Pregame: Illinois vs Maryland, Friday, September 17th, 8:00pm CT, FS1
- Status
Ah, perfect, primetime showcase right here.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I'll guess something in the vicinity of Maryland -10 for the line.
Saw Rod Smith on the Virginia sideline today and will see another former Illinois assistant on the Maryland sideline next week. Of course, we have a LOT of former assistants. That's one category we might lead the nation in. Nice to see Jimmy Phillips at the game today. Wish we'd have sold the farm to bring him in.
We will also see a former head coach on Friday—the Zooker.
We don’t match up well with MD. I went to the game in Maryland a couple years back and it was not an enjoyable experience
illini80
- Forgottonia
It’s just really tough after watching the last 2 weeks to see much potential here unless we get all our injured players back and they are healthy. Physically we are undermanned at just about every position and unless we can gimmick our way to something, I’m thanking my lucky stars we beat Nebraska cause that might very well be our highlight for the year. I hope Maryland doesn’t embarrass us.
I know we’re not looking great right now, but this will be my first game in person since being in school. I’m excited as hell and looking forward it. I’m coming from Texas hoping for the best.
Any chance we can play 13 defenders without the refs noticing?
Would it make a difference?
I get our new regime wants to run their new system, but we have 40+ seniors, and you can’t teach a old dog new tricks. Its time to transition while winning at the same time. We run the outside zone run play really well. Run pa off of it with some IW pre snap motion, then find the te’s in between. Sprinkle in the ground and pound with McCray(installing the future). Defense just run zone then mix in a blitz here and there. Outside of Spoon we cannot run man. Bump Adams back to safety, and put Nicholson at the other corner
If you can’t teach 3 basic defensive zone coverage’s mixed in with what you want to do with blitzing, then you have no business being a D1 coordinator Walters. Defense‘s simple... get players to run to the ball, and make sure they trust their teammate‘s to be in the right place
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Locksley's going to put a thumpin' on his former squad. I'm expecting to see a massive "athleticism gap" in this one. Speed/quickness should be on full display.
And Mike's not one to call off the dogs late in the game.
And Mike's not one to call off the dogs late in the game.
Go Nats 88 Illini
Fairfax, VA
Line looks like Maryland -7.5. Seems way too low.
dgcrow
- Kelso, WA
Fearless prediction: Too much to not enough.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I’m not too optimistic, but if we played like we did vs. Nebraska, we at LEAST wouldn’t be embarrassing … which is realistically the goal in year 1 of a rebuild. Yesterday was flat out embarrassing.
If you want to make yourself a couple bucks, take Maryland to the moon!
Hmm, I'm attempting to not just wallow in negativity, but that line does indeed look low.
Maybe BP's return will spark the offense, and we'll shock the world. Also I might turn into a handsome billionaire.
cuillini
- San Bernardino, Ca.
Maybe it will somehow spark the defense too.
I’m not sure Maryland is much better than Nebraska. This is a winnable game at home.
When was the last time the Illini won a night game against a Big Ten opponent? I think MD will win unless we can develop a pass rush and contain their qb
Go Nats 88 Illini
Fairfax, VA
I hve no idea what to expect this week. Maryland beat WVU based on turnovers and some deep balls for Tagovailoa. UM's receiving core is legit and TT looked good. Except for one run, they couldn't move the ball on the ground and their defense gave up a lot, but got key turnovers on their end of the field. We can play a hell of a lot better than we did against UVA, but Maryland has weapons now and has some depth. I could see them tear us up in the passing game like UVA, but I have to think BB and staff will make some corrections and make this competetive and with some big plays, we could pull it off. Most competetive games come down to about 5 plays that change the trajectory of the game. We need to make those five (or at least 4 of them) go our way.
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