Illini Football 2023

featuring and starting Feagin as our running back is a big reason our offense is doing better the last 3-4 games

just to give him a breather and for a change of pace , Fedanzo and our best walk on need to get a little action these coming weeks

oldmanindian said:

I would like to know why Twitter links posted by Dan dont show up for me

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Do you use firefox? It's my primary browser, but doesn't auto play these posts. I had to go to chrome (which I won't do) or Bing (which I hate to do). But either of these play the links in the message. Don't know why firefox blocks.

Mr. Tibbs said:

featuring and starting Feagin as our running back is a big reason our offense is doing better the last 3-4 games

just to give him a breather and for a change of pace , Fedanzo and our best walk on need to get a little action these coming weeks

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Agree with you, and it's a shame it took injuries for us to give him more PT.

Pikeillinifan said:

Agree with you, and it's a shame it took injuries for us to give him more PT.

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yup
seems to me he should have been our #1 guy on day 1

Mr. Tibbs said:

yup
seems to me he should have been our #1 guy on day 1

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Keep in mind he’s a true freshman. He might not have been ready on day 1.

Mr. Tibbs said:

yup
seems to me he should have been our #1 guy on day 1

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Agree with you both. He has definitely raised the offensive play in the past few games, and possibly some of it is better line blocking I'm not sure. It seems like this staff may be somewhat reluctant to throw too much at young guys early. And, again, I have to ask (and if any insiders such as @illini0440 or @Indy Illini Fan have insight if they can share) what is the situation with Elzy? We finally get a couple 4 star players in and it just seems like we are reluctant to put them on the field for whatever reason. The long route by IW yesterday for the winner is the first time I remember us running anyone in a similar type pattern all year, and it has been sorely missed. Maybe someone like Elzy or Wilcher could add that feature to our limited offensive game plan? Is he hurt? Not know the playbook well enough? I noticed I do not think he played yesterday but he has played in 7 games so the redshirt is burned. Do we need to be concerned about similar issues that has some concerned about Jacas? Puzzling unless I have missed some info that explains things.

Pikeillinifan said:

Agree with you, and it's a shame it took injuries for us to give him more PT.

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Mr. Tibbs said:

yup
seems to me he should have been our #1 guy on day 1

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This is nothing against Feagin, but it's important to point out that his rise is also associated with the offensive line playing substantially better. It's up to you to decide how to hand out the accolades.

FloridaMan said:

Agree with you both. He has definitely raised the offensive play in the past few games, and possibly some of it is better line blocking I'm not sure. It seems like this staff may be somewhat reluctant to throw too much at young guys early. And, again, I have to ask (and if any insiders such as @illini0440 or @Indy Illini Fan have insight if they can share) what is the situation with Elzy? We finally get a couple 4 star players in and it just seems like we are reluctant to put them on the field for whatever reason. The long route by IW yesterday for the winner is the first time I remember us running anyone in a similar type pattern all year, and it has been sorely missed. Maybe someone like Elzy or Wilcher could add that feature to our limited offensive game plan? Is he hurt? Not know the playbook well enough? I noticed I do not think he played yesterday but he has played in 7 games so the redshirt is burned. Do we need to be concerned about similar issues that has some concerned about Jacas? Puzzling unless I have missed some info that explains things.

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Connecting the dots, IW is a 5th year Junior. Would he have been up to the job he’s doing now two years ago? Redshirts seem to be a common developmental strategy.

Dkayak said:

Connecting the dots, IW is a 5th year Junior. Would he have been up to the job he’s doing now two years ago? Redshirts seem to be a common developmental strategy.

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Good question. But I would say IW came in as a QB and was not a HS All American receiver, so not an apples to apples comparison in my opinion. Just concerning that a 4 star recruit with an impressive offer list hasn't factored into our offensive game plan really at all and his redshirt has already been used up by appearing in 7 games. Maybe it's just my uninformed opinion that it is a bigger issue than maybe it is.

mhuml32 said:

This is nothing against Feagin, but it's important to point out that his rise is also associated with the offensive line playing substantially better. It's up to you to decide how to hand out the accolades.

