Pregame: Illinois vs Maryland, Friday, September 17th, 8:00pm CT, FS1

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#51      

illini80

illini80
Forgottonia
illini80
With the late start and poor showing the last 2 games, I suspect there won’t be a great crowd. 25K?
 
#55      

thehass

T
thehass
BP gives us a better chance to put some points on the board but if the defense is out to lunch again it won't make much difference. A big play or two may be all we need to build confidence, momentum and get us a victory. Let's hope it happens.
 
#57      

thehass

T
thehass
OrangeLife said:
I don't know when it will it happen, but I believe over the season we will see things start to "click" with our team. I am not sure how many games we will win, but I am confident by the end of the season we will at least see a glimmer of the light at the end of the tunnel. We have a staff of competent, professional coaches that will turn things around. ILL!
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I think everyone on this board hopes you are right. It would be nice to be relevant again.
 
#58      

spotter

S
spotter
BRucks said:
Also going head to head with high school football.
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Harbaugh said he does not want Friday home games. I think OSU said no to Friday home games as well. Of course, Illinois doesn't have the clout of The Big 2, but I would really appreciate it Whitman told the BTN that UI will not host Friday nights.
 
#59      

ChiefKingfisher

C
ChiefKingfisher
trtl said:
There’s no way we win, but could you imagine if we did and we’re suddenly 2-0 in the Big 10 after the last 2 weeks?
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Why are we acting like Maryland is ‘Bama? They’re most likely a middle-of-the-pack team in the conference. Being at home makes a big difference too. I don’t think we’re the favorite here but I also won’t be shocked if we win. Fresh slate here, we can still be undefeated in conference play 😁
 
#61      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
illini80 said:
With the late start and poor showing the last 2 games, I suspect there won’t be a great crowd. 25K?
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Saw a tweet that they’re giving students free tickets, so that should help. I think it said 7k or 8k had been claimed thus far. I also wonder if announcing Peters as the starter now isn’t in some part to possibly help lure those who were on the fence about attending the game — fans think “got our starting QB back so maybe we’ll play better this week.”
 
#62      

Go Nats 88 Illini

Go Nats 88 Illini
Fairfax, VA
Go Nats 88 Illini
I think free tickets for studetns is a good idea. Not sure how much that wouls help, but it would. FWIW, Football tickets are free for UVA students and they were only at about 50% capacity on Saturday. Early game, I know, but the student free ticket area was pretty bare.
 
#63      

Sawicky

S
Chicago, IL
Sawicky
EyeoftheIllini said:
Saw a tweet that they’re giving students free tickets, so that should help. I think it said 7k or 8k had been claimed thus far. I also wonder if announcing Peters as the starter now isn’t in some part to possibly help lure those who were on the fence about attending the game — fans think “got our starting QB back so maybe we’ll play better this week.”
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The business schools is also having their online graduate students in town for their "iConverge" and going to the game and tailgating on Friday is a big part of the event. So I think a lot of students will show up, but there will still be probably less than 35k people there.
 
#66      

Pennsy

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Pennsy
BRucks said:
Also going head to head with high school football.
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This argument always perplexes me. HS football is not on television. And the only folks who go to a high school football game are those students, the parents of the players, and the band. Those who cater to college football on Friday are going to watch and attend college football.
 
#67      

Pennsy

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Pennsy
Since we are all pretending to be Head Coach here on this board, my contribution is - - if you are down and need to make something happen, block a punt! There you go.
 
#68      

BRucks

BRucks
BRucks
Pennsy said:
This argument always perplexes me. HS football is not on television. And the only folks who go to a high school football game are those students, the parents of the players, and the band. Those who cater to college football on Friday are going to watch and attend college football.
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Not sure where you live but I'll wager that it's not in a small town within an hour of CU. Those towns turn out for high school football on Friday nights. What's more, there are hundreds of players across the state who aren't able to attend a college game on that night. How many recruits will be at Memorial Stadium when they have a game of their own that night?
 
#69      

GilThorpe

GilThorpe
GilThorpe
BRucks said:
Not sure where you live but I'll wager that it's not in a small town within an hour of CU. Those towns turn out for high school football on Friday nights. What's more, there are hundreds of players across the state who aren't able to attend a college game on that night. How many recruits will be at Memorial Stadium when they have a game of their own that night?
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I agree
Friday night college football is a dumb idea .
for many chicago or st. louis / downstate fans , a 2-3 hour drive on Friday afternoon/evening is not an easy thing . and playing on a night that is traditionally for prep ball , is a bad idea .
 
#70      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
GilThorpe said:
I agree
Friday night college football is a dumb idea .
for many chicago or st. louis / downstate fans , a 2-3 hour drive on Friday afternoon/evening is not an easy thing . and playing on a night that is traditionally for prep ball , is a bad idea .
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It has its problems, but TV money rules. As an Illini fan living in Ohio (so wouldn’t be going to game no matter what day), I actually like Friday night games. Wouldn’t want a steady diet of them, but frees up my Saturday and actually makes something worthwhile to watch on a Friday.
 
#71      

orange100

orange100
time to hop on the wife
orange100
Pennsy said:
This argument always perplexes me. HS football is not on television. And the only folks who go to a high school football game are those students, the parents of the players, and the band. Those who cater to college football on Friday are going to watch and attend college football.
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eh, high school football is a much bigger deal than you realize. Small-town powerhouse programs that dominate their conference litter the state. Chicago HS football draws massive crowds from the surrounding neighborhoods. Everybody knows someone's kid who plays at a high level and is looking for a scholly. It's a bad idea fro the state school to go head to head vs that.
 
#72      

IlliniKat91

IlliniKat91
Chicago, IL
IlliniKat91
orange100 said:
eh, high school football is a much bigger deal than you realize. Small-town powerhouse programs that dominate their conference litter the state. Chicago HS football draws massive crowds from the surrounding neighborhoods. Everybody knows someone's kid who plays at a high level and is looking for a scholly. It's a bad idea fro the state school to go head to head vs that.
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Particularly when the chances of winning are slim. If you could pay $5 to watch a team you follow win (or at least be competitive) or $30 to watch your team get beat down, which would you choose?
 
#73      

orange100

orange100
time to hop on the wife
orange100
IlliniKat91 said:
Particularly when the chances of winning are slim. If you could pay $5 to watch a team you follow win (or at least be competitive) or $30 to watch your team get beat down, which would you choose?
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man that's for sure. Drive 5 mins- or walk- to watch the hometown heroes, in the stands with your neighbors, or drive 30 mins and pay $$+ to watch the State school get thrashed? Easy choice.
 
#74      

220Illini

2
220Illini
Pennsy said:
This argument always perplexes me. HS football is not on television. And the only folks who go to a high school football game are those students, the parents of the players, and the band. Those who cater to college football on Friday are going to watch and attend college footbal
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this is just not true at all. In central Illinois at least the same folks that are going to Illinois games are the ones going to the high school games on Friday nights. It’s FAR more than parents in stands
 
#75      

thehass

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thehass
I know that when I play on friday nights no one comes to watch.
 
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