Pregame: Illinois at Wisconsin, Saturday, November 12th, 2:30pm CT, ESPN2

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#1      

Dan

Dan
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Dan
Illinois at Wisconsin
Saturday, November 12th
2:30pm CT
ESPN2

:illinois:
 
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#3      
BZuppke
That may be the line but my post game beers are telling me we blow them out in Camp Randall!
 
#4      
ChiCityIllini
The Wisky spread is tricky. Wisconsin doesn't tend to score much so while I would say line should be Wisky -21, it will be prolly be closer to the 17 you mention due to their low scoring offense.

They had a game earlier in the year where they slept walk at home against an awful Georgia State team and almost lost. Gotta hope we see that Wisky team for us to have a chance...

I still look towards the Iowa game as a game where Illini will surprise... (Iowa plays a night game at home agianst Mich the week before)
 
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#5      
KRSAS
I'm thinking the football gods are going to put us into a position to win the game. I don't expect a blowout by Wisconsin but I'm hoping our run defense comes to play. If that happens, I think we might just hang around long enough for these guys to believe they might actually win! GO ILLINI!
 
#12      
Soxfreak64
I wouldn't be shocked if Wisky essentially shut out Illinois - but I'd he surprised if they scored 28 doing it.

Maybe if the Illini offense plays like they did against Minn, with all those turnovers inside their own 25.

Can't see any hope of an upset here - don't think the offense can stay on the field long enough to keep the defense reasonably fresh the entire game.
 
#14      
WiscIllini
From the games I've watched this year, the best success against Wisconsin has been when there is constant pressure on the QB, especially Houston. If you pressure him, he will make mistakes and that could be just enough to keep the score close to even.
 
#15      
WesterveltVictoryCigar
WiscIllini said:
From the games I've watched this year, the best success against Wisconsin has been when there is constant pressure on the QB, especially Houston. If you pressure him, he will make mistakes and that could be just enough to keep the score close to even.
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Sure, but you have to stop their run game first, otherwise they have little need to throw. Our run D has gotten a little better, but we're going to be hard pressed going up against a UW OL.
 
#16      
WiscIllini
WesterveltVictoryCigar said:
Sure, but you have to stop their run game first, otherwise they have little need to throw. Our run D has gotten a little better, but we're going to be hard pressed going up against a UW OL.
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Clement is no Gordon, and their OL is pretty young. Very vulnerable, in my opinion. It's Wisconsin's defense that is winning them games, not their offense. See the Michigan game. I do wish Illinois had their receivers, though.
 
#17      
WesterveltVictoryCigar
WiscIllini said:
Clement is no Gordon, and their OL is pretty young. Very vulnerable, in my opinion. It's Wisconsin's defense that is winning them games, not their offense. See the Michigan game. I do wish Illinois had their receivers, though.
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I agree their defense is the strength, but your comment was about their offense and how to stop it. All season our (relative) strength has been our pass rush and ability to get pressure behind the LOS. That's great but not as useful if you can't stop the run.

The other concern of course is what we saw in the first half against MSU. With Wisconsin's defense being much better, we're likely to see a bunch of 3 and outs, which means our defense will be out on the field a bunch and will probably wear down again during the second half.
 
#18      
BananaShampoo
I don't see us scoring more than 10 points in this game, and I know they are going to try to pound the ball down our throats the entire time.

Wisky - 31
Illini - 10
 
#19      
Dan
Lovie Smith press conference

[youtube]33n12oD9zyw[/youtube]

https://twitter.com/JWernerScout

Lovie: Probably the most physical game we've played all year.

Lovie: Dawuane Smoot played 90 plays. "That takes a lot out of you. But last play of game, he played as hard as his first one."

Lovie: Watson named B1G DPOW and "rightfully so." Involved in a lot of physical plays, tackles.

Lovie: Big game for us. Now, it's on to Wisconsin

Lovie: Had a few injuries during the game but "nothing major to report."

