Purdue 46, Illinois 7 POSTGAME

#76      
Yes, I went from being to pro-lovie to anti-lovie over the course of one game. Yes, that is a little bit crazy. But there is good reason for it.

I accept that our defense was always going to be terrible, and that is a talent issue. Not much could be done about it at this stage. However, even if we accept that we should hold onto MJ Rivers red shirt, there are still massive problems with what happened. We have two of the top twenty five running backs in the country. Either one would have an outside chance at the Heisman short lists if they played for real teams. They only ran the ball on 12 percent of our offensive plays. How do your best two players only run the ball on 12 percent of your places ... Maybe on one or two drives we can blame that on the QB. But when it goes the entire game it is squarely on the coaching staff.

So, no, I judge lovie by us losing by 40. I judge lovie by the fact that we arent even putting the team in a place to be competitive.
 
#77      
Despite what happened yesterday, this team has shown improvement. I know, I know. But, Lovie gets one more year to show that as his recruits mature, that will change things. The belief that players are the same as frosh and seniors is just BS. Total BS. Teams mention when they are senior laden for a reason. Nobody brags about starting a bunch of frosh. Generally, when they have low expectations, they point to that as a reason. One more year to show his approach will yield results.
 
#78      

Illiniaaron

Geneseo, IL
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?
I really wish people would quit referring to how "competitive" Illinois was against Penn State. They lost 63-24 for God's sake. PSU had it on cruise control until they decided to put the pedal down. And they've lost both games they've played since then, albeit to strong competition. People talked about how underrated Kent State was when Illinois barely beat them. They're 1-6. Western IL is 2-4. Rutgers is absolutely horrid. And I don't see the defense getting any better. This is halfway through the season. Next two games are away at Wisconsin and Maryland? This will get uglier.
 
#79      

Illiniaaron

Geneseo, IL
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!!
I think the Cyclones are starting a true freshman qb who really wasn't recruited by anyone else. And they totally dominated a highly ranked team last night. Why can't we get guys like that?
 
#81      

BZuppke

Plainfield
My reality is in the middle of some of these posts. The bloom is off the Rose. Lovie no longer has my blind trust. I can’t draw conclusions at this point but I now believe there is a reasonable chance Lovie doesn’t cut it. He could show this loss to be an aberration (Purdue could beat tOSU next week), but we’ll have to wait and see.
 
#82      

Hoppy2105

Little Rock, Arkansas
My reality is in the middle of some of these posts. The bloom is off the Rose. Lovie no longer has my blind trust. I can’t draw conclusions at this point but I now believe there is a reasonable chance Lovie doesn’t cut it. He could show this loss to be an aberration (Purdue could beat tOSU next week), but we’ll have to wait and see.

Yeah, I think this is a good place to be mentally. Even if you have lost all hope in Lovie, he’s going to get next year at a minimum so might as well just hold on for whatever comes next.
 
#83      
Rutgers on the road, one step forward
Yesterday, I don't even want to think of it

no excuse for the program being this bad after three years
 
#84      
In 2015, with Bill Cubit as a last-minute replacement for Tim Beckman, the Fighting Illini: A) beat Kent State 52-3; B) defeated Western Ilinois 44-0; and C) crushed Purdue 48-14 in West Lafayette. Compare that to this season. It is sickening.
 
#85      

GortTheRobot

North Bethesda, Maryland
I know Lovie is historically laconic, but I begin to worry that he doesn’t have a great deal of interest in this gig. Is he just biding time until another job in the league opens up? I know, it’s probably reading too much into it, but I’m just that discouraged.
 
#86      
Outplayed by better talent is forgivable. Out coached is inexcusable.
 
#87      

Deleted member 649710

D
Guest
I know Lovie is historically laconic, but I begin to worry that he doesn’t have a great deal of interest in this gig. Is he just biding time until another job in the league opens up? I know, it’s probably reading too much into it, but I’m just that discouraged.
This is going to be his last job unless he gets this thing turned around. Nobody is going to hire a 60+ year old coach who crapped out his last two gigs. He does not have a reputation as a schematic genius like some older coaches who land positions as defensive coordinators.
 
#88      

FinalFour88

Charlotte, NC
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.
Being young doesn't excuse losing 46-7 at home to Purdue. Young teams are allowed to win games, too.
 
#89      
I'm an old Illini fan. I know that's my problem and not yours. I mean getting old, and not just a life long Illini fan. Season ticket holder for I'm not sure how long , because i hate to think about it. Don't worry, I will never give up, but I think the die hard fans deserve a little forgiveness to gripe a bit. I drive 350 miles round trip for the home games. Not griping, but want the fans that live closer to go to the games. I doubt the coaching staff will ever see this, but guess what, 3rd and 6, you do not need to throw a hail Mary 30 yard pass down the field. What we needed against an explosive Purdue offense was long sustained drives to keep their offense off the field. I know we all know this, but watch the NE Patriots dump the 7 -10 yard passes over the middle and hope for the receiver to break a long one.
 
#90      

BZuppke

Plainfield
I will say that just because Lovie doesn’t say that the coaches need to make adjustments, doesn’t mean he’s not thinking it. He’s not dumb. He saw the same game we did and he is smart and I think we’ll see some things. Doesn’t take away from the fact that yesterday has shaken our confidence in this regime.
 
#91      

Hoppy2105

Little Rock, Arkansas
I will say that just because Lovie doesn’t say that the coaches need to make adjustments, doesn’t mean he’s not thinking it. He’s not dumb. He saw the same game we did and he is smart and I think we’ll see some things. Doesn’t take away from the fact that yesterday has shaken our confidence in this regime.

