Illinois 20, Western Kentucky 7 POSTGAME
TownieMatt
CU Expat
- Chicago
Great win. Offense is a work in progress, but that defensive group has such a bright future.
Nice win, congrats to the Illini.
Illiini
- In the land of the Nittany Lion
Defense was solid. Nice improvement. Solid rushing attack on offense! Gotta get accuracy fixed in passing game. Love seeing young guys improve!
Mostly freshmen and sophomores did that. And after our defensive leader and signal caller was ejected in the first half.
the national
- the Front Range
So proud of our guys. We played a game within our skills. Some mistakes, some penalties but our defense was awesome!
Illinois executed its game plan to a 't'. This is what good coaching looks like. I know it's going to be too conservative for some fans' tastes, but it's what this team needs right now. And it worked.
It drove me crazy back when Mike Locksley was the o-coord here, that we'd play these smaller conference teams and then try to get cute with our play calling. One of the reasons Zook's teams had the frequent losses to MAC and WAC teams. None of that from McGee today. Got a team with a smaller d-line? Lean on them! Over and over. Loved it!
Crouch has a lot of limitations with his arm. But he has grit and leadership and composure.
Saw a lot of the old Bears style d from Lovie tonight. Zone. Make the qb make the perfect pass. Play disciplined. Make tackles. No big plays. It's not as flashy as the Dom Capers-style exotic blitz package defenses that everyone likes these days. But I still love the simple beauty of watching Lovie's defenses slowly strangle an offense.
It's so important to play disciplined defense in the college game. Stay in your lanes. Make the one-on-one tackle. So many college offenses (WKU's included) are predicated on getting defenders out of their zones and missing tackles. You don't fall into their traps, you make the tackle, and they simple don't have any other way to move the ball.
Illinois looked great tonight. They'll look too young and overwhelmed again at some point this season. Maybe next week. I'm not going to expect consistency from this young team. It's going to be all fits and starts. That said, tonight was a really nice step forward.
It drove me crazy back when Mike Locksley was the o-coord here, that we'd play these smaller conference teams and then try to get cute with our play calling. One of the reasons Zook's teams had the frequent losses to MAC and WAC teams. None of that from McGee today. Got a team with a smaller d-line? Lean on them! Over and over. Loved it!
Crouch has a lot of limitations with his arm. But he has grit and leadership and composure.
Saw a lot of the old Bears style d from Lovie tonight. Zone. Make the qb make the perfect pass. Play disciplined. Make tackles. No big plays. It's not as flashy as the Dom Capers-style exotic blitz package defenses that everyone likes these days. But I still love the simple beauty of watching Lovie's defenses slowly strangle an offense.
It's so important to play disciplined defense in the college game. Stay in your lanes. Make the one-on-one tackle. So many college offenses (WKU's included) are predicated on getting defenders out of their zones and missing tackles. You don't fall into their traps, you make the tackle, and they simple don't have any other way to move the ball.
Illinois looked great tonight. They'll look too young and overwhelmed again at some point this season. Maybe next week. I'm not going to expect consistency from this young team. It's going to be all fits and starts. That said, tonight was a really nice step forward.
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
Saw this one in person (first game as a student!). Very long game but a very fun one! Both lines improved and that freshman running back from Florida is quite good 
Does anyone know where the referee crew for this game was from?
Great W for the confidence of all of our FR! Improvement on both sides of the line! Great game by our D throughout! Nice job by the staff
Serious Late
- Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
That was awesome! The last 1 minute, 30 seconds of the first half was the most entertaining half hour of football I have seen so far this season!
Find ways to scratch and claw out as many wins as possible from here, and the jump starting of the rebuild can really take off. The difference between squeaking out that win last week and losing was enormous in so many ways and our performance tonight was a great build off that.
Find ways to scratch and claw out as many wins as possible from here, and the jump starting of the rebuild can really take off. The difference between squeaking out that win last week and losing was enormous in so many ways and our performance tonight was a great build off that.
I'm a happy boy tonight! We did what we needed to do. It was so satisfying seeing our defense be where they're supposed to be. WKU certainly made some penalties/mistakes that definitely could have meant a touchdown both ways with a 14-13 loss. Even if that happened though, we did what we needed to do.
It's all coaching. Proud to have Lovie, Garrick, Hardy and company teaching our boys.
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
It's all coaching. Proud to have Lovie, Garrick, Hardy and company teaching our boys.
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Not a thing of beauty, but a tremendous improvement. Great to see the young guys taking steps forward.
ILL-
ILL-
Dan
Admin
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Roundtree and Gay.
