Pregame: Illinois vs Western Illinois, Saturday, September 8th, 6:30pm CT, BTN

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#1      

Dan

Admin
Illinois vs Western Illinois
Saturday, September 8th
6:30pm CT
BTN (GameFinder - overflow with Indiana-Virginia)

:illinois:
 
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#3      
I'll settle for a better offensive game plan from the start, a defense that is ready to play, and no stupid special teams plays.
 
#4      

foby

Bonnaroo Land
I'll settle for a better offensive game plan from the start, a defense that is ready to play, and no stupid special teams plays.

Can we have some of missing players back on the field, along with no injuries or events that keep anyone else out of action too?
 
#5      
If we want any chance against USF he has to bring back our secondary for some reps in this game, heck hold them out to half time, but they need reps
 
#7      
I'm kinda tired of having full integrity. Plus what they did couldn't be that bad if it didn't make it out of the locker room and into the news. The guys in the news only got 1 game suspensions right ?

I am with you on this, I want the suspended players back for at least half of this game unless the infractions were serious.

I think that Lovie drew such a hard line because most of the suspended players are guys that he is relying on to be leaders for the next few years. If he doesn't ingrain responsibility in them now it would be bad for the program. I just hope he thinks the point has been made.
 
#8      
I'm kinda tired of having full integrity. Plus what they did couldn't be that bad if it didn't make it out of the locker room and into the news. The guys in the news only got 1 game suspensions right ?

They're not actually suspended indefinitely. Lovie just says that so opponents wont know who to prepare for. The players know exactly what their suspensions are.

Lovie and Whitman also want to win, so I'll defer to them on what punishments they think are fair
 
#9      

Illiini

In the land of the Nittany Lion
They're not actually suspended indefinitely. Lovie just says that so opponents wont know who to prepare for. The players know exactly what their suspensions are.

Lovie and Whitman also want to win, so I'll defer to them on what punishments they think are fair
Indefinite means that he hasn’t said when it will end. He didn’t say it would never end.
 
#10      
I do fully expect Illinois to win this game and they should by quite a bit BUT they need to make sure they come out to play. If they don't get on top of WIU early on I could see this game being close. Now WIU is down this year but they are on a 2 game FBS win streak. They beat Coastal Carolina last year and NIU the year before. WIU will have confidence in this game because they know they can win against FBS teams and they know Illinois is a struggling team. I'm still going Illini 44 WIU 10.
 
#11      
Indefinite means that he hasn’t said when it will end. He didn’t say it would never end.

Lovie handles suspensions real well. Never says what they’re for, everyone is indefinite. Can’t be criticized for being too lenient. Really well controlled narrative.
 
#12      
I'm kinda tired of having full integrity. Plus what they did couldn't be that bad if it didn't make it out of the locker room and into the news. The guys in the news only got 1 game suspensions right ?

Great advice. In fact, I'm going to share this with my 16 year old son who plays sports. I'm certain he'll go on to be successful & well respected by his peers.
 
#13      
While I agree that the missing players will be a big help, I am 100% going to support Lovie in whatever he feels is appropriate discipline for the players. You may lose games, but you can never go wrong with integrity.

We'll see what happens, but if all of those guys are back for USF, allowing us two games to tinker with our true freshman and still redshirt them, that's actually about as cynical as it gets. And we're not too many losses away from the point where player behavior becomes Lovie's fault in the collective fan mind.

College sports is a gross business. You either win gross or lose gross.
 
#14      
Respectfully disagree. I hate how Lovie tries to keep everything so private. He has always been that way.
I have to agree with FiveStar on this one. He's trying to build the culture in a way that every player knows what is expected of them, and the consequences if they fail to live up to those standards. If after disciplining a player he blabbed all the details in a press conference or press release, do you think the player is going to like that? These players are transitioning from boys to men, and publicly belittling and embarrassing them is not the way to gain their respect. I don't doubt that every player/coach on the team knows what the truth is, and that peer pressure should hopefully be enough without having to air dirty laundry publicly.
 
#16      
Where does privacy end? It's a public university, so at what point is disclosure required? Lovie doesn't strike me as someone who would cover things up, but you better believe that happens at certain schools.

The players aren't public institutions, give coaches the discretion of privacy if no laws broken. We all did dumb things in college at some point. So glad internet wasn't around back then.
 
#17      
Where does privacy end? It's a public university, so at what point is disclosure required? Lovie doesn't strike me as someone who would cover things up, but you better believe that happens at certain schools.

Violations of school policies are part of the student's education record and are protected by FERPA. The only exceptions are violent crimes or sexual assaults. Lovie is doing the right thing by keeping his mouth shut.
 
#18      
We'll see what happens, but if all of those guys are back for USF, allowing us two games to tinker with our true freshman and still redshirt them, that's actually about as cynical as it gets. And we're not too many losses away from the point where player behavior becomes Lovie's fault in the collective fan mind.

College sports is a gross business. You either win gross or lose gross.

I don't disagree with this. I also see this as a great opportunity to not allow USF to scout us. A win there would be support for our recruiting narrative and increase our bowl game potential and the players that are out will change the dynamic of the game when they are back. Plus, our true freshmen that may not sit, will get some good experience, should we likely need to call them back onto the field this season.
 
#19      

BananaShampoo

Captain 'Paign
Phoenix, AZ
It will be interesting to see who they use as the third receiver with Dudek out now. One of them is going to have to step up and be that guy. Praying that Smalling stays healthy or we are sunk.
 
#20      

Hoppy2105

Little Rock, Arkansas
It will be interesting to see who they use as the third receiver with Dudek out now. One of them is going to have to step up and be that guy. Praying that Smalling stays healthy or we are sunk.

Time for Carmoni Green to come off his suspension and kill it.
 
#21      

Dan

Admin
No news on five suspended #Illini from coach Lovie Smith on Monday: "I’ll let you know when there’s an update, but no update right now.”
http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/...l/2018-09-03/no-update-suspended-players.html

Lovie Smith press conference-
https://twitter.com/srrichey
Lovie: Luckily there's two halves to a game. Couldn't be more proud of the way the guys competed in the second half (against Kent State). #Illini

Lovie: Quan Martin gave us a spark to start scoring points. #Illini

Lovie: Reggie (Corbin) was outstanding running the ball. That run down the sideline gives you goosebumps. #Illini

Lovie: We've been waiting for Jake (Hansen) to come out for a long period of time. Played outstanding ball. #Illini

Lovie: Blake Hayes has just done his job about every time we've asked him to. #Illini

Lovie: Defensively some of the big plays that happened (for Kent State) some of our younger players were involved. They won't make those same mistakes again.

Lovie: Good football players make adjustments. That's what AJ Bush did. That second half you should see improved play, and that's what we got. #Illini


VIDEO: Hear from Illini Football offensive coordinator Rod Smith on his group's performance in Week 1 and how AJ Bush Jr. handled his first start. #Illini
http://www.news-gazette.com/video/2018-09-03/illinois-getting-offense-back-track.html

VIDEO: The WIU offense is traditional (think two backs and lots of tight ends). Illini Football defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson breaks down what the #Illini have to do against the Leathernecks.
http://www.news-gazette.com/video/2018-09-03/leathernecks-offense-presents-different-challenge.html
 
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