Pregame: Illinois vs Kent State, Saturday, September 1st, 11:00am CT, BTN

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#26      
How short should AJ Bush’s leash be? He hasn’t had much game experience and this is a new offense so things may not click right away. Let’s say it’s 7-7 af halftime and Rivers had a fumble and int. Do you stick with him?

Based off reports that gap between him and the others is so great you could probably double the turnovers and he’d still be out there to start the second half.
 
#27      
Is there any official word on it yet?

No one has said anything, but you look at the guys who per reports aren't getting the first team reps you would expect and it's Boyd, Dorsey, Bennett Williams, Nate Hobbs, maybe Mike Epstein (is that just an injury thing?), we'll just have to see I guess.
 
#29      

UofI08

Chicago
The one "good" thing about the suspensions is they appear to be more internal to the team and not of the police/law/arrest variety. I would assume more information would have leaked to the public if there were multiple arrests of football players.
 
#30      
No one has said anything, but you look at the guys who per reports aren't getting the first team reps you would expect and it's Boyd, Dorsey, Bennett Williams, Nate Hobbs, maybe Mike Epstein (is that just an injury thing?), we'll just have to see I guess.

That's a lot of good players...:oops:
 
#31      

FT35

Naperville
The one "good" thing about the suspensions is they appear to be more internal to the team and not of the police/law/arrest variety. I would assume more information would have leaked to the public if there were multiple arrests of football players.

We know that Marchese and Murtaugh were arrested. Other than that, we'll probably never know why the rest of the guys (except maybe Boyd) were/are suspended.

Crawford was suspended for the first three games last year and I don't think we ever found out why? Guys like Carney and C. Green were suspended for multiple games last year and I don't think anyone noticed since they weren't starters. I also could never figure out if someone like Pat Nelson was injured or suspended, and we'll probably never know the whole truth.

Seems like Lovie holds these guys to a very high standard, which isn't a bad thing. However, at other programs, like Iowa, a DUI gets a player a one game suspension:

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/...ayer-owi-iowa-city-offensive-lineman-20180730

https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...ristan-wirfs-suspension-owi-arrest/871068002/

What did a guy like Crawford, who ended up being named the team's Defensive MVP by this staff, do to warrant a three game suspension?
 
#32      

Deleted member 590820

D
Guest
Does anyone know anything about the Amazon Firestick? I have one but am overwhelmed by what to do with it. Can BTN be accessed with this device?
 
#33      

Deleted member 29907

D
Guest
Does anyone know anything about the Amazon Firestick? I have one but am overwhelmed by what to do with it. Can BTN be accessed with this device?
I don't see Firestick as supported - the app would be BTN2GO if you can find it. I know its supported on the Roku stick.
 
#34      

Deleted member 654622

D
Guest
Does anyone know anything about the Amazon Firestick? I have one but am overwhelmed by what to do with it. Can BTN be accessed with this device?
I use mine for movies and tv shows. I have never been able to get any quality sports use out of it sadly. It could be because I have what the kids call a "jailbroke" firestick. But who knows.
 
#35      

breadman

Herndon, VA
Suspensions: Just a not so subtle way to develop our depth.
 
#37      

Deleted member 11196

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The late 70's were brutal.

From the late 60's to the late 70's was very brutal.... Valek, Blackman (was an improvement over Valek), then a regression with that Muck Fichigan guy Moeller...
 
#39      

3DegreeIllini

Chicago,IL
My undergrad tenure started with a final four and ended with a rose bowl. Firmly implanted as a basketball powerhouse with a rising giant of a football program I thought...:ROFLMAO:
 
#40      
Leaning pretty comfortably for the under 55.5 points for this one. Imagining a 31-14 Illini win.
 
#41      

Illiini

In the land of the Nittany Lion
Admittedly I haven't seen more than one game (in person) per season since 1969, but the last time I saw them (in person) win more than one game in a year was 1966, when they beat Wisconsin and Ohio State at home. I'm going to the Rutgers and Minnesota games this year. Maybe I'll get to see that elusive two wins again.
 
#42      
In 1966 we beat Wisc and Ohio State at home and Michigan on the road but still didn't get to the rose bowl. Purdue behind Bob Griese scored a late touchdown against us to go to the Rose Bowl in an incredible game. We sat at home because only one BIG team could go to a bowl.

I know no one here believes this but there really was a time when we played high level football on a consistent basis.
 
#43      
My annual attendance question ... how many tickets are sold for next Saturday? Here are our home openers from the past 10 years:

2017: 42,505 vs. Ball State (W 24-21)
2016: 48,644 vs. Murray State (W 52-3)
-- Lovie Smith is hired --
2015: 36,693 vs. Kent State (W 52-3)
-- Tim Beckman is fired, leaving Bill Cubit as interim head coach --
2014: 36,234 vs. Youngstown State (W 28-17)
2013: 42,175 vs. Southern Illinois (W 42-34)
2012: 43,441 vs. Western Michigan (W 24-7)
-- Tim Beckman is hired --
2011: 45,154 vs. Arkansas State (W 33-15)
2010: 52,217 vs. Southern Illinois (W 35-3) [first week was vs. Missouri in St. Louis]
2009: 62,347 vs. Illinois State (W 45-17) [first week was vs. Missouri in St. Louis]
2008: 60,131 vs. Eastern Illinois (W 47-21) [first week was vs. Missouri in St. Louis]
-- Ron Zook is head coach --

Also, fun fact ... not that it's really impressive considering the opponents, but Illinois has won its last 20 home openers at Memorial Stadium, stretching back to 1998. In our infamous 0-11 campaign in 1997, we lost our home opener to Southern Miss, 24-7.
 
#45      
I'll say 39,850
Enthusiasm of the casual fan is wearing off and results aren't there yet. Next year's question will be very interesting otoh
 
#46      

UofI08

Chicago
I would be surprised if it reaches 40,000.
 
#49      
We know that Marchese and Murtaugh were arrested. Other than that, we'll probably never know why the rest of the guys (except maybe Boyd) were/are suspended.

Crawford was suspended for the first three games last year and I don't think we ever found out why? Guys like Carney and C. Green were suspended for multiple games last year and I don't think anyone noticed since they weren't starters. I also could never figure out if someone like Pat Nelson was injured or suspended, and we'll probably never know the whole truth.

Seems like Lovie holds these guys to a very high standard, which isn't a bad thing. However, at other programs, like Iowa, a DUI gets a player a one game suspension:

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/...ayer-owi-iowa-city-offensive-lineman-20180730

https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...ristan-wirfs-suspension-owi-arrest/871068002/

What did a guy like Crawford, who ended up being named the team's Defensive MVP by this staff, do to warrant a three game suspension?

The 3-game suspension usually indicated a failed drug (weed) test from what i've heard. Guessing that is what we are dealing with here.

I agree it seems one-game is standard for DUIs across the country, but Lovie may be trying to build and establish a culture where making mistakes off field will really make the player learn a lesson by taking football away from them.
 
#50      
Those early 90s teams should have been better.
Hardy, Holocek, Howard and Rice on defense together was something special.
Johnny Johnson, Douthard, Dulick and Dilger should have been enough offense to win a lot more games.
 
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