I didn't watch the game, but where I live I check Saturday's scores first thing when I wake up,,,, today I was expecting 33-31 heartbreaking loss or something, but positivity in the recap bc Corbin and Epstein each went for a hundo and our running game continued to show legit-ness,,,, so if OC gets asked why those two had so few touches, what would be the answer? WTF!?
Purdue 46, Illinois 7 POSTGAME
the national
- the Front Range
I don’t know if I can take another loss like that. It was almost heartbreaking, I was sooo hopeful that this could be the game we finally break through. Instead, we looked worse than ever.
Just so hard to swallow a loss like that.
Just so hard to swallow a loss like that.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
Caring about this program is such a soul-killing chore.
blackdog
- Champaign
AJ Bush is apparently only a marginal step above Chayce Crouch. Missed reads, late passes, and terrible accuracy. It would be somewhat better if he would hand the ball to the running backs but he seems to want to keep it on every single read play. Have noticed a couple times this year where the play has almost been a fumble because he refuses to give the Rb the ball....
I was sitting dead middle on he horseshoe today and it was just absolutely horrifying watching what was going on. I felt like I was making better reads from the stands then he was.
That spot was also a perfect position to watch our defense blow coverage after coverage. I was going to comment more but after watching the breakdown video I'm even more discouraged.
I was sitting dead middle on he horseshoe today and it was just absolutely horrifying watching what was going on. I felt like I was making better reads from the stands then he was.
That spot was also a perfect position to watch our defense blow coverage after coverage. I was going to comment more but after watching the breakdown video I'm even more discouraged.
The thing about the Illini defense is they can't stop the run or the pass, which is a really bad combination. I realized early in the season the defense wasn't very good and I don't see this changing. What are they going to do between now and next week to "clean up" some things. Blough, had all day to throw and the receivers had a lot room to catch the ball. Illinois, knew Purdue would throw and were unable to put up ANY resistance. And they ran for around 200!
Purdue, on the other hand knew Illinois would run and made them beat them through the air which Illinois couldn't do. I'm no football genius but even I realize making Illinois throw the ball to beat you is how to game plan. Bush, didn't play well (made some bad reads and took too long to get rid of it at times) , but for the most the receivers were NOT open either.
What really frustrates me is they had a good crowd who were eager to show their support and they come out and get dominated on both sides. These folks want to buy in but a third were gone by halftime and many followed after the first possession of the second half (purdue td). I don't know that firing Smith at this time is the answer, but i'm certainly in favor of canning the scheme on defense, which ain't gonna happen.
Purdue, on the other hand knew Illinois would run and made them beat them through the air which Illinois couldn't do. I'm no football genius but even I realize making Illinois throw the ball to beat you is how to game plan. Bush, didn't play well (made some bad reads and took too long to get rid of it at times) , but for the most the receivers were NOT open either.
What really frustrates me is they had a good crowd who were eager to show their support and they come out and get dominated on both sides. These folks want to buy in but a third were gone by halftime and many followed after the first possession of the second half (purdue td). I don't know that firing Smith at this time is the answer, but i'm certainly in favor of canning the scheme on defense, which ain't gonna happen.
And..... the grey jerseys are horrible. They look like pajamas.
Not an excuse if its true. He is playing his first 2 recruiting classes over Beckman era recruits who would be laying the same egg being juniors and seniors rather than freshmen and sophomores. Add the fact that 3 of our best freshmen from last year have hardly seen the field(Bennett Williams, Dorsey and Larry Boyd) and we pretty much are playing just as many young players as last year. I'm just hoping that they can spin this to recruits in a good way. Yesterday was not what Shammond Cooper was looking for though. Terrible game in front of some high profile recruits. Guess they know they will be playing immediately if they come here.
