lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
We’re going bowling. Book it.
I’m hopeful. I really am, but I need to see us beat a good team before I fully buy in. We have some really good players and good coaches. We just have to cut out the mistakes and, for the umpteenth time, stay healthy!We’re going bowling. Book it.
Good news is that the B1G West seems to be in disarray. I am far more confident in us winning some division games then I was at the start of the season.I’m hopeful. I really am, but I need to see us beat a good team before I fully buy in. We have some really good players and good coaches. We just have to cut out the mistakes and, for the umpteenth time, stay healthy!
This comment has aged very well todayGood news is that the B1G West seems to be in disarray. I am far more confident in us winning some division games then I was at the start of the season.
Michigan may be the only good team on our schedule this year!I’m hopeful. I really am, but I need to see us beat a good team before I fully buy in. We have some really good players and good coaches. We just have to cut out the mistakes and, for the umpteenth time, stay healthy!
Which makes it more of a shame that the refs snatched that W away from us. Going 4-0 into Madison would be sweet…because if we could come out with a win, a bowl would be just one W away.Michigan may be the only good team on our schedule this year!
Michigan may be the only good team on our schedule this year!
Beat Chattanooga, Nebraska and Northwestern.SP+ changes since last week:
Minnesota 20 --> 16
Wisconsin 21 --> 15
Iowa 39 --> 31
Illinois 63 --> 63
Nebraska 51 --> 68
Northwestern 89 --> 99
Dec. 27 | Guaranteed Rate |
Kansas State | vs. Illinois | Big 12 vs. Big Ten | 10:15 p.m. | Phoenix, Ariz. |
College football bowl projections: Appalachian State's surge continues, Kansas makes long-awaited return
Jerry Palm's bowl projections shifted again but less so after a more calm Week 3www.cbssports.com
Dec. 27 Guaranteed Rate
Kansas Statevs.
IllinoisBig 12 vs. Big Ten 10:15 p.m. Phoenix, Ariz.
Week 4 College Football Bowl Projections: Brett McMurphy's Predictions With Projected Spreads
Read on for Brett McMurphy's updated college football bowl projections, along with projected spreads, ahead of Week 4.www.actionnetwork.com
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Tuesday, Dec. 27
⋅
Phoenix, AZ
Illinois
-1
Kansas
Pinstripe Bowl
Projected matchup: Florida State vs. Illinois
Bowl Projections, College Football Playoff Predictions: Week 3. UNLV? Arizona? Kansas?!
What are the bowl projections and the College Football Playoff calls after Week 3 of the college football season?sports.yahoo.comFrisco Football Classic*
Thursday, December 23, 2022
TBA, ESPN
Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX
Last Year: Miami University 27, North Texas 14
Bowl Ties: None
Bowl Projection: Illinois vs Texas Tech
*We’re making the call that there will be too many available bowl teams, so – again, this is a projection – ESPN will revive the Frisco Football Classic to get a Big 12 Texas team in against an available Big Ten squad.
A small sample size against a weak schedule, but these two in theory don't really go together, and represent a real success for the way Lunney is trying to play.Offensive Plays Per Game
2021: 67.7 (93rd)
2022: 81.7 (11th) (!!)
Average Time of Possession
2021: 29:19 (83rd)
2022: 35:40 (7th) (!!!)
I was really exceited to see the offense go no-huddle a bit in the first Q against UVA, but things weren't clicking - Int, Fumble, 3&out, 3&out resulting in a special teams TD, then finally an offensive TD.A small sample size against a weak schedule, but these two in theory don't really go together, and represent a real success for the way Lunney is trying to play.
So far so good for the easy to theorize but hard to execute "smart tempo".
From mhuml32's post above:How many three and outs have we had compared to last year? Who would have thought VA was this bad with 80% of its offensive team coming back. Wyoming has had a good pre conference wins.
Thanks for these numbers. That ESPNU slot is awful. The other chart showed BTN getting numbers similar to ABC for the noon slot, which surprised me. I wonder what match-ups were opposite our game against NW last year, because even that game on BTN should have out-drawn this year's VA game on ESPN-U.Didn't know where else to put this, but I have been trying to keep track of all of the TV ratings numbers I can get my hands on. One conclusion already? Any article about "most viewers per team" or whatever should be taken with a huge grain of salt. Your number of viewers is almost entirely related to who you play, when you play them and on what channel your game is broadcasted. Additionally, I have noticed that Big Ten teams fare horribly on channels like ESPNU, likely due to a lot of cable companies not offering that channel in B1G markets as often (for example, my parents in Iowa City do not get ESPNU through Mediacom ... which is the worst cable company ever, by the way...).
