Illinois 38, Rutgers 31 Postgame

[Illini4Christ]

We have all been guilty of questioning the offensive line this year, but we have to give them props on the last play at the game.

Rutgers was bringing the house, they had a double A gap blitz, but our offensive line held up perfectly although Lewis was in the face of Luke on the release. But he drilled Bryant at around the 25 yard line with less than 10 seconds on fourth down and the rest is Illini history.


Great job offensive line you held up to strong rush and we as your FamILLy appreciate it.

 

[Orangetool]

Among Bryant's obvious skills is a pro stiff arm.

 

[skyIdub]

I almost forgot!

 

[Vinegarben]

Cardiac Illini. I gave them up for dead after Rutgers scored a touchdown with about a minute left. I pictured us losing this game and Northwestern next week. That would have turned a potential great season into another ho hum season. But thanks to Luke and Pat the Illini are soaring high! Now go beat the hapless Cats!

 

[Vinegarben]

Did Franklin play today? No catches?

 

[Illiniguy74]

Stones

FIGHTING ILLINI

 

[Illiniguy74]

Were you in the hotshot for that game? Do were we!!! One of my top 5 Illini moments of games I witnessed in my life!

Not sure what "the hotshot" is. Mrs. Illiniguy74 and I had season tickets in the East Main. As best as I can remember, they were (roughly) at the 20 in row 20.

 

[Illini1977]

what an awesome game! There were actually a lot of Illini fans that showed up! The last TD happened right in front of our seats. The Rutgers fans after the game were ready to fire Schiano.

Awesome! Stands looked pet empty on tv. Atleast by the time I could start watching. Was that the case in person?

 

[bleedorange and blue]

Is it possibly the worst initial targeting call ever? Live and on replay I couldn't believe they called that.

And the head ref announcing we threw the flag because of Rutgers sideline reaction,,really???

 

[Illiniam1984]

The Rutgers Rivals message board is a mess…Almost everyone on there isn’t happy.

The Round Table - Forums

rutgers.forums.rivals.com

 

[illiram]

I woke up this morning and the 3 words "Miracle in Piscataway" kept rolling through my mind. It made for a much better household with happy Illini fans last night

 

[EyeoftheIllini]

The Rutgers Rivals message board is a mess…Almost everyone on there isn’t happy.

The Round Table - Forums

rutgers.forums.rivals.com

Oh there’s a surprise.

I haven’t read any of the game thread on here, but I’m guessing there are parts of it that rival Rutgers’ board now — except for the fire the head coach part. Though with how Loyalty game threads spiral when losing, might have been some of that too. At the least I’m sure there were calls for at least one AC’s head.

 

[Thor_1974]

Awesome! Stands looked pet empty on tv. Atleast by the time I could start watching. Was that the case in person?

Yes. There were a lot of empty seats. Rutgers fans were already leaving while they were still in the lead in the 3rd and 4th quarters. It was great though as the seats began to reveal more and more Illini fans. It was so great to celebrate the win with the orange and blue faithful that turned out for the game. To win like that…wow! It was a sloppy game, questionable calls, but the Illini gradually awakened in the 2nd half. The scuffle that the Rutgers players initiated after the half seemed to breathe some life into our guys.

 

[DHIllini]

Awesome! Stands looked pet empty on tv. Atleast by the time I could start watching. Was that the case in person?

Maybe half full...but a lot of Rutgers fans started leaving with about 10 minutes on the clock. I'd agree with other posters that it was a pretty weak environment for B1G football. Illini fans definitely stayed and were loud though!

 

[MaineIllini]

Were you in the hotshot for that game? Do were we!!! One of my top 5 Illini moments of games I witnessed in my life!

I was in the west balcony. Pandemonium. People hugging and screaming. Grown men wiping away tears of joy. 20 years of fan frustration released in that one moment. We hadn’t beat OSU or UM since the mid-60’s.

 

[blackdog]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1860430827194118345

 

[IlliniCardinal]

Was it just me, or did the app ("tv") timeouts feel very long?

The Red hat on the sideline showed a countdown clock of 2:45, though in the past I recall this only being 2:30. I wonder if the networks have added another 15 seconds to their commercial breaks.