It is very hard to see how this ends well. If you are going to line up in a soft cover two with no pass rush, good passing teams will put up 40 against you every game. Purdue would beat us 10 out of 10 times. You might be able to run this scheme if you had 4 or 5 all big ten players. On offense, bush decided to do it all by himself. Bush takes way too long to go through his reads, so if you blitz him he has no chance unless he can scramble out of it. Receivers have trouble catching it and getting open. Our best receiver is tough but does not have great ball skills. Witness the long pass in the second half in which he was unable to adjust. We may somehow win another game this year but it seems unlikely. Even bad BT teams like Nebraska and Minnesota were competitive. We were awful against a decent team, but not a top five team in the league. Unless the Trinity qb is a better version of Juice Williams, I don't see how we are much better next year. If not, what do you do then, start over?
Deleted member 631370
D
Guest
7 wins? Really?
I don't know how to say this, but......prepare yourself for another losing season.
We clearly have problems that go beyond youth.....or even talent (though that's a bigger problem than the youth problem). We have problems with schemes and preparation, and coaches don't typically suddenly figure out how to coach well from one season to another.
Just watched the Breakdowns. Lots of missed tackles and players out of position, contributing to blown coverages. That screams inexperience, but also tacklers going for the big hit and FF rather than the consistently reliable FEJ! tackle.
Swap QBs though, and this is a completely different game. Do the Illini win that matchup?
Swap QBs though, and this is a completely different game. Do the Illini win that matchup?
Deleted member 631370
D
Guest
If the QB is Aaron Rodgers, then yes.....perhaps a QB swap makes the difference. But with these WRs, maybe not.
Rivers still loses this game by a lot. As bad as our QB play was, we stunk everywhere else, too.
For sad (not to mention embarrassing), nothing will ever match the 1/2/84 game.
I meant swap Blough and Bush. Blough puts the ball in position for our receivers to make a p!ay, and he let's the running backs run. Bush, taking snaps for Purdue, makes our secondary look competent and allows the LBs to focus on him almost exclusively.
I didn't see the game, just those great Breakdown videos. But it seems like Purdue's solid QB exposed every weakness we have on D, and our weak QB made their D look better than they really are.
I only watched until the PU TD to open the 2nd half, then turned it off in disgust. I saw what, a dozen pass plays where PU had a receiver running free in our secondary with no defender within 5 yards? We didn't even make it hard for them. Terrible run defense BTW as well.
Smalling,Green,Mays and Davis cannot get any separation and perhaps only Davis has the hands to catch in traffic.
Our OC didn't do us any favors today either. We ran it for 4 or 5 yds on 1st down fairly often, then threw on 2nd so we would have 3rd and 5 constantly. We are a running team right now and won't beat anybody throwing it. So run it. BTW if I'm Rod Smith I tell Bush the next time he keeps it instead of handing it off he's coming out of the game. Make the defense defend all 3 runners AJ.
I don't see another win. Wisky is light years better, Maryland and NW are both significantly better and Minny and Neb are both plenty good enough to beat us. One of them is our only hope for another win and don't bet on either.
Our best hope is that some of the recruits that were at the game were licking their chops knowing they will start immediately next year. And please hope that one of them is a really good QB and at least one is a really good WR.
Smalling,Green,Mays and Davis cannot get any separation and perhaps only Davis has the hands to catch in traffic.
Our OC didn't do us any favors today either. We ran it for 4 or 5 yds on 1st down fairly often, then threw on 2nd so we would have 3rd and 5 constantly. We are a running team right now and won't beat anybody throwing it. So run it. BTW if I'm Rod Smith I tell Bush the next time he keeps it instead of handing it off he's coming out of the game. Make the defense defend all 3 runners AJ.
I don't see another win. Wisky is light years better, Maryland and NW are both significantly better and Minny and Neb are both plenty good enough to beat us. One of them is our only hope for another win and don't bet on either.
Our best hope is that some of the recruits that were at the game were licking their chops knowing they will start immediately next year. And please hope that one of them is a really good QB and at least one is a really good WR.
