Illinois 31, Nebraska 24 OT Postgame

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#476      
redwingillini11
Omg I am so happy with that win for so, so many reasons. I would have loved to post my thoughts last night, but knew I probably had to wait until today. In no particular order:

1. Going into the season I had Nebraska circled on the schedule as a game we could surprise folks and pull off. We have relatively had Nebraska's number in recent years, and I thought it was entirely possible we could be underestimated and once again assert our dominance against a (former) B1G West rival. They were admittedly looking really good through the first three games, so my optimism faded a bit and realism kicked in. But I still had that gut feeling that we shouldn't fear Nebraska and could pull it off. So selfishly, I am thrilled that my gut feeling was right!
2. 2/3 of the way to bowl eligibility!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. Vindication for the ILLINOIS helmets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They looked so good in two nationally televised games!!!!!
4. Luke Altmyer. I feel like the outside consensus is that he was a mediocre QB that couldn't do much for us. And after basically getting benched last year, he could have spiraled, transferred away, and been another sad Illinois QB story. But he has shown AMAZING growth, and he went into just about as hostile an environment as there is and was an absolute stud who had a perfect game. I am so happy for him, and am so glad we get to watch him play many more games for us.
5. Coach. Not sure if it is the Arkansas tenure still, but he has been really disrespected by outsiders as a bottom of the league coach. He got more respect after 2022, but after last year he became a complete afterthought again. That is completely unwarranted, and seeing B1G coach rankings with coaches like Rhule and Jonathan Smith and PJ Fleck and FIckell ahead of him has been infuriating. He is one of the best coaches in the conference who came into a really tough situation and is building something very solid, while putting a ton of players in the NFL. I am so glad Josh found his guy, and I am so glad we have a guy who wants to build Illinois into something lasting.
6. Lunney. I have been one of his biggest haters. I'm very happy for him to shut me up for once with an absolutely perfect offensive game. (To be fair, I didn't watch the first 3 quarters, but listening on the radio it sounded like we were as perfect an offense as can be.
7. Henry. Our defense was pretty frustrating bend-then-break through the first half, and for much of the past year. But for someone going through something so awful personally, to step up and lock his defense down during the second half was incredible. So happy for him.
8. Nebraska's whole 7-0 going into the Ohio State game was so cocky. I really, really wanted to be the team that ruined that for them. And we were!
9. Raiola is legit and will be a NFL star one day, but I really didn't want to lose to the pretend Patrick Mahomes prodigy in his first big game.
10. Just endless reasons why it was a fantastic win. So happy for this program!
 
#477      
PasadenaIllini
Illini2010-11 said:
Disagree strongly with the bolded. If they don't convert on that conceptual 4th down, all would be coming out with pitchforks. Not like the kicker did not have the leg, the placement of the ball was slightly off. The kick was inside 40 yards...
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I guess we're going to have to agree to strongly disagree. Hohl had a grand total of 1 kick in a college football game at that time, and no real place-kicking resume to stand on prior to college. Unless it's a gimme, extra-point length chip shot, you don't put the game in the hands of a kicker that hasn't proven that they're ready for that burden at that stage of the game, at least in my opinion. If they wouldn't have converted, it's an easy to explain decision, IMHO...a lot easier to explain than giving your green and unproven kicker a kick that he hasn't proven that he can consistently make with the game on the line. They were moving the ball on us and probably would have converted had they gone for it.
 
#479      
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
Keisersose said:
How many times did we punt? Nebraska made two great plays to force fumbles and once they were gifted a turnover on downs bc of a missed face mask. It’s not like their defense was causing a bunch of problems throughout the game. (Other than the two great plays I mentioned above.)
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Robertson punted twice last night, both in the 2nd half. He punted on the first drive of the half and then on Illinois' final drive in regulation.
 
#481      
ChiefGritty
OrangeNTude said:
Would be interesting to know though, why exactly he wasn’t able to turn things around at Arkansas.
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1. He did
2. His tenure there coincided with an SEC West of Peak Saban Bama, Johnny Football Texas A&M, Hugh Freeze mega payroll Ole Miss, Gus Malzahn's peak at Auburn, Dan Mullen getting Mississippi State to Number 1, and pre-collapse Les Miles at LSU.

