I like your optimism. Calling Michigan a tossup when Underwood will be a Junior and USC as floundering when they have the #1 recruiting class in the country this year is very optimistic
Looking ahead to 2026
- Status
I guess I am being pretty optimistic but until Michigan’s coaching staff gets it figured out I will call it a toss up.
And USC has been pulling top 10-15 talent consistently with nowhere near top 10-15 results over the last 4 years.
We will obviously know more over the next season but I expect a serious talent upgrade over here that makes these conversations more interesting.
Sherrone Moore may not be their coach after next season. They won't tolerate another below average (in their mind) season, and they play OU, Oregon, Indiana, OSU, PSU, and Iowa next year. Does Underwood transfer then? It's certainly possible.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
That’s certainly how I remember fans looking at it before the season started. I mean hey, we were ranked way ahead of them on the date of the game and only slight underdogs for being on the road! Hoosiers obviously turned out to be criminally underrated and much better than anyone thought preseason. However, I tried to do these without the benefit of hindsight so it would be more apples to apples with next year!
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
Lol def not an indictment of your work! Moreso a "wtf happened there" with the preseason prognostications, as you pointed out!
Absolutely - I remember this game was billed as a CFP "play-in" game! Little did we know....
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Could miss the whole season and still technically open in the fall.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
After seeing what lies ahead for the Wolverines, I REALLY like our 2026 schedule!!
It's unbelievable that they scheduled OU, then Texas, and then eventually ND in their nonconference schedules for the future. Could easily cost them playoff opportunities.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Moore will be fired if they don't make the playoff imo. And they have Oklahoma, Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, and Penn State (who I think will come back to respectability) on the sched.
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Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
My 1A. priority is impact d linemen. IMO our D struggles stemmed primarily from not getting heat on the QB with the front 4. Virtually all good defensive teams have that 1 trait. D line hits the QB makes your secondary better cause they don't have to cover as long. This could also be where a game changing linebacker that can rush the passer comes in as well.
1B is the O line as you mention. We had good moments (USC & Rutgers) but a lot of dead stretches where we couldn't move the ball either running or throwing. And Luke had to run for his life at times. I'm sure Bret will focus heavy here to try & instill a more physical consistent presence ala the Wisconsin model when he was there.
The one thing we lack at the offensive skill positions is a real "home run hitter" type. We have a lot of good players at receiver & RB but we don't have that guy that is a threat to house it from anywhere on the field. I'm not necessarily talking about an elite guy either. Sometimes it's your 3rd receiver or your 3rd down running back but they just have jets for legs & can score any time the ball is in their hands. Older Illini fans will remember Rocky Harvey from the 2001 Sugar Bowl team. Very small guy but the other team had to game plan for him. Cause in those 10 to 15 touches he might get each time the ball hit his hands he was a threat to just blow by the defense. A guy like that opens it up for everyone else cause the defense has to always be aware of him. Rocky didn't have the build for 30 touches a game but he was ELECTRIC when he got the ball.
I still think Valentine is that guy. Yeah, he didn't look as quick after the injury he suffered, but our OL woes really hurt all our RBs. I legitimately think that with a competent run blocking OL, Valentine is the guy who can make a man miss and just be gone. I'd like to see him utilized more next year in the screen game.
can he block a blitzing linebacker tho ?
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
That is possible. That is the thing we have lacked thus far in the Bret era. Bryant had a little bit of that. Like I said it's not necessarily your best skill guy but it really helps to have that 1 electric guy Maybe he doesn't run crisp routes but he has big time speed & occasionally just runs by everyone.
From what I saw this past season, KVal is better at it than Feagin.
He suffered the injury against OSU. Really became a completely different player afterwards, and the stats show it.
How I view the running backs: between Valentine/Feagin/Laughery - if all three return - we need to combine for 1500 yards in order to be considered a successful rushing season.
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1500 is a lot. That means you'd be asking for those three to combine for 125 rushing yards per game. I'm not sure we're THAT committed to the run either as we've been a pass first offense.
Okay? I do not think it's that unreasonable.
In 2024, we averaged 132 YPG between our four backs Feagin/Valentine/McCray/Laughery (with Feagin only playing 5 games).
This year that number is down to 113 YPG between our three guys.
125 is not that high a bar for next season. The run game needs to be more efficient.
blackdog
- Champaign
Actually it was 131 ypg this year, 1574 total rushing yards, which was good for 13th in the conference. So lets set the bar way higher than 125. There were 9 teams that had over 2000 rushing yards on the season
I said between our three RUNNING BACKS. Feagin + Laughery + Valentine = 1353 yards. Divided by 12 = 112.75 yards per game from our running backs.
Down from last year: McCray + Feagin + Valentine + Laughery = 1716 yards. Divided by 13 = exactly 132 yards per game.
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IMO the run game’s regression is the biggest question mark of the whole season. Everyone will point to the defense, but we lost more impact guys than people realize in Scott, Coleman, Briggs, Edwards (all of whom were All BIG).
We brought back 3 of 4 running backs (McCray did leave, but we also “brought back” Feagin who missed most of last season) as well as our entire offensive line… and somehow the run game got (considerably) worse.
We brought back 3 of 4 running backs (McCray did leave, but we also “brought back” Feagin who missed most of last season) as well as our entire offensive line… and somehow the run game got (considerably) worse.
Guards and Center that get 0 push plus slow developing plays plus the running back starting 10 yards behind the LOS aren't good ingredients for a successful rushing cocktail.
Offensive line IMO is the primary culprit for run game regression. From a position group standpoint, I think a good case could be made for the O line being the most disappointing group for the 2025 season, given their experience level and being together as a group.
That's different though than being the worst-performing position group, which they weren't.
Worst performing group: linebackers. If you take away Rosiek, that’s legitimately not a big ten linebacker core.
Following would be the secondary. I think talent was an issue, especially CB2 and Nickel. Wasn’t perfect, but Clarke was far and away the best corner. If you add Xavier Scott, I honestly think we’d have a solid group.
Then the Offensive line. Just did not meet expectations. Not worst performing, but very possibly most disappointing.
I've been on record with you, the linebacking position group as we know it right now is not close to being Big Ten ready IMO. And maybe you can get a way with that to some degree if you have a couple of really high quality "fat guys" right in front of them, but I'm not sure we have that either.
The staff is working toward improving both, I think and hope.
- Status