Illinois 35, Rutgers 13 Postgame

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#101      
Great day to be an Illini fan!!! Everyone stepped up today and man oh man Luke is killing it out there. Wish we could have given him at least a chance in those losses, but very happy with where we are as a program. Love the leadership Bret and Josh have brought to the program. Always room for improvement, but 5 years ago this was a far away dream that seemed impossible. Gonna sleep well with a big smile tonight.
 
#104      
I'll concede it was better, but I still think it was more due to pressure we were able to apply and move him off his spot. How many times did you hear today, "he had him, just missed him"? THe DL and LB's were much better today. Especially Gabe and I thought Kreutz did a great job. That helps the secondary. The last two plays the secondary did lock them up. Short field or not, locked them up.

Anyways, we won and I couldn't be happier. One thing is for sure, every rep good or bad is a great learning experience. They won't be worse for anything.

I didn't hear, "he just missed him" at all, but I was at the game. Kaliakmanis throws like that every game. I'm sure it's why Fleck gave him the boot. Fleck couldn't handle it. Yet Rutgers offense has had a lot of success despite his misfires. Against Illinois their success was very limited. Other than Oregon and I'm sure everyone will agree the Oregon D is better than Illinois' D, Illinois shut them down as well as anyone, including Iowa.

Yes, the entire D played better today. They all have to play together. The coaches clearly changed their approach and didn't coach terrified of the opponent.

We can always nitpick. I'll nitpick Altmyer. On his interception, to his left he had a TE and 2 WR's split out. Rutgers had 1 DB and 1 safety over the top on that side. To his right he had 2 WR's. Rutgers had 2 DB's and 1 safety over the top on that side. Maybe Altmyer had no option on where to go with the ball but Illinois had a massive advantage to his left. But he threw to his right and into the teeth of the Rutgers D. Rutgers was misaligned and ended up with an interception out of it. Go figure.
 
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#106      
For some reason they were showing a close up of Kaliakmanis’ face for like ten seconds after the game. But I get the camera time for corn man.
Allar has always felt extremely overhyped and overrated to me, but he's at least a serviceable game manager. But Kaliakmanis, he's been hyped since Day 1 and he's still one of the worst QBs I've ever seen when under any slight whiff of pressure. He's that kid on the playground who if he sees someone running at him from 10yds away gets scared and throws the ball like it's a grenade. And that's not even going into how he just floats deep balls, something that even D2 QBs don't do. The fact that he's been a B10 QB for 4 years just blows my mind.
 
#107      
I'll concede it was better, but I still think it was more due to pressure we were able to apply and move him off his spot. How many times did you hear today, "he had him, just missed him"? THe DL and LB's were much better today. Especially Gabe and I thought Kreutz did a great job. That helps the secondary. The last two plays the secondary did lock them up. Short field or not, locked them up.

Anyways, we won and I couldn't be happier. One thing is for sure, every rep good or bad is a great learning experience. They won't be worse for anything.
Yes, college quarterbacks tend to miss throws. It just hasn’t seemed like it this year because we’ve played 4 of the top 10 quarterbacks in the country.

You know how many top 10 quarterbacks Georgia has played this year? 1.
What about Alabama? 1.
Texas A&M? 1.

We’ve played a historically difficult quarterback schedule so far, so of course the defense is going to look a little better as the schedule lightens up.

But the DBs still made plays. IMO, they looked better today than they did against Purdue, even though Rutgers has a much better offense.
 
#109      
Heisman Hank in motion+Luke's running/passing ability makes this offense not only fun but extremely tough to stop
Only 4 more games of him being a Swiss army knive. Let's continue to have fun with this misdirection game leaving one on one chances with Dixon/Clement. While they do their things the sea shall part for our rbs to low key dominate the game
 
#110      
There was a lot of Strain, Heckel, and Cox today and it was still trash. They looked like boys and if RU had a QB that could throw when moved off a stationary spot, their Wr's would've demolished our boys out there.

I've liked the small spots out of Rooks this season.

It just isn't a good room imo. Hopefully Nasir is ready day 1.
I'm not so sure you're on target here. On the other hand, we held them to 59 rushing yards. Our defense was stout in that department.
 
#111      
Defense looked completely different from the last couple. They went back to almost entirely man to man and what do you know, it worked! Strong and Duff made some really tough contested catches but I don't think there were any wide open plays until the last drive when they went back to zone with the 2nd/3rd string guys.

