Illini Football 2025

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#126      
mhuml32
SampsonRelpenk said:
Shades of Spoon. In '22 he completely erased a full 1/3 of the field. You couldn't throw at him (unless you're Purdue and you've got a ref that doesn't know the difference between OPI and DPI 🤬) and your WR couldn't block him away from outside runs. If X can provide something close to that this year, it makes everyone else's job on defense easier.
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I view them as very different players. Spoon was elite-elite cover guy who was solid in run defense. Here are his coverage stats from '22:

22 receptions on 62 targets (35.5%)
14 pass breakups
NFL QB Rating when Targeted: 25.3

X was fine in coverage but would have been the 6th best cover guy on the '22 team by PFF pass defense standards. Here are his coverage stats from '24:

41 receptions on 75 targets (54.7%)
5 pass breakups
NFL QB Rating when Targeted: 68.1

He's not a shutdown corner. That's not to besmirch X but to showcase how awesome Spoon was in 2022. The difference is X is superior in run defense. This also was a big reason last year's team excelled. There were real concerns going into the season about the team's run defense based on the defensive line and X and Bailey elevated the unit's performance.
 
#127      
JKR
illini1629 said:
Looking at bringing the family down from Chicago for a game this year, but had some questions on bringing young kids.

Have a one year old, the Memorial Stadium website says no strollers or baby carriers. I've done a Bears game with my oldest when they were this age and was able to check a stroller and put them in a baby carrier. Any advice on how to bring the one year old, or just not really an option?

Any advice on best places to sit? Are there family bathrooms anywhere in the stadium for toddler age kids?

Thanks for any advice on this topic, would love to be able to do a game with the whole family. Go Illini!
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Facility Information​

Baby Changing Stations
Baby changing stations are located in men’s and women’s restrooms in the Horseshoe and in the Great East and West Halls.
 
#130      
Fighter of the Nightman
IlliniInBuckeyeState said:
Once single game ticket inventory is visible you’ll get more precise estimates from me. But until then…remember we had an average home attendance of 54,750 last year. I gotta think we average above 58k this year.
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Which is, for all intents and purposes, a "packed crowd" look for every home game. We have discussed this on here before, but since capacity is under 61K and we have approximately 7K seats under the East Balcony, any crowd above 56K LOOKS like a sellout ... and that is what matters to me. I want Memorial Stadium to be a feared environment, and as long as the fans are loud and the seats LOOK full, no visiting team is going to be counting tickets sold!
 
#131      
Fighter of the Nightman
RE: drawing a non-sellout crowd that looks full, I always go back to these examples:

55,229 vs. Ohio State in 2011
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56,092 vs. Michigan State in 2022
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In the second photo, especially, these crowds are "visual sellouts." I applaud the DIA for always selling the last several rows of the sections underneath the East Balcony overhang last so as to make the stadium look as full as possible! West Main and the West Balcony are almost always packed unless we just have terrible attendance for a game. East Main and the Horseshoe almost always fill up if we are pulling any somewhat decent crowd (i.e., 48K or more). So, the East Balcony is the X factor as far as getting a full-looking crowd, and I feel like right at that 56K mark is where we get that effect. So, again, an average attendance of 58K would be AWESOME!!

I can't really predict any attendance beyond the home opener with any certainty, as it will depend on our record and the continued hype. However, it is worth noting that in years where we had ANY type of excitement, hype or continued positive momentum (however small), we usually drew a very decent crowd for the home opener:

2008: 60,131 vs. Eastern Illinois (post-Rose Bowl)
2009: 62,347 vs. Illinois State (lagging post-Rose Bowl effect)
2010: 52,217 vs. Southern Illinois (attendance then really drops off from 2011 on)

2023: 48,898 vs. Toledo (30% increase from the year before, post-ReliaQuest Bowl)
2024 SATURDAY Game Trend
---> 60,670 vs. Kansas
---> 51,498 vs. Central Michigan
---> 55,815 vs. Purdue
---> 60,670 vs. Michigan
---> 58,088 vs. Minnesota
---> 52,660 vs. Michigan State

So our "disappointing attendance" games are now dropping back down to the 52K range, and that was before another substantial increase in season ticket sales (which keep our floor much higher). That is nothing short of an INCREDIBLE increase from Bret's first year (which obviously derived its hype or lack thereof from the Lovie Era) where we drew below 40K in 5 out of 7 home games and even drew an absolutely pathetic 27K in our final game vs. Northwestern, haha.
 
#133      
Joel Goodson
DevILLDawg said:
This crap should keep them out of at large playoff contention IMO. They made the playoffs last year after buying out their Louisville game. It's just pathetic to me. Must be an Indiana thing Notre Dame isn't far behind.
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Ander1345 said:
It's pretty wild how wimpy their schedule is.
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it's very doubtful that IU is gonna find lightning in a bottle again, but if they're on the CFP fence, it would be total karma if they get spurned on schedule lameness
 
#134      
Ander1345
Well if the SEC won't budge on 9 conference games and the playoff format can't be properly decided and they just go off of the best 12 or 16 teams playing 3 cupcakes every year won't do them any favors. The quality of your wins should absolutely matter.
 
#136      
Mr. Tibbs
Dan Orlovsky predicts the Big Ten will have the most College Football Playoff teams for the 2025 season.
"There's five teams from the Big Ten that I feel very confidently in making it: Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Illinois and the fifth team is probably going to be Indiana or Michigan."
 
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