I disagree, a lot of the freshmen have been playing well so far. It will be interesting to see who can win the starting jobs. Apparently Alex "Palcho" Palczewski has put on a lot of muscle
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Illini Football 2017
I disagree, a lot of the freshmen have been playing well so far. It will be interesting to see who can win the starting jobs. Apparently Alex "Palcho" Palczewski has put on a lot of muscle
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I'd love nothing more than to be proven wrong 
It was definitely not a great article from a journalism standpoint. And there are a lot of reasons to be skeptical of it. Like, if it did poll B1G coaches, what coaches were they? Not necessarily names of the coaches, but was it the head coach, the S/C coach, etc.? One holds much more weight than the other. And it certainly seemed like some of the quotes were pretty hyperbolic, which begs the question of the context in which they were said? They could have been said as tongue-in-cheek, or could just be mere hyperbole which was being used to make a valid point.
However, I do believe it is a pretty big stretch to think that those quotes show that the rest of the coaches are scared of Lovie. They very well may be, but I don't think you can conclude that from what was in that article, no matter how flawed it may be.
However, everyone can have different opinions on that. Nobody knows for sure except the author and the rest of the B1G coaches.
However, I do believe it is a pretty big stretch to think that those quotes show that the rest of the coaches are scared of Lovie. They very well may be, but I don't think you can conclude that from what was in that article, no matter how flawed it may be.
However, everyone can have different opinions on that. Nobody knows for sure except the author and the rest of the B1G coaches.
Look at the comments about the other teams - most of them made sense.
I don't doubt the overall tone of the comments about Illinois. Illinois football has been a disaster and most people outside of Illinois aren't going to believe Lovie can turn it around until they see the wins. I'm a diehard and I think we have a 25% chance of winning 8 games within the next four years. Coaches at other schools have seen this movie before at Illinois. They'll believe it when they see it.
gecIllini
- Colorado
2017 Record --- guesses?
9/2/2017 Ball State@home
9/9/2017 Western Kentucky@home
9/15/2017 South Florida@Tampa
9/29/2017 Nebraska@home
10/7/2017 Iowa@Iowa City
10/14/2017 Rutgers@home
10/21/2017 Minnesota@Minneapolis
10/28/2017 Wisconsin@home
11/4/2017 Purdue@West Lafayette
11/11/2017 Indiana@home
11/18/2017 Ohio State@Columbus
11/25/2017 Northwestern@home
I'll go with 4-8 (wins: Ball State, W. Kentucky, Rutgers, and Purdue)
9/2/2017 Ball State@home
9/9/2017 Western Kentucky@home
9/15/2017 South Florida@Tampa
9/29/2017 Nebraska@home
10/7/2017 Iowa@Iowa City
10/14/2017 Rutgers@home
10/21/2017 Minnesota@Minneapolis
10/28/2017 Wisconsin@home
11/4/2017 Purdue@West Lafayette
11/11/2017 Indiana@home
11/18/2017 Ohio State@Columbus
11/25/2017 Northwestern@home
I'll go with 4-8 (wins: Ball State, W. Kentucky, Rutgers, and Purdue)
Wouldn't be surprised to see 4-8, but I think we drop one of those "should wins" and get lucky in a "no chance" game.
The orange koolaid is racing through my veins
5-7
Ball state, WKU, Rutgers, Purdue, Indiana or NW
Surprise, Surprise
Ball State, W. Kentucky, Rutgers, Purdue,Indiana, NW
I believe the 6 games above will be all W's. This team will be better than expected. Hearing statements like 5 guys use to be able to and now 20 guys can (weight room talk), tells me they are going to be stronger and faster than last year. Yes they will be young, but coaching is going to have its effect this year.
We will be able to score, not sure about stopping people. I expect our wins to be 37-35 type scores. and our loses being 40-28 type scores. So we won't be getting blown out. This is the year our defense suffers and our offense starts to excel.
Next year, will be the big year. Think of the Cubs the year prior to the World Series Win (I'm not a cubs fan). They peaked a year to early and that carried over into the next year, which surprised a lot of people. That is what I expect from this years Illini team. A lot of it for me will be in and on the coaching and development of the players. #WeWillWin
Ball State, W. Kentucky, Rutgers, Purdue,Indiana, NW
I believe the 6 games above will be all W's. This team will be better than expected. Hearing statements like 5 guys use to be able to and now 20 guys can (weight room talk), tells me they are going to be stronger and faster than last year. Yes they will be young, but coaching is going to have its effect this year.
We will be able to score, not sure about stopping people. I expect our wins to be 37-35 type scores. and our loses being 40-28 type scores. So we won't be getting blown out. This is the year our defense suffers and our offense starts to excel.
