Illini Football 2024

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#51      
NoRival
Side note, I HATE the 11 am games.

I would be happy if we never hosted another one.
No chance, USC, UCLA, Oregon or Washington would ever host an 11 am game.

Also, the Big 10 should mandate Homecoming is a 2:30 or later start time.

Back in my day, before TV, the games were always 1 pm. I miss that.
 
#52      
RabidDawgClassic
IlliniFan42 said:
My dad asked me when was the last time the Illini started 4-0 and beat two ranked teams in a season. I said I didn't know but it had to be before I was born. Based on my research, the answer is 1951, right?
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Well… the last time we were 4-0 was 2011 (6-0), but we didn’t beat two ranked teams.

The last time we beat two ranked teams in a season was 2007, but we started 3-1. Before that it was 2001, also 3-1.

And 1951 was the last time we went 4-0 prior to 2011. So I guess that is indeed the answer.

That’s both fascinating and embarrassing.
 
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#53      
superfan
IlliniFan42 said:
My dad asked me when was the last time the Illini started 4-0 and beat two ranked teams in a season. I said I didn't know but it had to be before I was born. Based on my research, the answer is 1951, right?
Click to expand...
The last time Illinois beat two ranked teams in September was…never. So to be 4-0 after beating two ranked teams I believe is a first. Starting 4-0 and then beating two ranked teams at some point later in the season? I dunno.
 
#54      
lstewart53x3
Very likely losses: @PSU, @Oregon
Likely loss: Michigan
Toss ups: @Rutgers, MSU
Likely win: Minnesota
Very likely wins: Purdue, Northwestern

Split the very likely’s: 2-2
Split the likely’s: 1-1
Split the toss ups: 1-1

8-4.
 
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#55      
DeonThomas
AP Rankings:
We pass Northern Illinois and Nebraska for certain, and also perhaps #13 Kansas State and #14 Oklahoma State and #15 Oklahoma. Penn State probably stays at #10, even with Missouri's close call at home (Vandy). However, KU's horrible start is not doing us any favors.

Prediction ----- AP #19 vs. AP#10 next Saturday Night at 7:30pm eastern (NBC).

A victory in Happy Valley puts us squarely in the Top 15 and in the discussion for the 12-team CFP, with a well-deserved Bye and then Purdue (home) over the following two weeks. Most optimistically, we could be Top 10 heading into the Michigan game.
 
#56      
BWBW
Boy, if we are top 10 heading into the 100th anniversary of the Memorial Stadium game against the most despicable team in all of college football which is the school we beat in the dedication game, I hope the coaching staff pulls out all the stops and we show better than we have so far this year. Is a final score of 39-14 good guys too much to ask?

For those who wonder, no one has shared gummies with me. I just read post #55. :cool:
 
#59      
TheChief4Life
skyIdub said:
I see your #20 and raise you #..........6. 👀

www.yahoo.com

Yahoo Top 10: Tennessee's road win at Oklahoma boosts Vols to No. 1 while USC falls out of rankings

This college football season is still devoid of major upsets, but some teams have played tougher schedules than others.
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com


May Yahoo grace my home page forever.:alma-mater:
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Never gonna happen, but I love this:
“A reminder: We do not consider any preseason polls or any past season results. What happened in the past is in the past. It’s who you’ve beaten and how you’ve beaten them!”

How polls should be done.
 
#60      
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
RabidDawgClassic said:
Well… the last time we were 4-0 was 2011 (6-0), but we didn’t beat two ranked teams.

The last time we beat two ranked teams in a season was 2007, but we started 3-1. Before that it was 2001, also 3-1.

And 1951 was the last time we went 4-0 prior to 2011. So I guess that is indeed the answer.

That’s both fascinating and embarrassing.
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superfan said:
The last time Illinois beat two ranked teams in September was…never. So to be 4-0 after beating two ranked teams I believe is a first. Starting 4-0 and then beating two ranked teams at some point later in the season? I dunno.
Click to expand...

The 2011 team only beat one ranked team that season and that was Arizona State early in the season.

The 1951 team did beat two ranked teams in the regular season (and a 3rd in the Rose Bowl against Stanford) but neither of those were in September. They won at Washington and at home against Michigan. It's worth pointing out though that the season didn't begin until late September at that time.

There are teams back during the Zuppke era that started 4-0 or better but there weren't rankings in college football back then (AP poll didn't start until 1939; Coaches poll didn't start until 1950).
 