Exactly!! Look what Iowa State is doing. Freaking Iowa State????!!!!!
They bring in Campbell the same year we bring in Lovie and he has that program headed to great things. The Cyclones even beat top-10 West Virginia yesterday.
Iowa State. A program with a history even worse than ours.
I mean come on. The excuses don't cut it anymore. Really thought Lovie and his NFL staff could coach up mediocre talent and bring in elite talent. So far, none of that is happening. Actually, nothing is happening. He's sinking the program lower than Beckman did. At least he had us in bowl contention by year three.
This is pathetic!!
4 of our last six are on the road, so advantage lost. Tough way to finish the season behind the 8 ball. From what I saw of Minny today, uh, I am highly doubting a win at this point. Nebby never loses to us no matter how bad they may be. Pull out a win at the kitty cats and I will be happy.
Isaiah Williams and Fabian McCray are already on board. Let’s hope they stick to their commitments.
illini80
- Forgottonia
Perfect summation of how many feel today.
My suggestion: Homecoming will no longer include a football game. After tailgating, the standing room only crowd goes into the stadium for a Garth Brooks concert. Everyone goes home happy and the university makes a ton of money.
Deleted member 631370
D
Guest
That's exactly right.
I don't believe in firing any coach after only 3 years given what they inherited. But barring some unforeseen turnaround this season, he should be heading into the offseason with a LOT of pressure to win-or-else next year. If he doesn't start next season as a hot-seat coach, I don't know what to say.
There's this belief that because he took the Bears to a Super Bowl, he has the acumen to get this turned around and will do so with sufficient time. That has always been a bad assumption. This isn't the NFL, and he doesn't have Ron Rivera and a championship defense. He's now responsible for recruiting his roster -- and the results thus far are not particularly good. He can score some playmakers in Williams and Beason, but you can have 20 of those dudes and it won't make us a winner without talent and depth on the O and D lines, quality LBs and DBs, good WRs, etc. We don't have that.
Lovie was a gimmick hire from day 1, intended to make a splash and generate headlines. Well, it did. But it's not translating to noticeable progress in the only place it matters -- the scoreboard. Give me the proven college mid-major coach or successful P5 coordinator over the "splash hire" any day.
Lovie gets another year before my patience is exhausted. There are still a lot of young players on the Illini and need to grow into winners.
So many ready to jump! It seemed sentitment was we were showing progress through 5 games and now it is a complete 180.
It was 1 game. Everyone is entitled to crapping the bed. Let’s see what the team and coaches do with it. If we see this 4 or 5 more times I’m right with you, but let’s not forget the positives.
Going into 2018 people seemed to want 4-5 wins and to be competitive and to land our key 2019 recruits. I think we still are right there for that if we respond well. We’ve shown competitiveness with USF and PSU in losses. We’ve dealt with 2 season ending WR injuries and a slew of suspensions.
Yes PUrdue just exposed us. Yes our defense has been on egg shells all year. Now let’s see what we do with it. How does Rod Smith and AJ Bush respond to 8 in the box? How do we ensure we don’t have another game that Epstein / Corbin don’t touch the ball? How do we get enough out of our D to just give us a chance in a handful of the remaining ball games?
It was 1 game. Everyone is entitled to crapping the bed. Let’s see what the team and coaches do with it. If we see this 4 or 5 more times I’m right with you, but let’s not forget the positives.
Going into 2018 people seemed to want 4-5 wins and to be competitive and to land our key 2019 recruits. I think we still are right there for that if we respond well. We’ve shown competitiveness with USF and PSU in losses. We’ve dealt with 2 season ending WR injuries and a slew of suspensions.
Yes PUrdue just exposed us. Yes our defense has been on egg shells all year. Now let’s see what we do with it. How does Rod Smith and AJ Bush respond to 8 in the box? How do we ensure we don’t have another game that Epstein / Corbin don’t touch the ball? How do we get enough out of our D to just give us a chance in a handful of the remaining ball games?