Purdue 31, Illinois 24 Postgame

#26      
We win this one with Peters, not sure there is much difference between
QB2-4. Not sure why Taylor didn't just run for yards on 1st and 10 immediately after the pass interference.
Yup, the entire right side was open.
 
#29      
The worst part was seeing Purdue easily drive down the field and score a touchdown on their first possession. Once again, the Illini coaches did not have the team prepared and/or the opponents are prepared to know exactly how to attack the gaps in our predictable defense.
 
#30      
Very impressed with Coran. Hopefully he can fix some of these mistakes and improve his timing with his receivers with a week of practice.
My expectations have been drastically lowered in the last 10 years so I guess I don’t feel as bad as I thought I would considering we lost to Purdue at home to go 0-2. We had a lot of people out. Looking at the results today there appears to be a lot of evenly matched mediocre teams in the Big Ten. With the exception of OSU we could win or lose against anyone. I wouldn’t bet on us but you never know. Maybe the second half rally will create some momentum the way the second half of Michigan did for us last year. If we only win one game this year I would love to beat Minnesota and make PJ Fleck 0-3.
 
#32      

LJ22

Chicago, IL
With good coaching, I think Coran Taylor would be an excellent QB.

And I'm forever thankful for Blake Hayes. We had some very, very bleak special teams years so a great punter is like a breath of fresh air.
 
#33      
Really can't truly evaluate 2020. I would say with the entire late start, COVID issues, less games, no nn conf games .... it best to look at this year that it didn't happen. Losing double figure players hours before the game was impossible to overcome. Just think what mindset of team was after that news broke?
 
#34      
Really can't truly evaluate 2020. I would say with the entire late start, COVID issues, less games, no nn conf games .... it best to look at this year that it didn't happen. Losing double figure players hours before the game was impossible to overcome. Just think what mindset of team was after that news broke?
I wonder if Wisky and Purdue are looking at it like that?
 
#35      

JJE

Bethalto, IL
I forsee the built in excuse of covid and the terrible record we are going to have to keep Lovie.
I'm not saying it won't have some merit, but we have a bigger sample size than this year of why this thing isn't going to work.
I just hope if it comes down to it that Whitman has the financial freedom to make a move at the end of this year. This was supposed to be the peak year and what we are seeing does not reflect that.
 
#37      
I'm astonished to see the comments on Coran being potentially an excellent quarterback.

ALLLL of his success today, came with Purdue playing some soft soft coverage. And poor.

When push came to shove, he is a "mobile" qb with, apparently some pretty bad running instincts based on his MANY indecisive running maneuvers (wow, if you decide to go, GO), his awful ball protection loose hold, and his inability to recognize, multiple times, that pulling it down andpicking up 10-12 was better than (yikes) a few of those flip throws.

An objective observer can see that he is not a runner and not a passer. (Ouch)

purdue could have won 47-10.... and should have lost, 35-21. Think about that.

Purdue did not beat us today.
we played terribly coached, managed and Gameplanned football, to a 31-24 loss.

a serious indictment of Purdue, and what should remind us of the obvious.
Lovie and staff can improve the talent of our recruits (and thank you). But they can't educate and improve players well, and they can't coach between kickoff and the end, for spit. Challenge the first interception for Pete's sake. It's 7-7 if you do.

Hello darkness...
 
#38      
Did not like the option play call when trying to come out of own end zone. Not even if I had Juice Williams and Rashard Mendenhall in the backfield. Needed to think “ball security”, run behind blocks, and use best player (punter) to get ball out of there. Did not like running an inexperienced light QB in open space to get eaten up by LB especially in that spot.

Seeing Wisconsin and now Purdue basically playing catch with their receivers time after time. For most part I do not see Illini DBs getting outplayed/out battled. I see DBs watching receivers run past. I see receivers wide open catching passes, not because they are so quick that they are creating separation. Appears to me the coverage packages do not work, or maybe they would work but players don’t understand how. To me that is coaching. Hard to tell just from watching on TV.
 
#39      
With all of the starters out, game is a total wash, and there is really no meaningful analysis to be made, except that Coran fell into a pretty nice groove once he worked his jitters out. I was impressed.
 
#40      
I agree bout Hobbs, Brown, and Adams in the secondary. It may not be the players but the system they are playing in.
It is the system. We have constant breakdowns in the secondary when we have a poor pass rush. When we got to the QB, we made things happen. Taylor given the week to prep, will play much better. There were moments where the light was on. Once he sees the field better, he can read the defense better. I think MInny is a winnable game.
 