#61      
RabidDawgClassic
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
The 2011 team only beat one ranked team that season and that was Arizona State early in the season.

The 1951 team did beat two ranked teams in the regular season (and a 3rd in the Rose Bowl against Stanford) but neither of those were in September. They won at Washington and at home against Michigan. It's worth pointing out though that the season didn't begin until late September at that time.

There are teams back during the Zuppke era that started 4-0 or better but there weren't rankings in college football back then (AP poll didn't start until 1939; Coaches poll didn't start until 1950).
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Yup. And the “two ranked teams in September” thing is cool, but it’s not that unusual, considering most teams play a couple of cupcakes to start the season and the season used to start later in the month. Hell, this year, Georgia Tech can tout having finally gotten two wins in August! 😎
 
#63      
Fan Since '70

Big Ten Power Rankings​

https://sports.yahoo.com/big-ten-power-rankings-where-164915101.html
5: Illinois
Is Illinois actually good? The simple answer is yes. The Fighting Illini are well-coached and have enough talent to hang with nearly everyone in this league. And if quarterback Luke Altmyer continues to play as well as he did this week against Nebraska, then they're truly dangerous in this league.
 
#64      
Gbop
My orange Kool-aid prediction looking at our remaining schedule. Close losses to Penn State and Oregon convincing victories over everyone else to finish 10-2 but just miss the cut for the 12 team playoff.
 
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#65      
MustangWally
Fan Since '70 said:

Big Ten Power Rankings​

https://sports.yahoo.com/big-ten-power-rankings-where-164915101.html
5: Illinois
Is Illinois actually good? The simple answer is yes. The Fighting Illini are well-coached and have enough talent to hang with nearly everyone in this league. And if quarterback Luke Altmyer continues to play as well as he did this week against Nebraska, then they're truly dangerous in this league.
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So, if we beat all the teams currently ranked below us, we end up 9-3. I'll take it.
 
#66      
Battle89
BWBW said:
Boy, if we are top 10 heading into the 100th anniversary of the Memorial Stadium game against the most despicable team in all of college football which is the school we beat in the dedication game, I hope the coaching staff pulls out all the stops and we show better than we have so far this year. Is a final score of 39-14 good guys too much to ask?

For those who wonder, no one has shared gummies with me. I just read post #55. :cool:
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Fun to dream but let’s not fall into the same trap that Nebraska did, all the “7-0 going into Ohio State” stuff.

One game at a time. If we pull off a mini-miracle at PSU the last thing I want is a letdown vs Purdue.

I - L - L
 
#71      
Mr. Tibbs
The Galloping Ghost said:
It's foolish and I know this program will break my heart and prove me wrong, but I'm looking at that schedule and seeing 9-3. It's right there if we take care of business.
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“TCB man”
 
#72      
RockfordIllini
The Galloping Ghost said:
It's foolish and I know this program will break my heart and prove me wrong, but I'm looking at that schedule and seeing 9-3. It's right there if we take care of business.
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I was thinking the same thing as a ceiling if we stay healthy. We have 4 home and 4 away games left. Mark down Oregon and Penn State as losses. If we win 3/4 home games and split at Rutgers and at Northwestern that gets us to 8-4 and seems very doable. Win all 4 home games or both winnable road games gets us to 9-3.

It seems like we are getting better week to week and if we can get the interior OL to improve to the point we can routinely get 4-5 yards running between the tackles, which is what I expected given that’s a fairly experienced unit and we’ve got a 250 lb thumper, I think the offense can take off.

In 2022 I think we wore down a little bit due to lack of depth at key positions. Think we have good depth at RB and defensive backfield, and decent depth at OL, DL, LB and WR. If we stay healthy I’m hoping we can finish stronger. Exciting times!
 
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#73      
derrick6
NoRival said:
Side note, I HATE the 11 am games.

I would be happy if we never hosted another one.
No chance, USC, UCLA, Oregon or Washington would ever host an 11 am game.

Also, the Big 10 should mandate Homecoming is a 2:30 or later start time.

Back in my day, before TV, the games were always 1 pm. I miss that.
Click to expand...
I’ll get off your lawn now and you don’t even have to ask…

Interesting point on 11 am home games here on the west coast. The earliest I remember is noon or 12:30 pm. Even those feel too early.
 
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