Illini Football 2025

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#151      
Todd99
SIllini1975 said:
143 miles one way for me. The drive home after night games can get pretty dicey.
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Okay, maybe this could be its own thread but let’s try….

How far do you travel and how many games a year?

TGB is 170 miles
SIllini1975 is 143 miles
TheFlyingIllini1317 came from Chicagoland
 
#152      
IlliniInBuckeyeState
TheFlyingIllini1317 said:
EIU was really tough last year coming from Chicagoland with that late start. I think IlliniinBuckeyeState had the 2023 Toldelo opener at 46,500. There was a legit energy to that game and a buzz when the defense came onto the field for the first time, despite the fact it quickly faded. I think we can get 48,000 for the opener which should still make for a good crowd, in perspective the 2022 Iowa crowd was around 46k. Would be great to have an FCS bye game beat the attendance of a rival three years ago.
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The first edition of the Memorial Stadium Sellout Watch is here. Again, apologies for the delay in getting this pushed out, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I had run into some issues and had to revert to a manual count process.

So let's start with week 1 vs Western Illinois. The quick headline is that, while it's not as close to a sellout as USC or Western Michigan, it will still be a very strong crowd. Easily into the low to mid-50Ks (hopefully). My estimates have at least 50,642 tickets already sold/allocated. With three weeks to go, I think it will go up a bit between now and then.

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#154      
Genesis
It is so refreshing (and telling) to see the passion with which our coaches talk about their fellow coaches. Many of them are almost brought to tears talking about their peers. Hey, that would be a great name for a rock band - Tears for Peers
 
#155      
Brosky
I was too. What was it? 8 rushing TDs in a single game? Mind blowing. Is that still an NCAA record?
 
#156      
Brosky
Dan said:
Welcome to the Illinois Football 2025 thread :illinois:


Schedule | Roster | Tickets


2025 Illini Football Schedule
DateOpponentTime/TV
Fri, Aug 29Western Illinois6:30pm Peacock
Sat, Sept 6at Duke11:00am ABC/ESPN
Sat, Sept 13Western Michigan6:00pm FS1
Sat, Sept 20at Indiana
Sat, Sept 27USC
(Homecoming)
Sat, Oct 4at Purdue
Sat, Oct 11Ohio State
Sat, Oct 25at Washington
Sat, Nov 1Rutgers
Sat, Nov 15Maryland
Sat, Nov 22at Wisconsin
Sat, Nov 29Northwestern

All times CT
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The game at Duke will be super important in the early going. As will the game at Indiana. I assume both games are winnable but neither will come easy.
 
#157      
Brosky
Illini2010-11 said:
Calling it now. If the Illini start 5-1 or 6-0, Game Day will be coming to Champaign for the matchup with OSU. I expect Coach B to have the team prepared again for a good September, so this is quite possible to happen.

The only other major game I see that would have appeal is Oklahoma vs Texas at the Cotton Bowl, but both those teams could possibly be sitting on two losses at that point (Oklahoma plays Michigan and Auburn before the matchup, and Texas has two difficult roads games @OSU and @Florida).

We are overdue to host Game Day.
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I admire your optimism, but games at Duke and at Indiana could stumbling blocks in the early going. I hope we win them both, but that will be a major challenge.
 
#158      
TheChief4Life
Todd99 said:
Okay, maybe this could be its own thread but let’s try….

How far do you travel and how many games a year?

TGB is 170 miles
SIllini1975 is 143 miles
TheFlyingIllini1317 came from Chicagoland
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160ish miles (coming from just west of St. Louis). Starting our 21st year of season tickets, although we lived in Springfield for the first 12 years of those season tickets; Much quicker drive from there. I personally have missed maybe 5 total games during that time, but someone from my family has always gone to every game during those 21 years. We’ve gone from 3 season tickets to 7 in that span too. Started with just my wife, sister-in-law and me to now my wife, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, me, and our two kids (the reseating was a !!!!!… but that’s another topic).

My family is lucky because we have some family that lives in Champaign. Have never needed to get a hotel.
 
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#160      
Fly Illini Fly!
Scout for the Duke game is pretty simple - really good defense, lots of biltzes, one of the best secondaries in CFB. Offense comparatively lagging, including what was statistically the worst run game in the FBS last season. They definitely made an upgrade at QB.

Very well may be one of those 13-7 finishes.
 
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#162      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Scout for the Duke game is pretty simple - really good defense, lots of biltzes, one of the best secondaries in CFB. Offense comparatively lagging, including what was statistically the worst run game in the FBS last season. They definitely made an upgrade at QB.

Very well may be one of those 13-7 finishes.
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It's a very tough game. Duke is a top 25 team, whether they're rated there or not. If we lose every ounce of "tough non conference" love will be out the door.

Our run defense is not great either so it's still safe to assume they'll get something on the ground. Our OLine was not a good pass pro unit last year, so the biltzes could prove a concern.
 
#163      
phats22
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
It's a very tough game. Duke is a top 25 team, whether they're rated there or not. If we lose every ounce of "tough non conference" love will be out the door.

Our run defense is not great either so it's still safe to assume they'll get something on the ground. Our OLine was not a good pass pro unit last year, so the biltzes could prove a concern.
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i mean, this is a different team this year, right?
 
#164      
JDL70
Before I moved to Connecticut 6 years ago, I had season football and basketball tickets to both Illinois football and basketball games for over 50 years. Yes, I am old! I lived in Macomb and the drive to Champaign was a little over 140 miles. Almost never stayed over so getting home after night basketball games meant arriving in Macomb after midnight.
 
#166      
mhuml32
If one of the tackles misses time, who’s coming in?
 
#167      
blue84
We're about 130 miles away. Season ticket holders and pretty much go to every game unless there's prior obligations.
 
#172      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
The problem with Clement is that a huge chunk of his production was the bowl game. If you take that away his stats aren't nearly what they look like. Sure made him a ton of money. (and admittedly, almost single handedly won them that game).
 
#173      
HensonHall71
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
The problem with Clement is that a huge chunk of his production was the bowl game. If you take that away his stats aren't nearly what they look like. Sure made him a ton of money. (and admittedly, almost single handedly won them that game).
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The “all he does is have huge games in bowl games” is the new “ all he does is catch touchdowns” complaint
 
#174      
Todd99
Wow! So when you say kyiliinifan you really mean it! That’s awesome, safe travels!
 
#175      
phats22
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
The problem with Clement is that a huge chunk of his production was the bowl game. If you take that away his stats aren't nearly what they look like. Sure made him a ton of money. (and admittedly, almost single handedly won them that game).
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Clement
g rec yds av. td
2023 fr 8 22 480 21.8 4
2024 so 12 51 741 14.5 5
2024 minus best game 11 40 575 14.4 3


Pat Bryant g rec yds av. td
fr 4 6 98 16.3 0
so 9 34 453 13.3 2
jr 12 43 560 13.0 7
sr 12 54 984 18.2 10
sr without best game 11 47 787 16.7 9

i, for one, am fine that we paid a WR putting up those stats as a freshman and sophomore.

if we play the 'take away one big game' game, PB's jr yr stats would be 11/38/429/6 which is worse than Clement's per game averages as a freshman and sophomore considering TDs are highly variable
 
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