Washington 42, Illinois 25 Postgame

[TheodoreRex]

There’s a reason I don’t go in the game/postgame threads.

You people saying the state of the football program is unacceptable are either approximately 12 years old or maniacs, and I don’t want to be around either.

I'm pissed from the game today, but I agree with you- we are 5-3, and will likely be favored in the next 4 games, with a great shot at being 8-4 or 9-3. As a lifelong Illinois football fan, the program is in a very good place. I think we are just disheartened by the fact that it felt like all the pieces fell into place for this season to be a special season, not a good season

 

[illinifan1987]

After a very late night/early morning of drinking, I'm actually glad I missed this game. They only punted 1 time?

 

[IlliniCaboose]

Hey, Bret...

 

[Dan]

 

[BalloonsTheElephant]

The floor of 10 wins was not the sentiment of the majority of fans. There were many on here that saw 8-9 wins as a good year to build on the results from last year. I remember pegging this team as an 8-9 win team in the preseason and hoping to be surprised with an outside chance to the CFP.

However, the issue that most of us have is how outmatched we have been in the big games this year (lose by 53 to IU, lose by 18 to OSU, and now by 17 to Washington where the defense only got one stop!).

As to your last statement, currently many of us are disappointed at the donkey not because it did not win, but rather because it failed to leave the post.

Sentiments can change if the Illini handle business in November, but it is justifiable to be completely disappointed in what we saw today coming out of the first bye. I am content with the 5-3 start, but overly disappointed how we got there.

As the season approached, we had a lot of people in the CFP camp or 9-3 with a very weak schedule. A lot of that is just typical hype leading up to the season.

I'm 100% disappointed in our defense and the fact that we are wasting the best QB we've had in a decade+. Regardless, I've seen the bottom, and we are entering into an era of actual sustained competence we haven't seen in decades. We have a great coach and a good enough OC. I trust Bret to fix the DC situation. Hopefully he can correct it enough to keep our season on track.

 

[OB positive]

Did wash have great players? I wouldn’t say there is a huge talent discrepancy like other teams. Their coach put them is situations to make plays. Or try different things to see what works, or who steps up to make plays.

I think the overall lack of real team speed in our defense hurts us the most. We should be recruiting players with more speed and better instincts. Two things that are hard to teach players that don't have it. When I watch some of the top level teams play the first thing I notice is all players flying to the ball and how fast they react to the plays. We look like we are in slow motion compared to those teams. If their first guy to the ball happened to miss there is usually 2 or 3 more right behind them to clean it up. If our guy misses it's a big play for them.

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

This is exactly what I said before game 1. Don't forget to throw the Purdue game in there when they took the lead with a minute to go after we had a 24-3 lead. We almost let up 50 points in the second half and OT. We could have or maybe should have been 0-3 in those games. It was one of those years where we were just on the right side of EVERY chaotic outcome. We got one this year with the insanity of the USC win.

Add to that the fact that we lost some studs to the NFL. We're not a program that can just plug n play guys in to replace those types of players.

Water has a habit of seeking its own level and our level is that of a 7-5, maybe 8-4 football team and we're doing that in consecutive seasons. Big picture, that's a huge step up from the previous 40 years.

Some of our fans got in over their skis and really didn't want to hear anything about these possibilities, which is ok. Still time to take a breath, reset expectations a bit and finish the year off strong.

 

[KingWolf11]

If you want to be a big boy program you have to run it like one. Bret just ruined probably the best shot he will ever have at a CFP appearance because he likes Henry as a man. Its unfortunately just not how life works or everyone would hire their buddies.

 

[OB positive]

I'm pissed from the game today, but I agree with you- we are 5-3, and will likely be favored in the next 4 games, with a great shot at being 8-4 or 9-3. As a lifelong Illinois football fan, the program is in a very good place. I think we are just disheartened by the fact that it felt like all the pieces fell into place for this season to be a special season, not a good season

We may be favored in every game coming up but I don't think it is likely with the way our defense is playing. Hopefully Bret can get things straightened out enough to finish the season on a winning streak.

 

[illini0440]

I’ve learned in my many years of being an Illini fan (and really just my many years of life), that talk is cheap. Being pissed is easy

Do something about it. Then it’ll tell me something.

He will. At the end of the season. What’s he going to do right now?

