Illini Football 2024

#156      

mhuml32

mhuml32
Cincinnati, OH
mhuml32
The double-whammy of missing so badly on Anthony Johnson is literally every blue blood is looking for defensive linemen. Anyone that's half decent is going to get serious NIL money thrown at them from top programs.
 
#160      

mhuml32

mhuml32
Cincinnati, OH
mhuml32
The d-line demand from blue bloods is so strong that I'm assuming we are going to see at least a couple B1G defensive lineman enter the transfer portal over the next week that are surprises.
 
#162      

illiniwil

I
illiniwil
i do hope that a few more might come in to help from other programs. maybe we're making room for a pick up at a key position.
 
#163      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
I'll try to graph this and post it some other time (maybe, lol...), but I have to point out again what a huge uptick in fan enthusiasm we have seen since Bret got here and turned us into an actually competitive program. Below is the trend in attendance as a percentage of our stadium's capacity of 60,670 since Bret's first game. Again ... would look better in a graph, but this still kind of shows it. Each line below represents a home game:

2021
-------------------------------------------------------------------- 68%
-------------------------------------------------------- 56%
------------------------------------------------------------- 61%
-------------------------------------------------- 50%
------------------------------------------------------------------ 66%
------------------------------------------------------------- 61%
---------------------------------------------- 46%

2022
-------------------------------------------------------------- 62%
-------------------------------------------------------- 56%
-------------------------------------------------------------- 62%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 74%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 75%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 93%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 75%

2023
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 81%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 81%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 88%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 77%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 89%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 88%
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 70%

Last year we never drew below 70% capacity, and we were consistently near or well above 80% for all games besides the notoriously poorly attended Thanksgiving Weekend game vs. Northwestern. Attendance tends to lag success, so I hope we still have some lingering enthusiasm from the fan base that can keep Memorial Stadium drawing good crowds this fall and help to further establish our gameday atmosphere!!

Also, it kind of messed up the visuals to include team names, but these were the opponents:

2021
68% vs. Nebraska
56% vs. UTSA
61% vs. Maryland (Friday)
50% vs. Charlotte
66% vs. Wisconsin
61% vs. Rutgers
46% vs. Northwestern

2022
62% vs. Wyoming
56% vs. Virginia
62% vs. Chattanooga (Thursday)
74% vs. Iowa (Friday)
75% vs. Minnesota (Illini ranked #24)
93% vs. Michigan State (Illini ranked #16)
75% vs. Purdue (Illini ranked #21)

2023
81% vs. Toledo
81% vs. #7 Penn State
88% vs. FAU
77% vs. Nebraska (Friday)
89% vs. Wisconsin
88% vs. Indiana
70% vs. Northwestern
 
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#168      

IMK

I
IMK
DocMorgan said:
Don’t understand this one. Figured he was in line to be a major contributor.
Click to expand...
For sure, I'm really hoping we can bring him back because that CB room takes a MAJOR hit without him

My faith in Bielema/staff keeps going down...
 
#171      

Scoregasm

S
Scoregasm
illinidarrin said:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1780363768049914142
wow another tough one
Click to expand...
Robot Wtf GIF
 
#173      

Ander1345

A
Ander1345
I mean we likely only beat out UNC originally because of what we offered him. Kid sees the field a lot as a fresman... calls start coming... it is what it is.