Garrick McGee was crapping the bed and Lovie made a change so we know he is willing. (At least on the offensive side of the ball)

I’m not so sure about the defensive side, though. As someone else said recently, it seems like he will succeed with this D or die trying.
 
#92      

BZuppke

Plainfield
He seems to be saying that, but he can’t be any happier than we were watching wide open receivers, and the mighty Purdue running game gashing our defense. In his defense (no pun intended) this scheme seemed much more effective last year.
 
#93      

Hoppy2105

Little Rock, Arkansas
He seems to be saying that, but he can’t be any happier than we were watching wide open receivers, and the mighty Purdue running game gashing our defense. In his defense (no pun intended) this scheme seemed much more effective last year.

I think part of that is due to losing an NFL veteran as the D line coach and replacing him with a rookie. We always say games are won and lost in the trenches, so there is some merit to that thought.

Lovie also doesn’t have the depth yet for all of his defensive positions nor is the depth he DOES have experienced.

We also upgraded his son to DB coach right? Maybe it’s not working out?

I feel like we could see position coach changes if things don’t turn around. However, I don’t think Nickerson will be gone.

And I don’t think they will change the scheme. Lovie believes his D will be good once he gets the experienced athletes to run it. That will be year 4-5. So in a way, he probably will sink or swim with this D.
 
#94      

Soxfreak64

Bloomington
It IS possible to run the cover 2 as a base defense with some wrinkles. It's crystal clear this team won't win another game (or probably even stay close) playing the vanilla Cover 2. Even if you don't change the scheme, flex it a little bit. That's really all we're asking for at this point.
 
#95      

Illinir1

Camdenton, MO
I really think Lovie does need to hire a more aggressive D Coach like Koenig. Short of that we're looking at another complete overhaul

I had the same "I wish we had Koenig back for our D Coordinator" thought. Which then led to "I wonder if Lou Tepper is available?".

This is my 38th year as a season ticket holder. I've seen many bad defenses (and unfortunately more bad offenses). This one is definitely Top 5.
 
#96      
Prepare yourself for my overly dramatic Monday morning reflection comment, but...

... that was the most deflating Illini football loss for me since the season opening debacle against Missouri in 2009. Seriously, almost a decade. There have been several other losses that have either killed our positive vibes and/or derailed our season to some extent (vs. UNC in Lovie's first season, a home blowout loss to Louisiana Tech in Beckman's first season that I attended, looking awful at home vs. unranked OSU in 2011 to start our 0-6 finish, etc.), but this was the first time in a long time that our fan base seemed to really have gained some hope and belief in Lovie; even the Illini fans that thought we'd lose that game believed we would give 'em hell on our own turf. We laid down.

Wisconsin will destroy us, and I fear the wheels might fall off then.
 
#98      

Hoppy2105

Little Rock, Arkansas
Nope. Leach was 3-9 in year one and jumped to 6-7 in year 2. That's real progress.

And then back to 3-9 in his 3rd season. #FireLeach! #Regression!

We are talking about building a program, not one season. So, no, it wasn’t until his 4th season that he built things.

Lovie may end up having a better 3rd season then Leach did at WSU. (And it’s really only his 2nd with his guys)

Disclaimer: I am not a “believe in Lovie blindly” person, just that I’ll judge the season when it’s over and then continue to assess the entire body of work. I’m not a fan of how things look right now, but if we go 4-8 this year. I’ll be satisfied to give Lovie another season to go bowling.
 
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#99      
The Illinois coaches should be ashamed of themselves. Purdue and Illinois have approximately the same amount of raw talent on their respective rosters this season, but the Purdue squad came to play while the Illini squad looked completely inept. There is plenty of blame to go around, but in my opinion this disaster was primarily caused by a lack of effective coaching.
Lovie Smith was quoted during the week as saying that he wanted plenty of students and alums to attend to the game so that they could see the shape that the program is in now. Careful what you wish for, Lovie...

Coaching. Just as an unbiased outsider, and someone who grew up rooting for Illinois and knows former Illinois players from the 01 team..

That defense is not going to work against the better offensive minds in the conference. The Purdue players and coaches keep talking about how they had a “simple technique that sprung open receivers against the Tampa 2.”

Bush’s arm is such that teams can do what we did and sell out on the run .. and now they know it. You guys should play rivers if he can throw. DCs are going to dial up holts perimeter blitzes all day.

Good luck. The world is a better place when you guys are better than Indiana, Minnesota and when you land upsets against a lot of schools in the league
 
#100      
And then back to 3-9 in his 3rd season. #FireLeach! #Regression!

We are talking about building a program, not one season. So, no, it wasn’t until his 4th season that he built things.

Lovie may end up having a better 3rd season then Leach did at WSU. (And it’s really only his 2nd with his guys)

Disclaimer: I am not a “believe in Lovie blindly” person, just that I’ll judge the season when it’s over and then continue to assess the entire body of work. I’m not a fan of how things look right now, but if we go 4-8 this year. I’ll be satisfied to give Lovie another season to go bowling.

Yeah, to clarify my previous post, I am not in any way on the ridiculous "This Lovie experiment is a failure" train quite yet. That loss was just so devastating, and it was full of the exact types of silly mistakes and complete defensive breakdowns that I really thought we had moved past. Losing to Purdue at home is nothing to cancel a season over, but as others have said ... it's the WAY we lost. And that way was embarrassing.

The eternal optimist side of me says that PU was a matchup nightmare for us, and we can still maybe grind out a win vs. one or more of Minnesota, Nebraska or even Maryland or Northwestern ... the negative side says that is the type of loss that can drain confidence and - coupled with a bad loss in Madison next week - cause this season to spiral out of control, writing off a lot of games that SHOULD be winnable. I would be so ecstatically pleased if it's the former, but the Monday mornin' blues have me fearing I've seen this movie before. :(