Illinois 50, Purdue 49 OT Postgame

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#251      
ChiefGritty
Juju said:
I remember all of those games and, while they were all brutal, what I was feeling after Purdue took a 43-40 lead, after we were up 27-3, is one of the angriest moments I've had as an Illini fan(and there are plenty). Maybe it's because this season has, so far, been special and we don't get many special Illinois football seasons, and the loss that we were so close to suffering would've completely derailed that, idk.
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Sure, I agree with you, it's a different thing.

I do not think it's hyperbole to say that the Bret Bielema Era just had a near-death experience.
 
#252      
Battle89
Icy veins said:
When it was happening I actually agreed with it - we were up 12 and there was no chance Purdue was going to score 3 times, so I figured the difference between 13 points up vs 12 was meaningless. What I didn’t figure is that, in 5 minutes, Purdue would have time to score two TDs while leaving us time to score again. In hindsight, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t the wrong call from a stats standpoint.
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I addressed this a second time in the game thread, on our last drive before the Purdue touchdown. We could have kicked a FG for a 9 point lead, had we kicked the extra point. Or later, the final kick would have been for the win.

Just a poor decision. I agree with Gritty’s nerd math comment above, but no math works from the 18-yard line. Heck even the kick was not a 100% gimme at that point, but still better odds than what we did.
 
#261      
Juju
ChiefGritty said:
Sure, I agree with you, it's a different thing.

I do not think it's hyperbole to say that the Bret Bielema Era just had a near-death experience.
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It's definitely not hyperbole at all. Now, we just need the whole "completely turning your life around and becoming a better person after coming so close to dying" part of the Bielema era, which hopefully starts next week vs scUM!
 
#263      
BretMyBeachHouse
ChiefGritty said:
Sure, I agree with you, it's a different thing.

I do not think it's hyperbole to say that the Bret Bielema Era just had a near-death experience.
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I don't really feel that. for fans, this close loss was awful. but losing to MSU and Purdue two years ago felt awful as well and we came back.

I think even a loss here would still be followed up by a two or three good wins and a bowl and still positive momentum

The good news is the momentum continues, unlike 2022 where a hot start really felt deflated by season's end.
 
#272      
JucoIllini10
5-1 at this point in the season is awesome!! BB has done a great job of turning this program around. But...

Today's defense was atrocious and 2 things keep coming to mind...
1.) Did we ever find out why Andy Buh was let go? The linebackers were not great last year but there was clear improvement from that unit throughout last year. Buh gets fired without a clear replacement waiting in the wings and the linebackers have been trash this year. The other issue is that none of the other assistants have previous DC experience to help Henry.
2.) How was BB ok with Terrance Jamison not bringing in a single prep defensive line recruit in the 2022!? This after Sed McConnell was the only d-line recruit in the 2021 class. This defense is feeling the repercussions of that failure in recruiting.
 
#275      
2X2L
If he's hurt and banged up I think Kaden should be switched to middle linebacker next season. The guy is getting beaten up as a running back. Let him beat up running backs for a change. The days of Rick Casares, Jim Taylor and Jim Brown are long gone - or even Grabowski. Or Bronko Nagurski even. Said hello to him at his gas station in International Falls, MN when I was 16 on the way to Canada fishing trip with my grandfather. Cool. The legend was he had a size 20 or 22 ring finger or something like that.
 
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