I said in the game thread that attendance was embarrassing but it did fill up a lot more. Still was a lot less energy/noise compared to the early season games.
The fans have a big role to play in recruiting. Crowd size and energy encourages recruits to seriously consider Illinois. If we want a winner, we have to have skin in the game.
 
#112      
Yes, college quarterbacks tend to miss throws. It just hasn’t seemed like it this year because we’ve played 4 of the top 10 quarterbacks in the country.
Good point. In addition, we see Luke in every game too. We see a different level of quarterback play in every game, often on both sides, so even an average QB starts to look poor by comparison.

But to your other point, our DB’s broke up some key, catchable passes too. Before garbage time, our total yardage was nearly 3X Rutgers’. Preventing that final touchdown was the icing on the cake. Just a great game!
 
#114      
Illinois could achieve back-to-back 10 win seasons, yet there will be fans raging bc we didn't get in the CFP.

We call them Nincompoops.

Great game (a Dub) that we long-sufferers have seen end in demoralizing failure sooo manyyy times before.

Way to go coach!

You might be confusing “raging” with fans, or nincompoops lol, simply wondering what could have been with a full season of X and even an average defense to accompany Luke AltMagic.

Other than Indinia, many of us saw a clear chance to beat OSU and Washington with such a defense.
 
#115      
Glad our defenders played better today, but we must spend money for even better ones if we want to keep on a upward trend next year. I hate it that college football has become transactions , with a little development thrown in, but thats reality going forward. I ask a question. Do you know any player that Cignetti, as a head coach, recruited out of high school to make it to the NFL?
 
#116      
You might be confusing “raging” with fans, or nincompoops lol, simply wondering what could have been with a full season of X and even an average defense to accompany Luke AltMagic.

Other than Indinia, many of us saw a clear chance to beat OSU and Washington with such a defense.
Both cohorts exist. Wonderers and nincompoops. The latter's commentary online would be applicable to some of our most vinegary vintages, but nowhere near appropriate for this year's.
 
#118      
There was a lot of Strain, Heckel, and Cox today and it was still trash. They looked like boys and if RU had a QB that could throw when moved off a stationary spot, their Wr's would've demolished our boys out there.

I've liked the small spots out of Rooks this season.

It just isn't a good room imo. Hopefully Nasir is ready day 1.
We are going to have to hit the portal hard. OL, defense and QB. Our backup DBs other than Rooks are an issue. Maybe moving Henry back to being a DB coach will help.
 
#119      
While there has been a fair amount of criticism of the coaching and players, I think the fan base is the current weakest link of the program.
I have season tickets for the first time and it’s been frustrating as we have seats 1 and 2 and we are constantly having to stand up and let people in and out and it’s not fun. Why people constantly have to get up and go get whatever. It’s the same people that are getting up every 15 minutes. I left at halftime as I could not deal with it. Selling the last two games.
 
#121      
I have season tickets for the first time and it’s been frustrating as we have seats 1 and 2 and we are constantly having to stand up and let people in and out and it’s not fun. Why people constantly have to get up and go get whatever. It’s the same people that are getting up every 15 minutes. I left at halftime as I could not deal with it. Selling the last two games.
Aisle seats are a mixed blessing. You can come and go at will, but everybody in your row must get past you to reach the steps. You trade more traffic for easy access to the steps yourself.

We try to minimize trips and only leave during long timeouts. Nobody should ever try to move out during play. Thats just plain rude. But if you have to step into the aisle during a timeout, thats just an opportunity to stretch. Sure beats the squeeze to allow passage on non-aisle seats.
 
#122      
I have season tickets for the first time and it’s been frustrating as we have seats 1 and 2 and we are constantly having to stand up and let people in and out and it’s not fun. Why people constantly have to get up and go get whatever. It’s the same people that are getting up every 15 minutes. I left at halftime as I could not deal with it. Selling the last two games.
Is this the crowd that yells at people to sit at basketball games?
 
#124      
Couldn’t tell if Kaliakmanis had an off day, our defense really stepped up, or a combination of both.

He looked very mediocre, I’ll lean our defense stepping up. Ironically we played a lot of man, which helped. Their WR prototypes helped make the man call easier but execution needs to be commended. a+ response from this defense. And the offense keeps churning. Altmyer is the best QB we’ve had since Kitner and it’s not remotely close.
 
#125      
Both cohorts exist. Wonderers and nincompoops. The latter's commentary online would be applicable to some of our most vinegary vintages, but nowhere near appropriate for this year's.

I probably don't see a lot of that nonsense online.

I prefer our level of nonsense here! But I haven't seen raging about missing the CFP really. Just some minor disappointment.
 
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