Illini Football 2017

#177      

hooraybeer

hooraybeer
Pittsburgh, PA
hooraybeer
renewed my season tickets! how much improvement should i expect this year? probably still a year away from anything significant?
 
#178      

IlliniFisherman

I
MN
IlliniFisherman
hooraybeer said:
renewed my season tickets! how much improvement should i expect this year? probably still a year away from anything significant?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't expect any improvement In the W-L column. I think the goal this year should be to work on developing our guys and our system and let these kids get the necessary experience to come out and win in 2018.
 
#179      

FT35

FT35
Naperville
FT35
hooraybeer said:
renewed my season tickets! how much improvement should i expect this year? probably still a year away from anything significant?
Click to expand...

Probably 2-3 wins. There are only 8 scholarship Seniors on the roster so we will have one of the youngest teams in the FBS. There's definitely going to be some growing pains but I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of the incoming Freshman play.
 
#180      

dgcrow

dgcrow
Kelso, WA
dgcrow
IlliniFisherman said:
I wouldn't expect any improvement In the W-L column. I think the goal this year should be to work on developing our guys and our system and let these kids get the necessary experience to come out and win in 2018.
Click to expand...

Hoping, just hoping that the Illini somehow manage to get to 6 wins and a minor bowl game.
 
#186      

SampsonRelpenk

SampsonRelpenk
Edwardsville, IL
SampsonRelpenk
Wasn't Crouch the presumed starter? Even if Lawson makes it here, there's no way he's ready to start by the first game.
 
#190      

TEYPAY

T
Springfield
TEYPAY
As of now, Lawson is not a member of the football team (and may or may not be) -- therefore - it is either Crouch or George.... how would it look for a coach to say anything except Crouch is the guy?
 
#192      

MastFan1

M
MastFan1
Second and Chalmers said:
....like it's the open competition we all assumed it was?
Click to expand...

I didn't assume it was an open competition, and I bet a lot of other people didn't either.

In fact, I could've sworn that we've already heard something about Crouch being the starting quarterback from either McGee or Lovie. Does anyone else remember that or am I mistaken?
 
#194      

FT35

FT35
Naperville
FT35
Second and Chalmers said:
No idea. But it's certainly a striking comment.

Lets be honest here. If the staff really liked Crouch long-term, they wouldn't have wasted their time trying to retrofit Lunt into this offense.
Click to expand...

Did they really have that much of a choice? Crouch really didn't have the experience that Lunt had going into last year. It would have been hard to justify benching Lunt at the beginning of the year. Plus they didn't really have that much time to work with the players.

That being said, you could see in the Nebraska game that McGee wanted to get Crouch in the game in certain situations.

That being said, I wish they had worked harder to bring someone into the fold with Lawson still a giant question mark.
 
#195      

FT35

FT35
Naperville
FT35
Second and Chalmers said:
....like it's the open competition we all assumed it was?

I mean, I have my usual batch of Eeyore declarations on this, but leaving all that aside, let's not pretend that statement isn't news.
Click to expand...

If Crouch is healthy and George is the only other option, there shouldn't be much of an open competition. One fits the offense that McGee wants to run. The other does not.
 
#196      

MGR95

M
MGR95
MastFan1 said:
I didn't assume it was an open competition, and I bet a lot of other people didn't either.

In fact, I could've sworn that we've already heard something about Crouch being the starting quarterback from either McGee or Lovie. Does anyone else remember that or am I mistaken?
Click to expand...

Didn't think there was much of a competition either. Crouch was the first guy to play other than Lunt last fall and he fits the system better than JG.
 
#197      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
FT35 said:
That being said, I wish they had worked harder to bring someone into the fold with Lawson still a giant question mark.
Click to expand...

This is ultimately my point I guess.

Because, play this thing forward. This year, if we're being honest, is a 12-game preseason for 2018. But 2018 is a huge, pivotal year for this coaching administration. If Chayce Crouch is the starter and "undisputed leader" of the team now, I have a hard time seeing Cam Thomas or Coran Taylor changing that in the next 15 months. In year 3 of the Lovie era, when it's time for the winning to start, the starting QB is going to be Chayce Crouch? Really?

Going bowling with Chayce Crouch is child's play compared with dragging Rex Grossman to the Super Bowl, sure, but man, why can't we do this the easy way?
 
#198      

bigruss22

B
bigruss22
Lawson still has huge question marks of even getting to Illinois in August, this statement is pretty much backing that up.

But Lawson with a full year to learn the playbook and spring to practice with the team before the 2018 season is still enticing.
 
#199      

SampsonRelpenk

SampsonRelpenk
Edwardsville, IL
SampsonRelpenk
Second and Chalmers said:
This is ultimately my point I guess.

Because, play this thing forward. This year, if we're being honest, is a 12-game preseason for 2018. But 2018 is a huge, pivotal year for this coaching administration. If Chayce Crouch is the starter and "undisputed leader" of the team now, I have a hard time seeing Cam Thomas or Coran Taylor changing that in the next 15 months. In year 3 of the Lovie era, when it's time for the winning to start, the starting QB is going to be Chayce Crouch? Really?

Going bowling with Chayce Crouch is child's play compared with dragging Rex Grossman to the Super Bowl, sure, but man, why can't we do this the easy way?
Click to expand...

Wait, isn't Crouch a senior this year? Sorry, I am still fully in basketball mode.