#43      

ILFaninFL

Nature Coast in Florida
This is supposed to be Lovies team that finally has his guys that are juniors and seniors. We were supposed to see a marked improvement as guys with experience finally could lead us to a winning record. AND Lovie is supposed to be a defensive guru.

Our defense, who most have played in this system, makes quarterbacks look like All-Americans . Today it was 29 of 35 passes completed for 371 yards. Last week we get torched by a backup freshman who went 20 for 21 and 5 TDs. Minnisota should never run the ball if they watch the game tapes.

By this point, Purdue should be a W based on the bonehead mistakes they make. They are not a top tear team.

I hate to say this because I thought when he was hired he was the guy to turn this around, but this is his last year. Josh needs to make the move sooner rather than later.

Basketball is less than a month away. :)
 
#44      
Losing double figure players hours before the game was impossible to overcome. Just think what mindset of team was after that news broke?
You didn't hear about it until hours before the game, but the the team knew days ago and rumors were posted here. Not all of those players were out due to covid-19/contact tracing, either.
 
#45      
I'm astonished to see the comments on Coran being potentially an excellent quarterback.

ALLLL of his success today, came with Purdue playing some soft soft coverage. And poor.

When push came to shove, he is a "mobile" qb with, apparently some pretty bad running instincts based on his MANY indecisive running maneuvers (wow, if you decide to go, GO), his awful ball protection loose hold, and his inability to recognize, multiple times, that pulling it down andpicking up 10-12 was better than (yikes) a few of those flip throws.

An objective observer can see that he is not a runner and not a passer. (Ouch)

purdue could have won 47-10.... and should have lost, 35-21. Think about that.

Purdue did not beat us today.
we played terribly coached, managed and Gameplanned football, to a 31-24 loss.

a serious indictment of Purdue, and what should remind us of the obvious.
Lovie and staff can improve the talent of our recruits (and thank you). But they can't educate and improve players well, and they can't coach between kickoff and the end, for spit. Challenge the first interception for Pete's sake. It's 7-7 if you do.

Hello darkness...
What do you expect from a first time starter QB with literally no time to prepare? Ridiculous
 
#46      
Lovie is 15-36 now. Would this be tolerated at any other school?

And when would you have stopped tolerating it? After Lovie's third season and the buyout was still a kajillion dollars? Or after we beat Wisconsin and went to a bowl game in his fourth season? Or right now in the midst of the corona season?

When the window opens, I say go through it. But it's been tightly shut up until now.
 
#47      
Really can't truly evaluate 2020. I would say with the entire late start, COVID issues, less games, no nn conf games .... it best to look at this year that it didn't happen. Losing double figure players hours before the game was impossible to overcome. Just think what mindset of team was after that news broke?
For some aspects of the game I would agree. However, there are numerous issues that COVID doesn’t explain away especially considering all of the experience on this team... I am about as optimistic of an Illini fan as you will find. I am usually one of the last ones on the bus for a coaching change... while I admire Lovie’s character and think he is a good man, it is very hard to find a logical argument against making a coaching change.
 
#48      
I was pleasantly surprised that with 2:07 to play on the Purdue 15 yard line we were driving for the game tying score with our 4th string QB and without our NFL prospect center. I wonder how many on this board, other than Michael Myers, would have been surprised at our position this point of the game. Go back and watch the 1st down play at this point of the game. Taylor had Luke Ford wide open right in front of him for at least a 7 yard gain setting up 2nd at 3. Taylor didn't see him or ignored him and threw for the pylon incomplete. That is what you get with a 4th string QB.

I have know idea if Lovie is the right coach. I am disappointed in 2 things. I thought recruits and high qualified assistants would flock to him. That does not appear to be the case. Regarding recruits as given the spirit of the day, I thought Lovie would attract most all of the black high level HS prospects in a 200 mile radius of the campus. I am surprised that Ayodele Adeoye and Marcus Washington went to TX. My son is married to the 1st cousin of Connor Williams of the Dallas Cowboys who played his last year at Texas for Herman. His family talks constantly about what a douche bag Tom Herman is. Jimbo Fischer has been a $12 MM bust at A&M. I can't believe again given the spirit of the day that Antonio Johnson and Antonio Doyle, Jr would choose Jimbo over Lovie. A&M is a large ugly, impersonal campus.... Oh well... this is Illinois football.
 
#50      

Illinir1

Camdenton, MO
The fact that we kicked off at home as 7.5 pt. underdogs against PU in year 5 of Lovie says it all. He isn't getting/didn't get it done. Thanks for your service Lovie.