USF 25, Illinois 19 POSTGAME
Wow, Freshman playing across the board, no Dudek, no Bush, and people are going to complain about that?! That team we just allowed 25 points to averaged 44 ppg prior to today. 3 Star true Freshman QB vs their former 5 star (Alabama) QB and we had a drive to win? So it feels worse because of how it ended, when our clearly undermanned team was exhausted.
Anyone who isn't beyond excited by this game really need to go become Alabama fans because if you're going to watch Illinois football (clearly a basketball school) and not be thrilled with how far we've come I don't know what to tell you.
Anyone who isn't beyond excited by this game really need to go become Alabama fans because if you're going to watch Illinois football (clearly a basketball school) and not be thrilled with how far we've come I don't know what to tell you.
Epstein had a great game. And McLaughlin was great. But other than that, I didn't really see many bright spots on offense. The defensive line just isn't good. Felt like South Florida could run for 3-4 yards every time if they wanted to. I don't blame the secondary for giving up 411 yards. When you get no pressure, it's easy for the QB to pick you apart especially with walk-on caliber players in the secondary
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I guess the question is do you just go with Rivers now and get his freshman season out of the way when you aren't going to win anything anyway in 2018 or go back to Bush.
Most people actually kept the game on until the last play, we're getting there.
O-line looked better than I expected (last drive notwithstanding).
FlyNavy
- Los Angeles
Given where we've been the past few years, with a backup QB and injuries/suspensions, this is way better than I expected. It definitely hurts given how close we were to pulling it out, but I was expecting to lose by 20+. The team is young, they are getting better (especially the defensive front), and I definitely see some more wins this year. We have to at least be on the same level as Purdue, Rutgers, Nebraska and Maryland...
Nebraska, Rutgers, and Purdue have all had horrible losses to start the season. It'll be a fireable offense if the team doesn't win at least 1 Big 10 game this year.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
The defensive front? Did you watch the game? They made a few plays here and there but were road-graded most of the game. Pass rush was non existent in the second half.
Tough, tough loss in a game we deserved to win. SF played awful but we also had so many key injuries and suspensions. Overall, really encouraging performance but hate seeing it not rewarded with a win.
Illini Fan: "We will probably lose this game by 30."
*Illinois only loses by 6 with a true freshman QB*
Same Illini Fan: "The coach is awful. The team is awful. Fire Whitman. We are gonna be 2-10."
*Illinois only loses by 6 with a true freshman QB*
Same Illini Fan: "The coach is awful. The team is awful. Fire Whitman. We are gonna be 2-10."
MoCoMdIllini
- Montgomery County, Maryland
Well, I missed the last hour, so the last thing I knew about was a missed FG by South Florida.
Oh well.
But... we covered the spread. Did anyone predict that? I didn't.
Oh well.
But... we covered the spread. Did anyone predict that? I didn't.
WE WILL WIN (just not today / wasn't meant to be i guess) . Props to all the Illini fans that came out and big ups to Lovie & the team for playing a very close game that came down to the final play . We were big time underdogs in this game .
We'll probably get KILLED by Pedo State but I think we'll be competitive in our other games & potentially play for a bowl game. GO ILLINI!
We'll probably get KILLED by Pedo State but I think we'll be competitive in our other games & potentially play for a bowl game. GO ILLINI!
The game probably ends differently if the suspended players were available. Lovie is prioritizing principle over wins. It's a tough pill to swallow, but is probably the right one in the long term.
We had 380 yards on O with a true frosh backup QB, 3 top receivers out and no depth in the O-Line. Not sure what you expected
If I'm on that Illini team, I'm coming out white-hot angry on Friday, rankings be damned.
If I'm a returning suspended player, I'm coming out extra white-hot angry.
If I'm a returning suspended player, I'm coming out extra white-hot angry.
the national
- the Front Range
It’s sooo hard to be patient when the win was sooo close. Can’t we just get stuff together and actually win a game we aren’t supposed to?? We are young, we did start a true freshman, we did beat the spread, I didn’t turn off the game until the end, all things true. It’s just hard to be patient. This rebuild has been painful, and shows just how low we were. It’s a long way to the top.
Only watched the game on Gamecast today, did we get any pass rush at all?
A bowl game is clearly up for grabs after today’s results. You go with the best QB, which I do think is AJ Bush. But I’m excited for MJ Rivers. This year we just don’t have the receivers and O-line to let him sit in the pocket and be the gunslinger that he is. O-line looks like it’s close. Injuries obviously hurt the receivers. Next year both could be strengths.
FinalFour88
- Charlotte, NC
Better performance than I was expecting, so I can't be too mad. But jeez, when are we going to start winning games? Up 12 points going into the 4th quarter -- these are games we need to start winning ASAP.
Today Rutgers got crushed by Kansas 55-14, Nebraska lost to Troy, and Maryland got smoked by Temple. So I'm not really persuaded by all the "2-10 here we come" hot takes flying around the internet right now.