Washington 42, Illinois 25 Postgame

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#54      
Illini2010-11
Disappointment.

Two weeks to prepare and the Illini delivered one of the absolute worst defensive performances in some time.

Washington scored a td on all but one possession (not counting last drive), and the only reason for the one 3 and out was a dropped ball.

Reality is that the Illini were highly overrated coming into season, and that brought along unrealistic expectations from the fan base (myself included). Sure the defense is depleted, but we just witnessed what happens when the team has an excellent offense with little defense -- 3 blowout losses to good teams.

The team is 5-3, but it feels much worse. Take away the last minute comeback to USC, this team would be 4-4. Truly disappointing for a team that was projected to fight for a spot in the CFP. There needs to be some staff changes (especially on defensive side). This team can still get to 8 wins, but no game is a sure thing anymore. I fear the pessimistic projections from some on this board for win totals are proving to be all to realistic.

It really stinks to be wasting this season of Altmyer and Beatty, and I fear that we are going to lose some momentum in fan attendance the way we have lost.
 
#56      
Juju
With Ryan Walters getting a semi-revenge win over us, I REALLY hate everything and Henry needs to go, point blank period. We have looked mediocre - atrocious on defense, with the latter being the more frequent occurrence, in every game since Western Michigan. It ain't gonna get better unless we change the guy in charge of it. That's all there is to it.
 
#57      
UDillini
Such a downer today. Guy like Cignetti wouldn’t let AH stick around.. going to be tough for BB but have to cut dead weight that hasn’t learned into year 3.. have to have the extreme intense cutthroat mentality to keep our standing and hopefully improve down the road because the margins are razor thin
 
#59      
blife
It is just mind boggling how bad our defense is. We did not capitalize on any gifts, and actually gave some gifts back like we didn't want them. Missed pick, unrecovered fumbles, dropped balls by our receivers. The offense just has too much pressure when they know they have to score on literally every possession. Start forcing sh&t and things go bad on that side of the ball. Going to be hard as a player to have a short memory after this game. Hopefully it doesn't carry over and snowball.
 
#60      
Iamgroot
Defense was absolutely horrible hope Henry will be gone at season end just absolutely embarrassing🤢🤮.tired of the 3 man fronts and absolutely no creativity should of never been promoted to DC. I really wish we could of got Leonhard as DC this team could've truly been playoff possible with a competent dc
 
#61      
BoiseBaller
We could win the next four games or lose them all. That's how bad the defense is.

It isn't just game planning either. Our fundamentals suck. Our alignments are often incorrect. We take poor angles. We don't tackle well. That's all on Henry.

I know Bret values loyalty, but he needs to make a change. Henry should still be a position coach. He's way over his head.
 
#63      
Illini in Italy
Step back from the ledge, this is a loss most folks were foreseeing as WA is a tough out at home for anyone not named tOSU. We can finish out strong and finish a 9-3 season which will be what . . . one of the best seasons in the last 30+ years of Illinois football.


Over It Abandon Thread GIF
 
#64      
LuckyIllini
Does Henry get fired after the game or will BB wait till the end of the season?
 
#65      
jamie13197
Indiana Hoosiers defense plays like you kicked their dog, smacked grandma, and stole their Xbox. Seriously... We should expect better than surrendering 40pts per game.
 
#66      
SummerofGeorge
BatteredWifeSchwartz said:
I like Aaron Henry on a human level, but today the way the defense was structured was unacceptable. It looked like the Oregon game last year where we just dropped 8 and let them pick us apart. We made Demond Williams look like Peyton Manning.

And while there were flaws from the offense, the defense put them in a spot to force throws and force play calls. I can accept those mistakes bc back against the wall, you have to take those shots.

What happened to the defense that totally frustrated USC? How did they look so inept today when you had 2 weeks of prep? This WAS the game to give us a shot at the playoff. Instead we looked inept.

In Bret we trust and I know he’ll get it right. If we go 9-3 I will still be happy. But today fans can and deserve to be upset.
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In fairness, Brett HAS to be aware and supportive of the defensive game plan going into the game. So, if dropping 8 was the game plan then that’s also on Brett. Not making excuses for Henry but Brett has responsibility too.
 
#68      
jcron13
I’m not sure what less Henry could do as a coordinator . No way Coach can retain him at year end. His passive philosophy makes it impossible for me to watch. Secondly, at some point Coach has to do something to end the idiotic unsportsmanlike conduct penalties we continue to pile up on both sides of the ball . They have killed and extended drives too many times. I did not expect we would win today, but I thought if we played smart and aggressive we could compete. Neither happened.
 
#69      
Birdus
We need a defensive coordinator. No excuses! Our defense sucks!
 
#71      
Chillinini
I think Henry is more of a motivator. Rah rah type.
He appears to know how to have a basic defense and does not know how to adjust nor make changes in game and even in between games.
Reminds me of my local HS team. Just vanilla with no sprinkles or toppings (adjustments) week in and week out.
 
#72      
Cary67
Illini in Italy said:
No, actually, we aren’t who you thought we were . . . we’re a good team, much better than average Illinois team . . . but not a great team.
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No they are a bad defensive team who is still better than the typical Illinois teams of yesteryear. Look back at my previous posts of this matchup. I said they would have difficulty with this QB and struggle defensively.
 
#73      
zentrails
Illini in Italy said:
No, actually, we aren’t who you thought we were . . . we’re a good team, much better than average Illinois team . . . but not a great team.
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I think we were a great team last season and we're in essentially the same position to be a great team this year as well.
 
#74      
BatteredWifeSchwartz
Illini in Italy said:
Step back from the ledge, this is a loss most folks were foreseeing as WA is a tough out at home for anyone not named tOSU. We can finish out strong and finish a 9-3 season which will be what . . . one of the best seasons in the last 30+ years of Illinois football.


Over It Abandon Thread GIF
Click to expand...
100% this was a game many had circled as iffy and I (and probably many others) still fully expect this team to go 9-3

HOWEVA, fans are allowed to be insanely disappointed. We weren’t competitive in the 2nd half. A close loss happens but the defense to be ran off the field is unacceptable.
 
#75      
FloridaMan
Right, but if we continue to piss down our leg in these opportunity games, we will never shed the pretender label. Needs to start happening.
 
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