DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Fixed it For You.......
Certainly not the same team we've watched for the past six weeks.
Nice gut check road W by Bielema's boys.
I think we've played poorly in every game so far this season, until today that is.
Fixed it For You.......
Certainly not the same team we've watched for the past six weeks.
Nice gut check road W by Bielema's boys.
I had this feeling this morning but kept it to myself to not jinx anything, so credit to me.I think it was @Fighter of the Nightman that made a parallel to the 2021 PSU game and boy was that on the money.
How often have we gone for it on 4th and short in a game that matters at the end of a half and actually punched it in with a run?Feagin is like a Timex, nothing flashy but will keep you on time. Our offense looks so much better when we can consistently rush for 3-4 yards per attempt and get us to 3rd and manageable.
They even picked up some blitzes today.It seemed like we got healthy in key areas. Ie OL
Newton is a beast
Luke is still an inexperienced qb with all the tools to be good
Our LBs showed up
Our Freshmen RBs look special
The base for a special team next year is in place. Now we need to finish this season
Hard to judge an OC without a healthy OL. There still are questionable play calls. Also the qb needs to not take so many sacksNot saying the offense was a juggernaut today but I was curious if todays game changed anyone’s mind on Lunney Jr? It seemed having the O line healthy again might have helped a little.
He seemed okay during his interview. That would have been a good question to ask by the reporters.Any word on Feagin?
Great post. I agree with everything except for feeling bad for Maryland . That tackle on Maryland's last drive was awesome. I’m still so pumped about coach Bielema’s willingness to go for the td, and Feagin and OL making it happen. The defense, as gassed and depleted as they were, was hugeFirst of all, I'm so pleased for the players and coaches. Maryland was #26 in Sagarin this week, in a clump with Wazzu, Miami, Duke and Iowa. The Illini beat a solid team today. They bore down on both sides of the ball for 4Q and got it done. Second, it was a thrill to see this win in person. I haven't been able to see two Illini football games in a season since 1990. Now in the span of two weeks I've seen the boys twice. The improvement from what we saw in Ross-Ade in the second half was substantial.
- Luke had time to throw. He's going to be really good for us once the line can protect him reliably. The dime he dropped to Casey was just sick, as was CW's catch. The throw to Isaiah at the goal line that was almost a TD was excellent, too. Fantastic Maryland DB play to break it up. Luke overthrew some wide open receivers but he'll get there on the timing. He and Casey are absolutely in sync at crunch time, however.
- Luke's scrambling and running ability is valuable in someone who can throw well. He got Caleb G a huge 10 extra yards to the 20 at the end by escaping the collapsing pocket (then, well, gave up five getting the ball to the middle of the field on the next play.)
- Feagin's arrival on the scene is truly a big deal. I had to check: yes, he really is a true freshman. Wouldn't know it to watch him. He's a bull.
- Play of the game IMO (edging out Luke's scramble to the 20) was Rosiek's lateral pursuit and open-field tackle of Taulia Tagovailoa on 2nd & 9 on MD's final drive. If Dylan hadn't nabbed him, he would have had a first down easily inside the 20 and MD's TD chances would have looked pretty good as they'd been gashing us intermittently that drive with the run. D's tackle, and the line's stuffing the run on 3rd down, forced the FG. Dylan impresses me every game. He's active and effective.
As @Retro62 noted, we felt badly for Maryland. It was its homecoming game and attendance was dismal. This for a 5-1 team that hung right with OSU for 3Q last week on the road. Granted, it was a grey, misty day and they were playing a 2 TD+ underdog. But I can't imagine that even if we'd had this weather at Purdue two weeks ago when we played them on their homecoming day that Ross-Ade wouldn't still have been packed. The only Big Ten comparison I can find to MD football support is Northwestern, and MD makes NW support look rabid. It was kind of embarrassing. We literally could have walked all the way down to field level on the visitors' side and sat at the 40 if we wanted. The stadium seats 52k. Couldn't have been more than 25k there today.
Two Saturdays ago it was sunny, 80 degrees and we had as perfect a football weekend road trip as we could possibly have hoped for. And the Illini face planted in the second half at Purdue. Today the weather was grim (though it actually didn't rain at all until after the game), the environment was depressing (it's not one of the better college football stadium experiences), and yet we saw the team grow and pull off a big upset.
Idyllic weekend... brutal, embarrassing loss. Hideous day, grim environment... stellar win. Can't have everything, right? I'm a finance guy so immediately am reminded of the power of asset diversification.
Not really for meNot saying the offense was a juggernaut today but I was curious if todays game changed anyone’s mind on Lunney Jr? It seemed having the O line healthy again might have helped a little.
Not when Bielema had to take more control of the offense because it was so bad. Just makes me think Bielema told Lunney what to do. The thing is the, a high school football player could have seen where our offensive problems lie. Moving the pocket was something a peewee coach could have seen was necessary.Not saying the offense was a juggernaut today but I was curious if todays game changed anyone’s mind on Lunney Jr? It seemed having the O line healthy again might have helped a little.
Not Eastern Shore. Eastern Shore is on the other end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.Some more afternoons like this and it won't be a horrible nightmare season any more.
As the field goal ball lifted its way skyward up into the darkening Skies... thus lifted all the spirits of Illini Nation all over the Planet. The health and welfare of countless souls everywhere resting upon a single ball flying between two Eastern Shore posts.
And a stunned Maryland crowd ready to party instead watched in agony as they were powerless to stop the kicker born in Danville... I-L-L...
I watched the game too, but didn’t see the flag planting part. Was that exclusive Peacock content?Watched the game when I got home. Wasn’t expecting a win. That makes it even sweeter!
That was from a decade ago I believe. 2006 at Michigan State?I watched the game too, but didn’t see the flag planting part. Was that exclusive Peacock content?