Duke 31, Illinois 27 Postgame

#151      
Second place is 1st loser
OB positive said:
I think Houser and Altmeyer are a push for now. Both have things they excel at at both have areas were they are lacking. One big plus on Housers side is he hasn't been sacked yet.
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The negative is that he didn't look like he was ever in command of anything in the 2nd half. I don't think that happened one time to Luke. He was always in control..... especially late in games.
 
#153      
rdk573
Second place is 1st loser said:
The negative is that he didn't look like he was ever in command of anything in the 2nd half. I don't think that happened one time to Luke. He was always in control..... especially late in games.
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In all fairness, 3 starters from the offense line got injured...If you can't block, I don't care how good your quarterback is, your results won't look good
 
#155      
wncillini
Unless duke ends up finishing with 9 to 10 wins......we are looking closer to 4 and 8. Than 7 and 5.

Good news is when we are this bad the stress is off when watching. We've all been through this over the past several decades many times so no surprises here :)
 
#157      
ORANGEANDBLUE2011
Was Aaron Henry really that bad? My Dad and I were pondering this during the game. I thought this D was supposed to be faster, more intense and fun to watch…..it ain’t fun to watch.
 
#159      
gibb52
Poor tackling. Several glaring penalties/mistakes that hurt badly. Weirdly conservative play calling in the 4th qtr.

Duke is our equal. They handed us the game last year with a bunch of mistakes. We returned the favor.

6-6 might be a stretch goal at this point.
 
#161      
OB positive
ORANGEANDBLUE2011 said:
Was Aaron Henry really that bad? My Dad and I were pondering this during the game. I thought this D was supposed to be faster, more intense and fun to watch…..it ain’t fun to watch.
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Henry's defense wasn't that bad but he was way to cautious in passing and long yardage situations.
 
#162      
Fly Illini Fly!
This is not a recency biased question: can Dixon be the best WR in Illinois history?

He still has ANOTHER YEAR after this (in addition to the big numbers he’ll have in 2026).

Brandon Lloyd and Pat Bryant hold the record for most TDs in a season (10).

Dixon has 5 thru two games.
 
#163      
HailtotheChief
Ill be happy if I never see another wildcat again. Now, if you want to put in a dual threat running type qb fine. The pass was working much better than the run and the play calling after multiple good first down pass plays really is frustrating. Just gave up on what was working. It made no since
 
#165      
EmeraldCityIllini
Illiniguy74 said:
IMO, this loss and perhaps the outcome of this season was born the year Walters left and Henry was elevated. Every time I heard him interviewed I got Beckman vibes Lots of buzz words and phrases. The move to a new defense coached by a man with one foot out the door and no recruiting presence in the Midwest and southeast seemed like an ill advised act of desperation.
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We missed on Henry and have missed again.

I have no idea why the Henry decision took so long this offseason, but just came off as very JV to me.

Sure, talent is an issue. But the coaching and mistakes the dudes make, it’s more than just that.
 
#166      
Fly Illini Fly!
illinidarrin said:
When you make the horrible decision to spend your NIL money on retaining players instead of going out and getting quality players, this is the result you get. We are doomed and everyone knows it at this point. We will be lucky to go 4-8 this year. I really thought those days were behind us.
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Glad you’re not the coach.

There’s ZERO chance at a successful program if you can’t retain your best players. It’s always going to be priority #1 for as long as Bret’s here.

Also, if we’re lucky to go 4-8, then what’s Minnesota?

IMG_1615.jpeg
 
#167      
JKR
Fly Illini Fly! said:
This is not a recency biased question: can Dixon be the best WR in Illinois history?

He still has ANOTHER YEAR after this (in addition to the big numbers he’ll have in 2026).

Brandon Lloyd and Pat Bryant hold the record for most TDs in a season (10).

Dixon has 5 thru two games.
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....and David Williams.
 
#168      
LvilleILL1
There is going to be a big talking point in general with the budget. They just don't have the guys right now, and the NIL budget for football needs to be upped a bit.

Basketball's has quite frankly exploded and may be top five in the country for next offseason. Not expecting that for football but that really needs to improve.
 
#169      
Fly Illini Fly!
The O-Line also has very good depth. Even with Henderson and Matelau going down, Hansen and McMillan played very well.

The dropoff came when McMillan got hurt. At that point, it's just unfortunate to be down to your 5th guard option.
 
#170      
Joel Goodson
LvilleILL1 said:
There is going to be a big talking point in general with the budget. They just don't have the guys right now, and the NIL budget for football needs to be upped a bit.

Basketball's has quite frankly exploded and may be top five in the country for next offseason. Not expecting that for football but that really needs to improve.
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completely warranted, IMO. I mean, Ray Charles can see it (and it ain't purty)
 
#171      
Hereforit
LvilleILL1 said:
There is going to be a big talking point in general with the budget. They just don't have the guys right now, and the NIL budget for football needs to be upped a bit.

Basketball's has quite frankly exploded and may be top five in the country for next offseason. Not expecting that for football but that really needs to improve.
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Annnnnnd there it is
 
#172      
jimbo72
Shepard from Charlotte, transfer to Duke. 30 touches, 200 yards, 3 Td's. Maybe you watch tape, put him at top of scouting report and have 3 spies on him for 40 minutes. Matthew Bailey, Whomever in middle lb, and outside Db strongside. Last I checked we have 8 ballers 5 yards and deeper off ball. His Receiving out of back field for 2 Td's was devastating. For crying out loud, they played final 2 series with Backup Freshman Qb2.
 
#174      
Fly Illini Fly!
Dkayak said:
It’s inexplicable. With 277 passing yards and 111 rushing yards, we call four rushing plays to gain just 8 yards and turn it over on downs at our end of the field. Can someone please explain why we didn’t rely on what was working instead of betting the game on what wasn’t?
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They didn't want to give Duke the ball back and pray the defense holds up.
 
#175      
JKR
LvilleILL1 said:
There is going to be a big talking point in general with the budget. They just don't have the guys right now, and the NIL budget for football needs to be upped a bit.

Basketball's has quite frankly exploded and may be top five in the country for next offseason. Not expecting that for football but that really needs to improve.
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I don't know how valid these numbers are, but this chart shows Duke far ahead of us. https://thesideline.co/nil-tracker
 
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