Those middle three season at Arkansas the teams were a lot better than the records looked. 7 top 20 wins and right in games with elite teams home and away.

But in that neighborhood, especially at that time, people are going to have zero patience with you if you're not an apex predator recruiter, and Bret's not. Plus they were paying him what was obscene money at the time. It's understandable the breakup happened. That's a tough gig, everybody lived on.
 
#482      
Fuze
Illini2010-11 said:
Disagree strongly with the bolded. If they don't convert on that conceptual 4th down, all would be coming out with pitchforks. Not like the kicker did not have the leg, the placement of the ball was slightly off. The kick was inside 40 yards...
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Agreed. I think it was one of those situations where no matter if he chose to go for it or kick it, he's a genius if it works and an idiot if it doesn't. He gets just as much flack if they go for it and don't convert as he's getting now.
 
#483      
illinigiant80
OrangeNTude said:
This outcome was not surprising to me. When Bielema was hired, Illinois got a legit big time coach.

Would be interesting to know though, why exactly he wasn’t able to turn things around at Arkansas.
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My three thoughts are SEC football is hard, might have learned some new things in his few years in the NFL, and maybe has matured some since coaching at Arkansas. Things that have been mentioned in the past on Loyalty, but all make sense. Whatever it is, I like it.
 
#484      
phats22
Fuze said:
Agreed. I think it was one of those situations where no matter if he chose to go for it or kick it, he's a genius if it works and an idiot if it doesn't. He gets just as much flack if they go for it and don't convert as he's getting now.
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I would argue the genius if it works, idiot if you don't play was the third down pass to the end zone in shortyard situation that they did not complete (play just before the fg attempt)

they had been moving the ball well, and getting that first down would have kept the drive alive, ran the clock, made the field goal shorter. they went for the dagger but failed pull it off.

also, their defense had not really stopped our offense apart from our two turnovers. if you go for it on 4th and don't get it, I don't think you have a ton of confidence in your defense to prevent Illinois from scoring
 
#485      
purcy51
Illini2010-11 said:
Disagree strongly with the bolded. If they don't convert on that conceptual 4th down, all would be coming out with pitchforks. Not like the kicker did not have the leg, the placement of the ball was slightly off. The kick was inside 40 yards...
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LACES OUT!!
 
#490      
IlliniRocketFan
#491      
Dkayak
IlliniRocketFan said:
Athlon is nothing but trash click bate. All they do is spread rumors like they are facts and gospel. I quit reading their junk a long time ago because it actually made me dumber, which it didn't think was possible.
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Google fed both of these to me. It was my fault for searching for and surfing Nebbie message boards, suggesting I care about them and their traumatic loss.

BTW, those boards are so very sad in general. Despair is the overall theme, with a few fans seeking to blame Rhule and the refs. Some do feel we were the better team, but many still dismiss Illinois and its hopeless chances going forward. They’re eating the same sour grapes as Kansas two weeks earlier. What could have happened that we lose to the terrible Illini? Look in the mirror, not for scapegoats.
 
#492      
Illini IndyCar Fan
Dkayak said:
BTW, those boards are so very sad in general. Despair is the overall theme, with a few fans seeking to blame Rhule and the refs. Some do feel we were the better team, but many still dismiss Illinois and its hopeless chances going forward. They’re eating the same sour grapes as Kansas two weeks earlier. What could have happened that we lose to the terrible Illini? Look in the mirror, not for scapegoats.
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Considering how the Illini absolutely spoiled the "playoff year" for the ranked Jayhawks and sent their program death spiraling into 2 more losses against "terrible teams", I'd be having a meltdown too if I was a Husker fan.

Imagine believing for months that your team was going to be 7-0 heading into a game against Ohio State ... and then they lose at home in the first conference game of the season versus us on national TV.

Our guys are really good at deflating the egos of big headed fanbases.
 