 

[pruman91]

I predicted turnovers would decide the game winner and it did....they had 3 turnovers but recovered all of them...we had numerous INT's.....but our D was embarrassing to watch......

No pass rush
No tackling
No pass defense
Way overmatched in all aspects
Looked like HS D against grown men..

I doubt any changes till off season if it even happens at all.

JMHO.....

 

[IlliniWatcher]

This is the thing to remember. On balance Bret is doing a hell of a job for Illinois. Yes he is paid well but to really fix it consistently takes time. And a few missteps along the way. He’s not a dummy and will do what is needed to get it fixed. We need more talent and likely a new defensive voice.

Don't forget about injuries. That's not an excuse, but it is important. We need our best guys healthy, and a deep enough bench to recover when our stars are on the mend. I can only hope Bielema's recent successes are good for recruiting so we can deepen our backups.

 

[Oracle21]

Bret Bielema's current annual salary is $7.7 million, while Ron Zook's (as an example) salary during his last coaching position at Illinois was $1.5 million in 2009.
When you spend 3-5X on the program, you need to expect signifcantly better results.
Getting to a bowl game or 8 win season is not what we need to expect with this kind of spending

Bielema’s salary is 7th in the Big 10 and 19th nationally. Isn’t that about where the program is? Should we really expect more?

 

[pruman91]

Yesterday was a sad day for ole pru and the teams I have been a fanatic over for , lo , many many years.............

Illini FB with a disturbing defenseless defense lost to an above average wash team...............GGRRR....
Illini VB has now lost 6 straight sets and 2 matches to purdont and scUM...................GGRRR.....

STL Blues race out to a 4-0 lead against the Red Wings , on the road , and end up losing 6-4.........GGRRR.....

and on a lesser note the Blue Jays lost to the Tokyo Dodgers in the WS.......

so this morning I am having a forlorn wake and bake with numerous Black Cherry incense sticks to clear my mind and soul....some
meditation will also done to rid the toxins in my body and mind to help me face the travails of another day on this rocky orb......

the more you know.......

 

[Illiniguy74]

Players tend to gravitate towards DCSs that have a reputation of success. Henry does not have that as is reflected in our lackluster defensive recruiting.

 

[chiefIlliniWek4.0]

It feels like the second X went down, Henry gave up trying to do anything defensively. And look, I get it. Losing an all-world corner completely changes the makeup of a defense. But, man, rushing three and playing to the loosest zone on earth isn’t gonna cut it—especially coming out of a bye week, for goodness' sake. He’s paid to solve problems, and inarguably, we’re at a point where he’s failing massively.

He needs to go bottom line. Everything on defense's totally off and X would not make a difference with the play calling. Gabe Jacas came back to serve a purpose and he's getting let down among others

 

[chiefIlliniWek4.0]

Blitzes are off time, then sitting back in prevent coverage letting the longest 6 yard check down's just unacceptable. We need a identify. Promote our db coach asap otherwise we finish 7-5

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

This defensive scheme would neutralize Micah Parsons. If you rush three and play soft zone, no pass rusher on the planet can be effective. The other team will just run 8 yard hitches and short seam routes all day.

If we think about it, of the three guys that came back, only one who benefited was JC Davis. Scott got hurt, and Jacas has been severely limited by his own team's coaches/philosophy/play calling.

 

[chiefIlliniWek4.0]

Time to quit.being the nice guys just being happy with what we got. Expectations have risen and our defense should be in the right damn spot to play complimentary fb with the offense. I'm sure Henry's a good dude but damn just cut him. Can't deal with these chunk plays

 

[AugustWest]

Thankfully wasn’t able to watch the second half due to other obligations. I think it’s pretty obvious 1) Henry is in over his head, the soft zones were playing with no pass rush is a joke. 2) we just lack the dudes to be great at this level right now.

I don’t want to harp on single players but where’s Jacas been all season? I get if he’s being double or triple teamed but he can’t even win one on one battles right now. Same with most of the other DL players. As others have said we are slooooow compared to other teams. And if 1 guy makes or breaks your secondary then it really wasn’t a secondary to be excited about.

All that being said we used to beg and plead just to make a bowl game. So if we end up going 8-4 I‘ll take it. However, anything else with the expectations coming into this season would be a disappointment.

As always Go Illini

 

[joeybcrazy13]

ILL.... sorry I said they suck my loyalty and love for this program are eternal.... INI

 

[blackdog]

I've been thinking about this way too much, but I'm a diehard fan that over-analyzes everything lol.

