hooraybeer
- Pittsburgh, PA
same for coach BB. exudes confidence, knows his stuff, and is clearly a people person.
Illini Football 2023
- Status
Need to know only...
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Updated game times, along with the possibilities, for those trying to plan a trip or two to Champaign this year:
Saturday 9/2 vs. Toledo: 6:30 pm on BTN
Friday 9/8 at Kansas: 6:30 pm on ESPN2
Saturday 9/16 vs. Penn State: 11:00 am on FOX
Saturday 9/23 vs. FAU: TBD
Saturday 9/30 at Purdue: 6:30 pm on NBC
Friday 10/6 vs. Nebraska: 7:00 pm on FS1
Saturday 10/14 at Maryland: 11:00 am or 2:30 pm ... TV TBD
Saturday 10/21 vs. Wisconsin: 11:00 am or 2:30 pm ... TV TBD
Everything past this is TBD.
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
I admit it. I was one of those on IL who was initially a naysayer after listening to our UW friends hate on Bielema. We gave up our season FB tix after 35 years (got them after the1983 season) because we couldn’t stand paying so much to watch the Illini lose. I am getting more and more confident every day that Bielema is special and has our Illini on the right track. I had to push my husband to reup this next season because he’s still not sold on Illini football ever being a winner again. I am really looking forward to Bielema proving to all that Illinois is back and here to stay.
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agreed. we need at least a bowl game to sustain it. 7 or 8 turns into a real strong engine, especially if Altmeyer is a key part of the success.
Wisconsin fans be classy.
Can you imagine how good it feels to be an Illini football player right now feeling the surging momentum of the program and the fact that you are a part of it. Roughly 5 weeks until the season starts. Will be your opportunity to generate even more momentum. Go get 'em boys!
So assuming the starters are:
QB Altmyer
RB love
WR Bryant
WR Washington
WR Williams
TE Reiman
OL Pearl
OL Adams
OL Kreutz
OL Crisler
OL Gesky
DL Newton
DL Randolph
DL Edwards
OLB Jacas
OLB Coleman
LB Barnes
LB Rosiek
CB Taz
CB Strain
NB Scott
FS Hill
SS Bailey
We’d have something like 4 seniors, 10 juniors, and 9 sophomores. Granted a lot of the juniors will be drafted (IW, Coleman, Newton and Randolph). We still have more class balance than I’ve seen in a long time. Add in second team sophomores like whitenack, Beatty, McCray, odeluga, rooks. And this roster is really balanced. The freshman can slot in and develop and not be thrown to the fire.
QB Altmyer
RB love
WR Bryant
WR Washington
WR Williams
TE Reiman
OL Pearl
OL Adams
OL Kreutz
OL Crisler
OL Gesky
DL Newton
DL Randolph
DL Edwards
OLB Jacas
OLB Coleman
LB Barnes
LB Rosiek
CB Taz
CB Strain
NB Scott
FS Hill
SS Bailey
We’d have something like 4 seniors, 10 juniors, and 9 sophomores. Granted a lot of the juniors will be drafted (IW, Coleman, Newton and Randolph). We still have more class balance than I’ve seen in a long time. Add in second team sophomores like whitenack, Beatty, McCray, odeluga, rooks. And this roster is really balanced. The freshman can slot in and develop and not be thrown to the fire.
Illinivek23
- Gurnee
I had to look up Hill - nice to see him projected here as a starter
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Newton had a better year than Randolph last year.
Prediction: Randolph will fight back this year.
Prediction: Randolph will fight back this year.
Randolph very well could have a higher ceiling.
Yeah he’s going to start I think as we are gonna play 5 dbs often so a combo of Taz, Bailey, Hill, Scott and Strain will be on the field often. Could see rooks, bush and Mccantos getting reps. Don’t think we burn Tobes redshirt unless he really stands above the rest. So I could see him, Kariem and Clark playing special teams for the allotted 4 games.
If we'll be starting 12 on defense, Leonhard is paying off already and no wonder his defenses are so tough
More versatile frame at the very least, but as someone who understands little about good DL play, Newton pops out on film so much. One thing that keeps sticking out to me is how much he stays in front of run plays. So many runs to the outside you see the big defensive linemen trailing the play, Newton on multiple occasions sets the edge, from a DT spot.
If the staff thinks he can help them win games this year, then I hope they use him. If he's that good he won't be here for 5 years.
What hurts more is when places want you book 2 nights on those weekends
Did I miss something? I see no mention of Gabe Jacas in the preseason polls! I think he could be an All-American!
And only a sophomore...
If the Illini get decent QB play, there is no reason they could not be/should not be 7-1 against that schedule. For this year at least that is a pretty easy slate of games.
#FACT, Gabe should have a great season this year.
I was thinking about trying to look up that information. Thanks. I am glad to see this. This may be obvious, but if we are 3-0 after PSU, the rest of the games are sellouts. I bought my PSU tickets on the first day of single game sales and was surprised at the good options I still had. But, also happy to see how much was already sold. I'm glad I didn't panic and pay ticket services prices earlier."This date a year ago, we didn’t have 20,000 tickets distributed to one game. This year, we have at least 30,000 tickets distributed to all seven home games. That shows a pretty meaningful growth and really captures, again, the excitement people have around Illinois football. We’re anticipating that number to grow."
Quick hits with the AD: 'We're just getting started'
Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman stopped by the WDWS studios on Saturday morning to chat with Steve Kelly and Loren Tate on 'Illini Pella Saturday SportsTalk.' Here's five notable itemswww.news-gazette.com
0-0 would techically be a competitive gane
What did wisky fans expect him to do? sit at home, wish upon a star until Wisconsin let him
coach linebackers or help sell tix? they passed on him, good riddance.
coach linebackers or help sell tix? they passed on him, good riddance.
Krombopulos_Michael
- Aurora, Illinois (that’s a suburb of Chicago)
- Status