Next year, will be the big year. Think of the Cubs the year prior to the World Series Win (I'm not a cubs fan). They peaked a year to early and that carried over into the next year, which surprised a lot of people. That is what I expect from this years Illini team. A lot of it for me will be in and on the coaching and development of the players. #WeWillWin
Well though it has been very early in camp....the offense hasn't looked great....chayce is throwing a lot of picks and we are fumbling a lot.......the defense is doing a lot better in take aways.....though it is very early.....and lovie holds out a lot of the starters I hope we clean it up.......by the way.....cam Thomas is looking prime scheelhasse out there maybe a couple steps faster
Ball State, W. Kentucky, Rutgers, Purdue,Indiana, NW
I believe the 6 games above will be all W's. This team will be better than expected. Hearing statements like 5 guys use to be able to and now 20 guys can (weight room talk), tells me they are going to be stronger and faster than last year. Yes they will be young, but coaching is going to have its effect this year.
We will be able to score, not sure about stopping people. I expect our wins to be 37-35 type scores. and our loses being 40-28 type scores. So we won't be getting blown out. This is the year our defense suffers and our offense starts to excel.
Next year, will be the big year. Think of the Cubs the year prior to the World Series Win (I'm not a cubs fan). They peaked a year to early and that carried over into the next year, which surprised a lot of people. That is what I expect from this years Illini team. A lot of it for me will be in and on the coaching and development of the players. #WeWillWin
Ball State, W. Kentucky, Rutgers, Purdue,Indiana, NW
I believe the 6 games above will be all W's. This team will be better than expected. Hearing statements like 5 guys use to be able to and now 20 guys can (weight room talk), tells me they are going to be stronger and faster than last year. Yes they will be young, but coaching is going to have its effect this year.
We will be able to score, not sure about stopping people. I expect our wins to be 37-35 type scores. and our loses being 40-28 type scores. So we won't be getting blown out. This is the year our defense suffers and our offense starts to excel.
Next year, will be the big year. Think of the Cubs the year prior to the World Series Win (I'm not a cubs fan). They peaked a year to early and that carried over into the next year, which surprised a lot of people. That is what I expect from this years Illini team. A lot of it for me will be in and on the coaching and development of the players. #WeWillWin
I like your enthusiasm. I don't see the source of all this scoring. The line is young, the QB is not known for passing, so we'll be relying a lot on running the ball. I don't see a prolific offense here.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Double Down
- Chicago, IL
Ricky Smalling showed up to practice today! 
The coaching staff is why I feel the way I do. If we had a different coaching staff I would say 3-4 wins, but I believe the staff will give us 2-3 unexpected wins this season.
Illiini
- In the land of the Nittany Lion
That's what I said last year too. But this year, when the coaches at least know the players' names, I think it's more justified: cautiously optimistic.
I can understand that. This really is a great, experienced staff. And we're in their second year. I'm a pretty conservative guy in general, because I hate disappointment. But if you end up being right, I'll be running out and saying "I told ya we'd win 6 games!"
Deleted member 29907
D
Guest
Chayce had a QB rating of 127 last year when he was in. And our 'passer' qb had about the same completion percentage. This year we have DudeK available and the threat of a qb who can tuck it and run. That loosens up the D considerably - especially with WR who can separate from the D. I think we net up re: ability to run more plays and options - that can only help vs a Stand and chuck QB style. Yes, Yes, sample size is small, but one could argue its tougher to have a small sample size and do well - it means you may have come in off the bench cold. And QBs and WRs should gel more as time goes on. Jury is out but overall i think we net up on O with Chayce in there and another year under this offense.
A key part of this should be far fewer three and outs. The offense should hold the ball longer, keeping the opponent's offense and our defense off the field. Whether we can sustain drives and score is another matter.
Agreed. I think 2-4 wins depending on how depleted our/their team is that week. But I don't think a 3 win season means Lovie is a failure at Illinois this year. I think low win totals for the first two seasons are pretty much a foregone conclusion (or at least SUPER probable given the lack of veteran players and depth).
Given the project Lovie Smith has inherited I think giving him 4-5 years before we can say he's successful or not. IMHO I think the staff has done a TON of work on the recruiting side and it's starting to really pay off. They've got talented kids coming in. Build the lines, focus on a balanced offense with running backs that force the D's respect. That's going to make the QB's job a lot easier. I think we'll keep the passing quick and safe with some deep balls to keep the D honest. I just want Crouch to stay healthy when he runs.
Can we take care of the ball on the offense? That's a big concern for me. Turnovers = losses this year.
Pretty much same as last year with a worse schedule... I hope we see more gains on the recruiting front. I love what I see from this staff every afternoon. It's going to be a rough year on the win total column, but it's going to be fun to see our youngsters develop. Illini football is going to be exciting to watch if our boosters and fans don't lose their minds after having a rough season this year. Just because it's not easy doesn't mean it can't be done. The change is real people. It's just not going to happen over night. When Lovie & Co. go to their first bowl game, I am going with them.
After rewatching last season's B1G games I saw a lot of plays that would have turned the game around- all of which being fundamental errors. Muffed punts, terrible penalties, and overall confusion on both sides of the ball. If this staff can eliminate things like this then I see 5+ win season being very attainable.