Here's my two cents:
I've coached girls basketball for a quite a few years- obviously nothing like football. BUT- one thing that is universal in sports is mindset-especially confidence.
My first two years, my girls were not very talented and had very little confidence. I could've tried to mask that- play conservative, run a slow offense, play some sort of gimmicky zone defense and just hope to keep games close. But that would've made my girls tentative and honestly-just expose their weaknesses even more because they'd just play timid. Instead, I emphasized physicality, aggressiveness, we get every lose ball, we get every 50-50 rebound, we play our tails off defensively-every play- the best you can give. We still weren't awesome, but no joke, every coach complimented our girls for how hard they played- we got better every game, and girls grew in their confidence.

Henry is trying to mask our inexperience and lack of talent in the secondary- he's doing that to keep them from getting exposed. They play to "not give up the explosive" and that makes the guys play timid-focused on not making a major mistake and really just focused on trying to tackle (though terribly).
Instead of keeping us from being exposed to big plays- we have eliminated our best player in Jacas, pretty much made our d-line obsolete- and instead put all the pressure on the secondary who may not give up 25 yards, but consistently give up junk plays of 8-15 yards. Washington's defense isn't any better than ours- but they pull the trigger-as walters used to stay. They play with unbelievable physicality, toughness, and swagger (even though they aren't that good).

We are doing the OPPOSITE of what we should do with less secondary talent- we need to be overly aggressive, blitz often, put our d-line in a position to use their strengths, and if we give up some explosive plays, big whoop- gosh, worst that could happen is we give up 45 points... wait, that's already happening. At the very least, it would put our players in better positions, as it might take some pressure off the secondary. And it sure as heck is more likely to give them confidence. Aggression breads confidence and swag- we currently have 0 swag on defense.

Oh, also, can we recruit Kylan to play for our football team-he's a straight dog. Ps: The fact Werner is essentially calling for a change with Henry says something. He's about as fair in the business as there is- and I respect his opinion tremendously.

Rant over- go beat Rutgers.

I think this perfectly sums up what my morning after thoughts are as well. The defense is playing scared and reacting to what the offense does. They dont force the defense to make any changes or adjustments at all just run their favorite short/intermediate plays. The other major problem is just how vanilla and easy to driagnose the defense is. There's nothing surprising about it presnap to postsnap so the QB is going to be really comfortable with their reads.

Its especially frustrating because on the other side Lunney continues to grow and become pretty good at putting his players in spots to be successful for their strengths.

 

[Illini in Italy]

Oh come on, let’s not act like this isn’t surprising. Many people probably predicted a 5-3 record at this point … few probably predicted a defense that’s objectively embarrassing and unable to stop anyone!

The “how” IS important.

I think we're saying the same thing, this is not surprising. The D has been the weak point of this team since week 1, and outside of X, we knew that the D backfield was a significant weakness, and that has been borne out by the results. From a total season perspective, I think many were blinded by the possibility of a CFP berth, when the majority of folks looked at our schedule and said 5-3 was realistic to this point. I stand by my comment that his year's team is a historically good team for Illinois, WELL above our statistical average. Not a great Illinois team.

 

[therealmiket86]

What I think is disappointing is how in several big games we didn’t look ready. The team also came out very flat.

 

[HensonHall71]

I’m with others on here on our defensive problems start with the game planning which Bret has to be accountable for as well. You have to self scout first and knowing a 4 man rush hasn’t gotten home all year and you don’t have the LB’s who can cover, letting a QB have all day is never the answer I simply don’t understand the gameplan here. Same against OSU. You have nothing to lose/ blitz/stunt disguise the defense, anything to confuse the QB. It’s 2 straight weeks of vanilla defense not stopping anything.

Walters was bring the all out blitzes on many occasions and forcing the quick throws which was a great gameplan against Luke- we don’t have the receivers to get open quickly. That exact gameplan should have been our philosophy against Washington and I think would have forced them into mistakes. Instead we make ever QB look like a Heisman candidate by letting them sit there with all the time in the world where they can pick us apart or just run with nobody who can stop them. The 3rd and 18 QB run for a first down that led to a TD is almost impossible to give up. Literally a 1% outcome. If ever there is a play to show you have zero ability to stop anything it’s that one.