.
That was intolerable. That deafening blared over everything - including our band.
One of the worst arguments in sports. Things change and expectations are adjusted to reflect those changes.
The wear and tear of the season has taken its toll on our boys. We are thin at some key positions to begin with. Giving and taking a beating wears you down. Add injuries to the mix that grow in severity over time and effort or impact of that effort begins to diminish. The boys continue to give their all. You can see the emotional pain in their faces when they lose. As for the coaches, I believe they have done a masterful job of getting the boys ready to play as was reflected in the results in the early-mid part of the season. The boys have become frustrated as they wear down as was demonstrated by the penalties yesterday. Despite all this, but for a bad PI call against Witherspoon at a key point in the game, we may have managed to win the game.
My only solace is that we did win at Nebraska. I had a premonition we would lose that and go into the Northwestern game at 6-5, on a four game skid. At least we have the bowl game secure, and won't have to watch us being dismantled in Indy.
I agree but the expectations also got very unrealistic (playoff talk etc). If you’ve been watching us, the idea of our being a playoff team is absurd. I’m upset we lost, especially two in a row against mediocre teams but are we really significantly better than them?
Yup. The roughing penalty on Newton was out of frustration from being bottled up all game. We rarely got pressure this week and last week. Seems like we haven't been sending as many blitzes and been dropping more players in coverage. Lots of over pursuing on run plays lately too. Cut back lanes have been wide open last 2 weeks.
Not necessarily. Did your adjustments reflect reality?
Yeah the majority of the crowd stuck around until Purdue converted the 4th down with under two minutes left that basically sealed it. Some folks with families left earlier.. it was cold. The constant ragging on the crowd just feels very"Illinois" to me. Folks who say oh no we suck again every play on these boards, also saying the crowd energy isn't good..lol
Well, I guess this just about covers all bases.
If this is how you feel at 7-3, how have you survived the last 15 year without committing Illini football suicide?
I honestly hope the DIA never allows them back...
I am so tired of hearing the Indiana game was “ripped away” from Illinois because of refs. There were 38 minutes of game time left to overcome the bad call. We’re not talking a call in last 3 minutes of game or the last quarter, or even the second half. And they did overcome to take the lead early in 3rd quarter. The 3 turnovers and inability to score deep in red zone in last 28 minutes of game and allowing a 12 play, 75 yard drive in under 2 minutes for a TD at end of the game are what “ripped away” an Illini victory.
Putting the Purdue band where they did just created a sound waive out of the east stands. The overhanging balcony acted as an echo chamber to directionally blast out their sound, while our band was in the open, facing neither stands, with half their sound going up and away. This was a really bad place to put a visiting band. I was in East balcony and never heard the Purdue band play once - because all the sound was funneled away from me.
But I thought Walters was a genius. The miracle man.
Sorry, but I have to push back on this one. If college football - the NFL as well for that matter - is going to utilize replay, then you damn sure better make the right call after the review. The replay was obvious, irrefutable proof of a catch. Hightower not only caught the ball with his hand and arm under the ball as he went to the turf, he came back up, the ball was stripped out by the defender laying on the turf, and Hightower CAUGHT THE BALL AGAIN in the end zone. Not reversing the incomplete pass after reviewing the replay was inexcusable. FULL STOP. These calls affect the remainder of the game. Decisions were made after that missed call regarding kicking FGs or going for first downs as a result of not having that 6 points on the scoreboard. If we had that 6 on the board the final Indiana drive for a TD takes on a whole different - obviously lower - level of importance. To dismiss it and say "yes but we should have won anyway" does not excuse the blatant disregard of video evidence to overturn a blown call on the field that changed the outcome of the game. Again, if you are going to use replay, use it. If you are going to use it only on certain calls, allow coaches one review per half on "unreviewable" calls like the obvious PI. Otherwise quit wasting everyone's time with it.