Here is an example. Wisconsin drew 3.9 million viewers for its game vs. Washington State last Saturday on FOX. I have no doubt Wisconsin has a huge fan base, but it's very clear that a lot of casual, unaffiliated fans across the country are simply tuning into whatever FOX has on. As a comparison, Wisconsin had 498k viewers for its season opener vs. Illinois State in Week 1 on BTN ... that's fewer viewers than Illinois/Wyoming had on BTN the week before (512k). Yes, Illinois was playing in Week 0 with less competition, but it's still the BTN. The point is that it seems most schools have about 350k-500k viewers who will tune in 80-90% of the time, with obvious exceptions like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan, Alabama, etc. But when an article tries claiming that, say, Oklahoma State gets "better TV ratings" than Illinois ... uh, yeah, technically, but I am epically skeptical that this has much to do with the two schools' fan bases and a lot more to do with the fact that we get to play in important games on the big time channels way less often.
For fun, here are our TV ratings for some games in case anyone is interested!
2022
512k vs. Wyoming (3:00 pm on BTN)
965k at Indiana (7:00 pm on a Friday on FS1) ... this is actually a very good rating for a Friday!
159k vs. Virginia (3:00 pm on ESPNU) ... ESPNU is trash...
2021
3.22 million vs. Nebraska (12:00 pm on FOX)
211k vs. UTSA (6:30 pm on BTN)
690k vs. Maryland (8:00 pm on a Friday on FS1) ... again, not bad for a Friday!
367k at Purdue (2:30 pm on BTN)
413k vs. Wisconsin (2:30 pm on BTN)
3.77 million at Penn State (11:00 am on ABC)
379k vs. Rutgers (11:00 am on BTN)
595k at Minnesota (11:00 am on ESPN)
677k at Iowa (1:00 pm on FS1)
139k vs. Northwestern (2:30 pm on BTN) ... ouch, this one is terrible
2019
896k vs. Nebraska (7:00 pm on BTN)
2.13 million vs. Michigan (11:00 am on ABC)
1.10 million vs. Wisconsin (11:00 am on BTN) ... GREAT rating for BTN
569k at Michigan State (2:30 pm on FS1)
219k vs. Northwestern (11:00 am on FS1)
1.87 million vs. Cal in the Redbox Bowl (3:00 pm on a Monday on FOX)
Random/Other Blasts from the Past
2015 - 4.08 million vs. Ohio State (11:00 am on ABC)
2013 - 3.33 million vs. Michigan State (2:30 pm on ABC)
2007-08 - 19.00 million vs. USC in the Rose Bowl (3:30 pm on ABC)
2001-02 - 13.06 million vs. LSU in the Sugar Bowl (7:30 pm on ABC)
Fun side note, as well ... our 2005 NC game vs. North Carolina is still one of the highest rated NC games of the last 20+ years and drew over 6 million more than last year's NC game...
A small sample size against a weak schedule, but these two in theory don't really go together, and represent a real success for the way Lunney is trying to play.
So far so good for the easy to theorize but hard to execute "smart tempo".
The difference between Lovie's last year and this staff is astounding both offensively and defensively.Defense Edition! A few changes from the offensive version, also wanted to include the 2020 version to see the rapid change since Lovie's final season:
Defensive Yards Per Game
2020: 467.3 (113th)
2021: 366.6 (43rd)
2022: 274.3 (12th) (!!)
Defensive Yards Per Play
2020: 6.3 (104th)
2021: 5.1 (31st)
2022: 4.1 (11th) (!!)
Yards per Pass Attempt
2020: 8.9 (118th)
2021: 7.1 (43rd)
2022: 5.0 (11th) (!!)
Third Down Conversion Percentage
2020: 43.00% (89th)
2021: 35.33% (27th) (!)
2022: 25.53% (21st) (!)
Opponents Yards Per Point
2020: 13.4 (79th)
2021: 16.7 (17th) (!!)
2022: 25.7 (13th) (!!)
Love that last stat, as the offense has had turnover issues and has put the defense in a worse spot this year than 2021 but the 2022 defense is still out-performing them. It's also the best looking group of teams; the schools ahead of Illinois: Georgia, Ole Miss, Minnesota, Iowa, 3-0 Tulane, Michigan, 3-0 Duke, TAMU, TCU, Oklahoma, & Washington State.