gazette.com/video/2018-09-17/penn-state-offense-will-be-challenge.html

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Really hope we do some kind of promotion to get as many people in as possible.

Agreed. We drew 31,898 (Kent State) and 39,252 (Western Illinois) for our first two home games and 43,058 last year for a Friday night conference opener vs. Nebraska (sadly, our highest attendance all year). I would think with our encouraging performance vs. USF (yes, that is absolutely how I would categorize it), good weather (this is a week earlier than last year's UNL opener) and some type of promotion, we can get over 50,000 and have the atmosphere in there actually work in our favor. Fingers crossed.

 

[Hoppy2105]

I’m just happy there are “tens of thousands” of people still interested and not simply, “thousands” considering what we’ve put on the field for the last decade.

 

[Selfcon4]

Agreed. We drew 31,898 (Kent State) and 39,252 (Western Illinois) for our first two home games and 43,058 last year for a Friday night conference opener vs. Nebraska (sadly, our highest attendance all year).

Considering NE brought a good portion of that 43K last year I would be surprised if we surpassed 40K on Friday.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

I’m just happy there are “tens of thousands” of people still interested and not simply, “thousands” considering what we’ve put on the field for the last decade.

This is actually an under-talked about phenomena, IMO ... whether you want to chalk it up to the sheer size of our fan base or an impressive degree of loyalty, it is actually pretty amazing that we still can draw 40,000+ for some of the bigger games.

Considering NE brought a good portion of that 43K last year I would be surprised if we surpassed 40K on Friday.

You really don't think we would outdraw what we drew for Western?

 

[Deleted member 4333]

This is actually an under-talked about phenomena, IMO ... whether you want to chalk it up to the sheer size of our fan base or an impressive degree of loyalty, it is actually pretty amazing that we still can draw 40,000+ for some of the bigger games.



You really don't think we would outdraw what we drew for Western?

Friday night vs Saturday night.

 

[Sal Iacuzzo]

I have to think attendance will be really bad for this one.

 

[jrichisamazing]

This is actually an under-talked about phenomena, IMO ... whether you want to chalk it up to the sheer size of our fan base or an impressive degree of loyalty, it is actually pretty amazing that we still can draw 40,000+ for some of the bigger games.



You really don't think we would outdraw what we drew for Western?

I think we can get between 45-50 but 10K+ of that will be Penn St fans.

 

[Selfcon4]

You really don't think we would outdraw what we drew for Western?

Not unless PSU brings more folks than NE...and I don't think PSU travels like NE.