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True, not op, but I trust his ability to get a yard or two after the tackle

Well, we are back in multiple bowl projections!


BRO.

Tuesday, Dec. 26
Quick Lane Bowl
Ford Field (Detroit)
2 p.m., ESPN and the ESPN App
Bonagura: Illinois vs. Toledo
Schlabach: Illinois vs. Ohio


Armed Forces Bowl
Dec. 23 •
Fort Worth, TX

West Virginia
-4.5

Illinois

Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Dec. 26)​

Tie-In: Big Ten vs. Big 12

Projection: Illinois vs. Kansas State

Gasparilla Bowl: Illinois vs. UAB

Would be beyond thrilled with any of these. Beat Indiana! Beat Northwestern!

redwingillini11 said:

Well, we are back in multiple bowl projections!

Would be beyond thrilled with any of these. Beat Indiana! Beat Northwestern!

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and Beat Iowa!


We have looked better of late but none of the games left are gimmie wins. Time for the team to show up and take care of business whoever is playing

What, no Pinstripe Bowl?

Dan said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1721565724525613537

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Obviously this depends on quite a bit, but with Iowa in clear lead for the West ... wouldn't you have to assume that if we both win next week, we would have a decent shot at the FOX slot? I mean, why else even hold it for us? Lol.

Fighter of the Nightman said:

Obviously this depends on quite a bit, but with Iowa in clear lead for the West ... wouldn't you have to assume that if we both win next week, we would have a decent shot at the FOX slot? I mean, why else even hold it for us? Lol.

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I actually wonder if the game means more if Iowa loses. Puts us in a lot more control of things.

TheChief4Life said:

I actually wonder if the game means more if Iowa loses. Puts us in a lot more control of things.

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True. These are the standings today, with tiebreakers in parentheses:

Iowa: 4-2 (WISC, NU, PUR)
Nebraska: 3-3 (ILL, PUR)
Minnesota: 3-3 (IOWA, NEB)
Wisconsin: 3-3 (ILL, PUR)
Illinois: 2-4 (MINN)
Northwestern: 2-4 (MINN)
Purdue: 1-5 (ILL)

And the upcoming week's Big Ten West games:

Indiana at Illinois
Rutgers at Iowa
Minnesota at Purdue
Maryland at Nebraska
Northwestern at Wisconsin

The division is such a damn mess that any number of outcomes could make things really interesting.

Regarding the Iowa game time...


So we know the Iowa game will be at either 11:00 am or 2:30 pm and on either FOX or FS1. In other words, the BTN, CBS, NBC, Peacock, etc. slots are out.

To my knowledge, FOX and FS1 pretty much only show Big Ten, Big XII and Pac-12 games. ESPN/ABC also pick up some Big XII and (especially) Pac-12 games, but they have pretty much written off the Big Ten. From what I can tell, these games are no longer competing with us for a spot:

Big Ten
Nebraska at Wisconsin - 6:30 pm on NBC
Michigan State at Indiana - 11:00 am/2:30 pm on BTN
Purdue at Northwestern - 11:00 am/2:30 pm on BTN

Pac-12
Washington at Oregon State - 7:00 pm on ABC
Cal at Stanford - 2:30 pm on Pac-12 Network
[At least on Pac-12 game at night on P12N]

Big XII
Texas at Iowa State - 7:00 pm on FOX

Additionally, it appears that Rutgers at Penn State also has a FOX/FS1 hold, but it has been identified for 11:00 am already ... which seems odd. So, long story short is that these are the games that have the opportunity to fill the following four TV slots:

Times/Channels
(1) 11:00 am on FOX (Big Noon Kickoff)
(2) 2:30 pm on FOX
(3) 11:00 am on FS1
(4) 2:30 pm on FS1

Games
ILLINOIS AT IOWA
Rutgers at Penn State (spot #1 or #3)
Michigan at Maryland
Minnesota at Ohio State
Oklahoma at BYU
Kansas State at Kansas
UCLA at USC (spot #2 or #4)
Oregon at Arizona State (spot #2 or #4)
Utah at Arizona (spot #2 or #4)

In order to cut down the list, I made a couple of strategic guesses. For example, I assumed that a big Pac-12 game like UCLA/USC would not air at 11:00 am CST, which would be an early morning game for them. I also assumed that FOX would only want the "better" Big XII matchups, and the scraps would fall to ESPN2 or ESPNU (all of the SEC and much of the ACC is already scheduled for a channel).