 

[Illini in Italy]

Oh there’s a surprise.

I haven’t read any of the game thread on here, but I’m guessing there are parts of it that rival Rutgers’ board now — except for the fire the head coach part. Though with how Loyalty game threads spiral when losing, might have been some of that too. At the least I’m sure there were calls for at least one AC’s head.

I think I've poked into the Game Thread once or twice this season, usually before the game starts. After the game starts, there's just too much . . . . being spouted that it's not worth the interaction with folks that are supposedly O&B to the core. This avoidance has done wonders for my season

 

[21ChampaignSt]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1860430827194118345

That was a cool moment. My favorite part was when, as the basketball game tipped off, fans throughout the SFC had the football game streaming on their phones. And when Bryant scored the touchdown, little pockets of celebration erupted throughout the stadium like campfires on a mountainside. At that point, most of the stadium wasn't in on it. But then a few minutes later, they replayed it on the jumbotron and the whole place lit up. Pretty unique sports experience.

 

[blackdog]

That was a cool moment. My favorite part was when, as the basketball game tipped off, fans throughout the SFC had the football game streaming on their phones. And when Bryant scored the touchdown, little pockets of celebration erupted throughout the stadium like campfires on a mountainside. At that point, most of the stadium wasn't in on it. But then a few minutes later, they replayed it on the jumbotron and the whole place lit up. Pretty unique sports experience.

My stream seemed a little farther ahead than everyone in our section so a bunch of people behind clustered up to watch on my phone and we were all in stunned disbelief. Such a cool moment.

 

[chiefini]

Not sure what "the hotshot" is. Mrs. Illiniguy74 and I had season tickets in the East Main. As best as I can remember, they were (roughly) at the 20 in row 20.

@Illiniguy74 Sorry. Autocorrected from horseshoe, and by the time I saw the error, it was too late to edit it. Should have read, “Were you in the horseshoe? So were we!” We first got our season tickets for that next season partly because of that game and have had them ever since…

 

[Macho Man]

Rutgers players were covering the field injured like they were doing a reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg

Think Battle of Michigan State.

 

[SuperintendentChalmers]

Yes. There were a lot of empty seats. Rutgers fans were already leaving while they were still in the lead in the 3rd and 4th quarters. It was great though as the seats began to reveal more and more Illini fans. It was so great to celebrate the win with the orange and blue faithful that turned out for the game. To win like that…wow! It was a sloppy game, questionable calls, but the Illini gradually awakened in the 2nd half. The scuffle that the Rutgers players initiated after the half seemed to breathe some life into our guys.

Not a big crowd in general, but there were pockets of Illini fans, including a small group behind the bench. We stayed, and stayed loud, as Rutgers fans gradually left. If you watch this view of the Bryant TD on a larger screen, you can see pockets of Illini fans going crazy in the stands on what was our side of the field.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1860429330284773667

 

[BretMyBeachHouse]

Oh there’s a surprise.

I haven’t read any of the game thread on here, but I’m guessing there are parts of it that rival Rutgers’ board now — except for the fire the head coach part. Though with how Loyalty game threads spiral when losing, might have been some of that too. At the least I’m sure there were calls for at least one AC’s head.

If the betting line is 1 for calls to fire and AC always bet the over. Absolute lock.

 

[RML]

I'm just saying it was a blunder, which is hard to argue against since they blundered on the play and lost.

I can't resist jumping in here with my own view on how to analyze the wisdom of a decision. As I assess these things, the fact that some decision did or didn't work out isn't itself a strong argument that the decision itself was a poor one.
If you play the lottery, it's an unwise decision on its own, regardless of how it turns out. It's an unwise decision because the weighted return (the amount you can win times the probability that you will win) is less than the cost. If you play and win, it was still an unwise decision because there was no way you could know for sure that you were going to win. You won because you were FORTUNATE, not because the decision to play was wise. Deciding to play was a fortunate decision, not a wise one.
Going back to the case at hand, the fact that they didn't get two points is no barrier to arguing that the decision to try for two was nonetheless a wise decision.
Of course, anyone is free to define the terms differently.