#493      
mhuml32
Notes from the game, but let's start off with Bielema tenure:

1. 4-0
2. Bielema started 1-4 at Illinois. He is 21-15 since the '21 Charlotte game. That's the most wins in the first 36 games for an Illinois coach since Mackovic.
3. Bielema needs three more wins to enter the top-10 for Illinois football coaches.
4. Winning percentage of Illinois football coaches who've coached in the past 100 years and coached at least 10 games? 1. Mackovic 2. Zuppke 3. Bielema
5. Illinois has spent five weeks in the AP Poll Top 25 in the past 15 seasons without Bielema. Illinois has spent seven weeks in the AP Poll Top 25 in Bielema's 4+ seasons.

Now game notes:
1. That was Lunney's magnus opum. Loved his balanced approach. Loved his narrative of what levers to pull and when to pull them. Constantly putting his QB in a position to succeed this year. I could be stressing about losing him to another program or a HC opportunity, but that's a problem for another day.
2. Wow, I was floored with both Illinois' lines. Let's first focus on the offensive line. Much was made about Nebraska's defensive front and their interior gap guy being a future pro. It was a stressful matchup knowing that Illinois' interior offensive line had been a weak spot going into the week. The run game started as a slugfest but the offensive line really leaned on them as the game progressed. That fourth quarter for the Nebraska front-7 was the epitome of a boxer struggling to stay on their feet. Kreutz and Gesky especially stood out with excellent play.
3. Illinois has been healthy so far but picked up some injuries to Franklin, Priestly (maybe just cramps?), Bray, Arkin (came back) and possibly Cox (might have just been rotated out because of matchups). Bielema seemed optimistic during the post-game but never sure the truthfulness there. I believe Bray has a nagging injury because he's gone down the past three games. Franklin is the most concerning, let's hope the extra day between games will provide what's needed.
4. I'd like to see more consistency on Illinois' fourth-down decision making in the fringes of FG range, especially in earlier game scenarios when you're not letting the score dictating your decision making. Are you punting? FG? Going for it? Those situations need to be dictated by cold data but lots of "feel" seems to be part of the process.
5. A long ways to go but ... Altmyer is on pace for the most efficient passing season in Illinois history. Altmyer (& offensive line) has seen his sack per pressure rate drop from 26.4% (last year) to 17.8% (this year).
6. Happy for Arkin having a career night. I hope that back is healthy because they'll need him for 60+ snaps every week.
7. Most career snaps for Collin Dixon and Malik Elzy and both had important moments.
8. #1 graded defensive player was James Kreutz. What a great game for the brothers.
9. Pat Farrell is consistently providing 20-25 snaps/game right now, which surprised me. Going to be an important piece next year when the defensive staff has to replace almost all the edge rotation.
10. Now's the time for the defensive line love - Nebraska had been running it down team's throats for the first three weeks and everyone had (justified) concerns if Illinois could effectively stop the run. The worrying script was if Nebraska could get five yards/carry and insulate Raiola from having to move the chains. The defensive line had their best night since '22 Northwestern. Completely stonewalled Nebraska's run game and forced a true freshman carry almost the entire load.
11. Loved the gameplan of freeing up run stops by playing more zone and force Raiola string together long drives to "earn" it. Really impressed with Raiola because he had all of their fanbase's pressure on him, plus his run game abandoned him, and he kept them competitive. Finding moments to increase the pressure in the second half was a good but patient adjustment, with things turned to maximum pressure in OT.
12. Matt Bailey isn't loved by PFF but we all know his value to this team.
13. Beatty and Robertson were difference makers in this game. Beatty has shown the best balance of smart fair catches and aggressive returns when there's time. I don't have a spot for tracking yearly average starting fielding position but I believe it's much improved this year.


4-0
 
#498      
bluemountain
OrangeNTude said:
This outcome was not surprising to me. When Bielema was hired, Illinois got a legit big time coach.

Would be interesting to know though, why exactly he wasn’t able to turn things around at Arkansas.
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Arkansas is a tough place to win and you have a fan base that expects a return to the Frank Broyles era. BB inherited a disaster and by year 2 had them very competitive. Sounds like he went off the rails personally late in his tenure which severely tarnished his reputation.
 
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