Pregame: Illinois at Purdue, Saturday, October 4th, 11:00am CT, BTN

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#176      
Are you serious? They both happened inside the 5 yard line and Feagin's happened inside the 1. We should have been in firm control at halftime and we would have focused on running the clock out at the end of the 4th quarter, even with a field goal.

If Altmyer didn't resurrect us, that would have gone down as one of, if not the, most terrible losses in our history. Just because all turned out well, doesn't mean those two plays weren't utter disasters. That simply can't happen again and you can't just forget they happened.
Precisely serious! We cannot predict a fumble… when or where! We know it becomes a simple statistic!
It could happen inside our twenty or inside their 5!
If you have a formula for how not to ever fumble…. you will be making billions!
If our team or RB’s are constantly coughing the ball up… we should be concerned! At this point I am not concerned! 14 extra points would have been very nice… would have loved every second of it!
 
#177      
Valentine fumbling when and where he did may be a blessing in disguise. Knowing how it could’ve played out, that’s a fumble he’ll never forget. So next time if he holds onto the ball harder or protects it better, it will be because he knows he barely avoided a disastrous outcome that would’ve hung in the dark annals of Illinois lore forever. He’ll become better because of it.
 
#178      
Are you serious? They both happened inside the 5 yard line and Feagin's happened inside the 1. We should have been in firm control at halftime and we would have focused on running the clock out at the end of the 4th quarter, even with a field goal.

If Altmyer didn't resurrect us, that would have gone down as one of, if not the, most terrible losses in our history. Just because all turned out well, doesn't mean those two plays weren't utter disasters. That simply can't happen again and you can't just forget they happened.
Combined, Feagin and Valentine have two fumbles lost (both against USC) on 351 career touches. This is not an ongoing, recurring issue, therefore I’m not going to worry too much about it. If we lose another two fumbles on the goal line against Purdue, I’ll be concerned.

At the moment, I’m more concerned about our pass defense, which has looked pretty bad so far this year.

But I’m not going to be all that upset about the best stretch of Illinois football over the past 40 years (at 9 wins this year, it would be our best stretch over the past 100 years).

During our next 2-10 season, I’ll gladly talk about utter disasters right along with you.
 
#179      
Fumbles happen…. to every RB. Both Feagan and
Valentine. First for each…. why is this even coming up🙄
100% agree with what you say.

And add that Feagin's fumble was NOT a fumble. Don't know what the replay officiating crew were looking at because the FOX TV coverage crew watched their sideline camera replay and pointed out in slow motion where Feagin was down and THEN the ball got strpped out. Watch it for yourself from the 6:30 to the 7:00 mark in this.
FOX USC vs. Illinois Game Highlights
 
#180      
Are you serious? They both happened inside the 5 yard line and Feagin's happened inside the 1. We should have been in firm control at halftime and we would have focused on running the clock out at the end of the 4th quarter, even with a field goal.

If Altmyer didn't resurrect us, that would have gone down as one of, if not the, most terrible losses in our history. Just because all turned out well, doesn't mean those two plays weren't utter disasters. That simply can't happen again and you can't just forget they happened.
I don't think Feagin actually fumbled on the USC goal line.
 
#181      
This is going to be another hot one. Forecast is for 88 degrees.
 
#184      
We have already played 1, 4, and 22 on this list and went 2-1 against them. As much flak as our defense has gotten, I thought they fought pretty hard and have something to build on from the USC game.

I'll take a win any way we can get it, but it would be really nice if the defense had a confidence boosting game against Purdue instead of us winning in a shootout.

 
#186      
"Out of USC, Notre Dame, and Illinois, Purdue has a better shot at beating the Fighting Illini because there is a possibility that the Boilermakers can outscore them."

What an insightful comment! /s

Isn't the the ability to outscore your opponent the definition of a win?

The Boilers got 'nothin!
Given that they already got beat by USC & Notre Dame, isn't it by definition they have a better shot at beating Illinois SINCE IT'S THE ONLY ONE THEY HAVENT PLAYED YET.
 