Lovie: Smoot is a great player who works as hard as anyone on the team. Usually double-teamed each game.

Lovie: Smoot was a hard guy to block vs. MSU> He's an impactful player who's going to play in the league for a lot of years.

Lovie: If you keep pounding the rock, eventually you get a crack.

Lovie: Of course everybody has a little bit better feeling after a win. A sense of relief a little bit to finally get over the hump.

Lovie: But our guys know, you really have to move on and put that much more of an emphasis on Wisconsin.

Lovie: We just haven't gotten as many wins but everything else is headed in the right direction.

Lovie: Experience has helped Tre Watson. Knowledge of defense has helped. Now it's about making plays. And he's doing that.

Lovie: Watson had "Impact hits that you noticed throughout."

Lovie: Watson and Nickerson played about 100 plays during the game.

Lovie: There's an emphasis -- believe it or not -- on not having penalties early on. But team probably needed to see how they hurt.

Lovie: Wisconsin is well-coached. Long history with Coach CHryst. They look like a traditional B1G powerhouse.

Lovie: We know we're going to have to be at the top of our game. They've matched well against top teams in the country.

Lovie: We realize who we're playing but what a great opportunity for our football team.

Lovie: George Jr -- "Each week you see something that you didn't see before."

Lovie: We needed to see the offense respond and Jeff made the throws. He'd like to have a couple throws back.

Lovie: Kendrick Foster never stops his effort. As a coach, guys who are doing it the right way, you want them to be voice of team.

Lovie: Corey Clement is another great B1G running back. He fits what Wisconsin has had in their history.
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#20      
BZuppke
Our big weakness against MSU was the pass defense. What if Wisky gets cute and tries to throw on us? I think they should pound away at us, but sometimes coaches out smart themselves. George has to continue to improve. A few the plays he missed were TDs. The game might not have been as close if he had connected on those.
 
#21      
Dan
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#23      
Soxfreak64
BZuppke said:
Our big weakness against MSU was the pass defense. What if Wisky gets cute and tries to throw on us? I think they should pound away at us, but sometimes coaches out smart themselves. George has to continue to improve. A few the plays he missed were TDs. The game might not have been as close if he had connected on those.
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I'd be surprised if Chryst goes straight to the pass.

History says he isn't the type to get cute. He'll do what works for Wisconsin until/unless it stops working. That means pounding the rock, standing up and motioning his LBs, and blitzing near constantly. They have a great defense, particularly the back 7. If Malik isn't back, we won't pass for anything. Even with him, the way to beat Wisconsin is to run some delayed handoffs and sweeps with the fast guys to suck up the DBs and pass via play action. Would be shocked if it goes the other way around.
 
#24      
GameOfThrows
Our guys on D will need to rotate in and out early and often after many of our starters played 90+ plays vs. MSU. We do have depth on D. Let's hope the coaches realize that our guys will need to take breaks to make it all 4 quarters.

Now onto our Offense. Wisconsin has one of the top defenses in the nation. Only given up 3rd most touchdowns in the country tied with Bama. If Malik plays then maybe our offense can stay on the field long enough to give our Defense enough rest. Otherwise, this game could get lopsided, thus the large spread.

If we can make this a game through 3 quarters, I'll be impressed.
 
#25      
Vermilion Slim
Something that gives me hope going into this game is that, overall, Illinois has done well to stay within a lot of games and has avoided giving up tons of points quickly. Case in point, out of the 36 quarters of football we've played, we've only be outscored by more than a touchdown 6 times. Here is the breakdown:

We've won 12 quarters
tied 6 quarters
lost 12 quarters by a touchdown or less
and lost 6 quarters by more than a touchdown

Given our tough strength of schedule, I take comfort in those numbers.

On the flip-side, Wisconsin has only won 6 quarters by more than a touchdown... and 4 of those were vs. Akron.
 
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