Season PFF grade for Luke when he is given a clean pocket is 93.5 with a near 90% adjusted completion percentage. Those are beyond elite numbers. Both would rank him as the 2nd best and 2nd most accurate passer in the nation when the o-line protection is good. Basically, if we can keep him clean in the pocket, he'll give us a chance against anyone. He's been incredible this season. People dragged Luke through the mud last time he played PSU, and for obvious interception and sack related reasons, but he also wasn't even given more than a second to throw the ball without having to run for his life. Just might be a different story this year.
Illini Football 2024
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Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Someone asked previously about when the most recent TV ratings come out (usually posted some time mid-week on this site), and I will be curious to see how our game vs. Nebraska compares. While FOX started its Friday night games last week, here are some other Friday ratings so far through Week Three:
2.58 million for #20 Arizona at #14 Kansas State (FOX)
1.65 million for Temple at #16 Oklahoma (ESPN)
1.49 million for TCU at Stanford (ESPN)
1.32 million for UNLV at Kansas (ESPN)
963k for Western Michigan at Wisconsin (FS1)
917k for BYU at SMU (ESPN2)
744k for FAU at Michigan State (BTN)
514k for Duke at Northwestern (FS1)
142k for Western Illinois at Indiana (BTN)
Our five highest ratings of the last four seasons, for comparison:
2022: 5.47 million at #3 Michigan (ABC)
2021: 3.77 million at #7 Penn State (ABC)
2023: 3.22 million vs. #7 Penn State (FOX)
2021: 3.22 million vs. Nebraska (FOX)
2022: 2.49 million at Nebraska (ABC)
So, I would not be surprised if the Illini/Nebraska game outdraws Arizona/KSU.
2.58 million for #20 Arizona at #14 Kansas State (FOX)
1.65 million for Temple at #16 Oklahoma (ESPN)
1.49 million for TCU at Stanford (ESPN)
1.32 million for UNLV at Kansas (ESPN)
963k for Western Michigan at Wisconsin (FS1)
917k for BYU at SMU (ESPN2)
744k for FAU at Michigan State (BTN)
514k for Duke at Northwestern (FS1)
142k for Western Illinois at Indiana (BTN)
Our five highest ratings of the last four seasons, for comparison:
2022: 5.47 million at #3 Michigan (ABC)
2021: 3.77 million at #7 Penn State (ABC)
2023: 3.22 million vs. #7 Penn State (FOX)
2021: 3.22 million vs. Nebraska (FOX)
2022: 2.49 million at Nebraska (ABC)
So, I would not be surprised if the Illini/Nebraska game outdraws Arizona/KSU.
Dan
Admin
Altmyer Named to Davey O'Brien Award's Great 8 - University of Illinois Athletics
Altmyer was one of the top eight performing quarterbacks in the nation.
fightingillini.com
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
anyone got a redshirt chart handy?
Nice breakdown...
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
Complete with an image not from the award-winning performance (but a darn nice shot of Luke nonetheless).
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
Beat all three of the remaining teams on the bottom row and just one from the top row and it's a great season. Win any additional games (we'll be favored in some) and now you're just talking degrees of greatness.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
in our history since Grange graduated , it would be a top 5 season if we go 9-3 this year
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
SP+ middle-class is Big Ten heavy (evergreen statement)
18. Iowa (up 5)
21. Washington (up 5)
30. Indiana (up 10)
31. Nebraska (down 7)
35. Maryland (up 8)
41. Rutgers (same)
43. Illinois (up 3)
47. Minnesota (down 15)
53. Wisconsin (down 3)
Interesting to see Illinois and Rutgers winning upsets by spread and SP+ projections, both having high PGWE, but not moving as much as others.
18. Iowa (up 5)
21. Washington (up 5)
30. Indiana (up 10)
31. Nebraska (down 7)
35. Maryland (up 8)
41. Rutgers (same)
43. Illinois (up 3)
47. Minnesota (down 15)
53. Wisconsin (down 3)
Interesting to see Illinois and Rutgers winning upsets by spread and SP+ projections, both having high PGWE, but not moving as much as others.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Maybe because Kansas has struggled?
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
We have 9 Big Ten titles (and two claimed national titles) since Grange graduated. And that doesn't include the great seasons of 1989 or 2007.
"Illinois is bad at football" is a narrative that didn't exist until the early 1990's, when Guenther and his media minions set about building up the legend of the slush fund scandal to excuse the destruction of the 3.5th best football program of the historic Big Ten.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Friday's Illinois/Nebraska game draws 4.21 million viewers - approximately 63% higher than the previous week's Friday night FOX game featuring #20 Arizona and #14 Kansas State. I would expect a pretty damn good rating for Illini/PSU on Saturday night, so let's hope we treat those viewers to another #Roadkill upset!
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Thank you for pointing this out! Obviously, it would be one of our best seasons since the early 1990s, but as you said ... things went downhill fast during that time period.
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
keep chopping wood:
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Wanted to look this up. Going by Simple Rating System (SRS), the current season is the 21st best Illinois season since Grange graduated. For you historians, here's the top 5:
(1) 1951 Rose Bowl Champs (Equivalent of the 1970 Ohio State national champs)
(2) 1946 Rose Bowl Champs (Equivalent to 2015 Alabama national champs)
(3) 1953 Big Ten co-champs (Equivalent to 2014 Ohio State national champs)
(4) 1963 Rose Bowl Champs (Equivalent to 2023 Penn State)
(5) 1950 (Equivalent to 2002 Ohio State national champs)
Here's the ranking of the best SRS teams in last 30 years - keep in mind the current team is 1/3 of the way through the season so much will change.
(1) 1994 Liberty Bowl (7-5)
(2) 1989 Citrus Bowl (10-2)
(3) 2001 Big Ten Champs (10-2)
(4) 2024 Team (!) (4-0)
(5) 1999 Micron PC Bowl (8-4)
(6) 2022 ReliaQuest Bowl (8-5)
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
Large gap between 2001 and Bret.
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
must have been a royal PITA to get the tats off:
Impressive numbers! Unfortunately we are competing against Georgia and Alabama. If we weren’t, there would be pretty insane ratings but either way - this game will have a ton of viewers (many are sick of Alabama and Georgia). I was trying to think - this may be the most anticipated game since 2008 PSU? Just in terms of our ranking, crowd/environment, etc. Of course 2022 MSU and Purdue were big given our record and a chance to go to the big ten title but this just feels different.
2022 MSU didn't really matter much for the Big Ten title. Losing to MSU basically just meant we would have had to beat a horrendous Northwestern team if we beat Purdue. 2022 Purdue was the big ten title basically. In terms of biggest games, you are probably right that this is probably the biggest game nationally since 2008 Penn State. Probably even bigger than that since we had already lost once. For the Big Ten Title and Indianapolis, 2022 Purdue would be hard to beat since it was essentially a Big Ten semifinal.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I was going to say this was going to be the first time the whole college football world is zoomed in on us since the Rose Bowl, but with Bama-Georgia that isn't really true. It will probably be a lower TV rating than last week, albeit still a big audience and a big big game.
It is the first time an Illini game has had both teams ranked higher than 20 since the Rose Bowl.
(The 08 Mizzou opener was 6 vs 20 and was the biggest game of that weekend if I recall correctly)
Now, the last game we WON with this level of pregame attention on it? At Ohio State in 2001?
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