#189      
We have already played 1, 4, and 22 on this list and went 2-1 against them. As much flak as our defense has gotten, I thought they fought pretty hard and have something to build on from the USC game.

I'll take a win any way we can get it, but it would be really nice if the defense had a confidence boosting game against Purdue instead of us winning in a shootout.

So we have already faced 2 of the top 4 QB's in the country and came out 1&1. Not bad. I don't think OSU Sayin is close to either of Mendoza or Maiava.
I think our game plan going into the OSU game is to make him have to beat us (plus we have to score some points on OSU's D, but that is different topic)
 
#190      
So we have already faced 2 of the top 4 QB's in the country and came out 1&1. Not bad. I don't think OSU Sayin is close to either of Mendoza or Maiava.
I think our game plan going into the OSU game is to make him have to beat us (plus we have to score some points on OSU's D, but that is different topic)
Defense also goes up against the number 15 QB in the country every practice.

Also, imagine being ranked lower than "Three Injured QBs, UCF."
 
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#191      
So we have already faced 2 of the top 4 QB's in the country and came out 1&1. Not bad. I don't think OSU Sayin is close to either of Mendoza or Maiava.
I think our game plan going into the OSU game is to make him have to beat us (plus we have to score some points on OSU's D, but that is different topic)
 
#192      
So we have already faced 2 of the top 4 QB's in the country and came out 1&1. Not bad. I don't think OSU Sayin is close to either of Mendoza or Maiava.
I think our game plan going into the OSU game is to make him have to beat us (plus we have to score some points on OSU's D, but that is different topic)
Add in that Darian Mensah (Duke) is widely seen as a top 20-25 QB as well. Through 5 games, the Illini have actually faced very good QB's, and have gone 2-1 in the higher stakes matchups (splitting the road matchups).

It seems cliche to say this every week, but we will know more about the defense on Saturday. They are facing a power-conference foe that does not have one of the top projected QB's/offenses. Hopefully the defense comes out on fire Saturday and the O-Line continues the improved play that we saw last week.
 
#193      
So we have already faced 2 of the top 4 QB's in the country and came out 1&1. Not bad. I don't think OSU Sayin is close to either of Mendoza or Maiava.
I think our game plan going into the OSU game is to make him have to beat us (plus we have to score some points on OSU's D, but that is different topic)
We're not out of the woods yet - after Purdue (44th) we still have to play the 9th and 11th QBRs (better than Luke at 15), then we get a bit of a break going against 30th, 48th, 62nd and 67th best QBRs to finish the year. But it is amazing we'll have to play the 1st, 4th, 9th 11th and 22nd best QBR's this year - with the consensus thinking that we had a soft schedule going into the year - that is anything but soft.
 
#195      
We better not look past Purdue
I agree - after what Browne did to us last year - we should be plenty motivated though. Henry better be gameplaning for him 10x better than he did last year (last year it was a surprise he played so you can give a little bit of an excuse for that), but we have to contain his running, if he beats us out of the pocket, so be it. Our LB's have to be a lot better this year.
 
#196      
I agree - after what Browne did to us last year - we should be plenty motivated though. Henry better be gameplaning for him 10x better than he did last year (last year it was a surprise he played so you can give a little bit of an excuse for that), but we have to contain his running, if he beats us out of the pocket, so be it. Our LB's have to be a lot better this year.
Have Hood spy him like he did to the NW QB last year.
 
#197      
Now riding a one-game prognostication losing streak (and damn glad I missed the USC game), let me weigh-in with:

38 ILL
29 PUR

Despite the Purdue jinx, we win --- but we do not cover the 9.5 pts. This one certainly seems like it favors the two offenses. (4-1 YTD predicting the winner; 2-3 against the spread).
 
#198      
Now riding a one-game prognostication losing streak (and damn glad I missed the USC game), let me weigh-in with:

38 ILL
29 PUR

Despite the Purdue jinx, we win --- but we do not cover the 9.5 pts. This one certainly seems like it favors the two offenses. (4-1 YTD predicting the winner; 2-3 against the spread).
We won't cover the spread in this game BUT I hope we play well enough to pull this game out
 
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