TL;DR SUMMARY
Personally, I would love the opportunity to ruin Iowa's Senior Day on national TV for Big Noon Kickoff (11:00 am CST on FOX), so if you want that, too ... root for the following, IMO!

- Kansas or KSU to lose this weekend ... while neither seems likely, I could see this being a very appetizing rivalry game for the networks, especially with both teams currently one game out of first place in the Big XII.
- Michigan to obliterate Penn State this weekend, lol. I know nobody likes Michigan, but (as someone previously pointed out) it might actually be GOOD for our TV value if Rutgers beats Iowa this weekend, and we do not want a Rutgers/PSU game having a ton of buzz if both are coming off of wins.

All just a bunch of fairly useless speculation, but I would love the opportunity to get on FOX one more time. The biggest thing we can control, of course is beating Indiana.

Fighter of the Nightman said:

True. These are the standings today, with tiebreakers in parentheses:

Iowa: 4-2 (WISC, NU, PUR)
Nebraska: 3-3 (ILL, PUR)
Minnesota: 3-3 (IOWA, NEB)
Wisconsin: 3-3 (ILL, PUR)
Illinois: 2-4 (MINN)
Northwestern: 2-4 (MINN)
Purdue: 1-5 (ILL)

And the upcoming week's Big Ten West games:

Indiana at Illinois
Rutgers at Iowa
Minnesota at Purdue
Maryland at Nebraska
Northwestern at Wisconsin

The division is such a damn mess that any number of outcomes could make things really interesting.

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But no blurb for Illini

Chukwuwumba said:

But no blurb for Illini

Big Ten West race: Iowa takes control in quest for league title game after hard-fought win over Northwestern

The Big Ten West saw more twists and turns Saturday.

247sports.com

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We need the BTT seeding generator but for the Big Ten West standings, because I am NOT smart enough to figure it out.

redwingillini11 said:

Well, we are back in multiple bowl projections!

2024 College Football Bowl Predictions - NCAA Bowl Game Projections

CBS Sports bowl expert Jerry Palm picks the teams he feels will comprise the National Semi-final at the end of the season along with bowl projections for every single game.

www.cbssports.com

Dec. 23

Las Vegas

Illinois

vs. USC

Big Ten vs. Pac-12

7:30 p.m.

Las Vegas, Nev.

BRO.

ESPN releases 2023 College Football Playoff, full bowl projections after Week 10

ESPN has released its complete College Football Playoff and full bowl projections following a fascinating Week 10 in the sport.

www.on3.com

Tuesday, Dec. 26
Quick Lane Bowl
Ford Field (Detroit)
2 p.m., ESPN and the ESPN App
Bonagura: Illinois vs. Toledo
Schlabach: Illinois vs. Ohio

Week 11 College Football Bowl Projections: Brett McMurphy's Updated Predictions & Projected Spreads

Read for Week 11 college football bowl projections, including Brett McMurphy's updated predictions and projected spreads.

www.actionnetwork.com

Armed Forces Bowl
Dec. 23 •
Fort Worth, TX

West Virginia
-4.5

Illinois

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/bowl-projections-2023

Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Dec. 26)​

Tie-In: Big Ten vs. Big 12

Projection: Illinois vs. Kansas State

College football bowl projections after Week 10

After Week 10 of college football season, we update our bowl projections, New Year's Six bowl projections, and College Football Playoff projections.

saturdayblitz.com

Gasparilla Bowl: Illinois vs. UAB

Would be beyond thrilled with any of these. Beat Indiana! Beat Northwestern!

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We also made it into The Athletic ($) and Fox's bowl projections this week!

Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 23): Illinois vs. Arizona

Toledo is otherwise undefeated outside their Illini loss.

Dan said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1722271619794506029

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Iowa nowhere to be found since they were on Peacock