Illini Football 2017

#326      

LFOD

LFOD
LFOD
Nice article and audio. I am worried whether Crouch can get the ball to the receivers. I can't wait to see Dudek out on the field again!
 
#327      

breadman

B
Herndon, VA
breadman
LFOD said:
Nice article and audio. I am worried whether Crouch can get the ball to the receivers. I can't wait to see Dudek out on the field again!
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Admittedly Crouch's arm did look suspect over the last couple of years. But some how I have this sneaking suspicion that he will exhibit major signs of being coached up by the staff. That is what I am hoping for. We have all been watching the current roster to see how the staff can coach them up. Well, this should be a great example.
 
#328      

LFOD

LFOD
LFOD
breadman said:
Admittedly Crouch's arm did look suspect over the last couple of years. But some how I have this sneaking suspicion that he will exhibit major signs of being coached up by the staff. That is what I am hoping for. We have all been watching the current roster to see how the staff can coach them up. Well, this should be a great example.
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Yeah, I agree. This is the year we should see some coaching results on the field. And next year as well, with this young team. I just hope we have sufficient talent to be competitive ... these coaches look good, but have a tough job ahead of them.
 
#329      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
That WKU night game is giving me terrible flashbacks of the LaTech game a few years ago. I think it was 2012. Fans and and players were hyped up for a game under the lights, perfect weather September evening, and we get crushed by a non power 5.

But it's a new era! The problem is a 3-0 start really wouldn't send as much of a message as it should. USF and WKU are both expected to be good teams, but all the average fan sees is 2 non power 5 schools. Just like Western Michigan last year.

Unfortunately in the public eye it's a no-win situation. Go 1-2 and we get laughed at, go 3-0 and nobody cares because they think it's an easy schedule.
 
#330      

618MattD

618MattD
618MattD
After watching season 2 of Last Chance U on Netflix, I wish the staff would have taken a chance on De'Andre Johnson.. I know he had the issue at FSU but from the show, it looks like he has grown from that mistake
 
#331      

EfremWinters84

E
S. Carolina
EfremWinters84
Just catching up on some 2017 Big 10 predictions from Athlon:

Record: 1-8 conf; 2-10 overall; last in the West
Crouch: rated 107th best QB on country
Dudek: Received 1 vote as Big 10 comeback player of the year
 
#332      

EfremWinters84

E
S. Carolina
EfremWinters84
On a more positive note......

I just watched our 2007 victory over PSU and JoePa on BTN.

Nice victory! We've been there before, and we can get there again.

Go Illini!!
 
#333      

LFOD

LFOD
LFOD
jrichisamazing said:
That WKU night game is giving me terrible flashbacks of the LaTech game a few years ago. I think it was 2012. Fans and and players were hyped up for a game under the lights, perfect weather September evening, and we get crushed by a non power 5.

But it's a new era! The problem is a 3-0 start really wouldn't send as much of a message as it should. USF and WKU are both expected to be good teams, but all the average fan sees is 2 non power 5 schools. Just like Western Michigan last year.

Unfortunately in the public eye it's a no-win situation. Go 1-2 and we get laughed at, go 3-0 and nobody cares because they think it's an easy schedule.
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Nice post, and I see your point. But I will be ecstatic if we manage to go 3-0 to start the season. I agree that the wider viewing public won't be impressed, but I think most of us would be. That would represent a solid step forward.
 
#336      

illiniCA

illiniCA
DC Area
illiniCA
I was about to ask.... how bad is this year going to be? I don't follow football like I do basketball but the lack of interest has me thinking its going to be a long year
 
#337      

ballislife17

ballislife17
ballislife17
illiniCA said:
I was about to ask.... how bad is this year going to be? I don't follow football like I do basketball but the lack of interest has me thinking its going to be a long year
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Unbiased projections have us going 2-10.

I think we all want to believe we will see an improvement in the product on the field, but at the same time 55 of our 77 players are underclassmen, so even with some talented freshmen, we will be much younger than our opponents.

Personally I am just hoping to see some break out freshmen, and some leadership from Crouch.


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#340      

ballislife17

ballislife17
ballislife17
#342      

sbillini

sbillini
st petersburg, fl
sbillini
james81 said:
Lovie gets ranked as 14th best PR guy among BIG coaches at Media Day:



http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2017/07/big_ten_football_media_days_20.html
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Not only did our current coach finish last, our previous coach gets a shout-out too when he's talking about PJ Fleck. Not that I disagree with either. I actually got a nice chuckle out of the TB reference...:hurl:

Look, I love enthusiasm. It's enthusiastic duplicity I can't stand. You know it as "BS." And this guy deals in it. He's a slicker version of Tim Beckman who can also coach a little, so there's no telling how far he can go in this biz.
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#343      

EJ33

E
San Francisco
EJ33
"Last year we had 2 guys that could bench 500 pounds. This year we already have 20."

I thought this was by far the most interesting thing Lovie said yesterday.
 
#345      

bigtiny

B
bigtiny
ballislife17 said:
Thanks for sharing, I always like to see other schools writer's perspectives on the conference.

It did seem a bit weird that the writer harped on Lovie for being blasé, but almost praised Franklin and D'Antonio for the same thing [emoji848]


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Penn State and Illinois got heated over recruit-gate, I imagine it'll stay that way for a while. Works for me.
 
#348      

blmillini

B
Bloomington, IL
blmillini
EJ33 said:
Thanks for the correction - that does make more sense.

In any case, a good anecdotal measure of strength improvements.
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That seems extremely light for squats. My son goes 500+ easily and I can do 400 as an old man.