Illini Football 2026

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#310      
Brosky
I'm optimistic about where this program is headed under BB. Looks to me like we've got the right coach and the right QB. I'm going to repeat a question: does Houser have one year of eligibility left or two? Insiders please?
 
#313      
genevaillini39w
therealmiket86 said:
Terry and Nate McNeal are our main recruiters. They both have played a huge role in recruiting.
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Whoever is in charge of fundraising and allocating money are the main recruiters in my eyes right now.

If school A is going to pay $100k more than school B, I don’t think a great relationship with a personnel staffer or position coach matter.
 
#315      
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr?
About the schedule - I want the teams we play to be bad. Especially the bottom feeders (obviously nothing will come from wanting Oregon or Ohio State to lose).

Like Michigan State, UCLA, Maryland, Northwestern - those are the teams I’d wish are as bad as can possibly be. The more guaranteed wins we can get, the better.

Nebraska and Iowa are the toss up games.

Oregon and OSU are guaranteed losses. The two in the non-conference are guaranteed wins.

So really it’s a 8 game season.
 
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#316      
Fly Illini Fly!
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
About the schedule - I want the teams we play to be bad. Especially the bottom feeders (obviously nothing will come from wanting Oregon or Ohio State to lose).

Like Michigan State, UCLA, Maryland, Northwestern - those are the teams I’d wish are as bad as can possibly be. The more guaranteed wins we can get, the better.

Nebraska and Iowa are the toss up games.

Oregon and OSU are guaranteed losses. The two in the non-conference are guaranteed wins.

So really it’s a 8 game season.
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Purdue is the worst team we’ll play in conference.
 
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#318      
Illinirog70
According to PFF, Luke ranked 16 of 18 QBs in the B1G in own sacks allowed (11) and 10th in the B1G in time to throw (2.81s).

Katin Houser lead the country in time to throw (2.23s) and was responsible for just two sacks last season.
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I'd take Luke as my quarterback six ways to Sunday.... We can always find obscure statistics that denigrate him, but he's a WINNER. He spent most of the time running for his life, which hurt his sack rate.

If our new guy (in his only year or two) is as ALMOST as proficient, it'll be a good year.
 
#321      
mhuml32
Just listening to Bielema's press conference now; Interesting nugget that he seems higher on the tight ends and lower on the WRs. Both comments seem to me more about depth, where he seems to trust more tight ends than he expected and less WRs than he expected to play meaningful reps.
 
#323      
SouthFLILLINI
therealmiket86 said:
Terry and Nate McNeal are our main recruiters. They both have played a huge role in recruiting.
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This is all I found on the Hawthorne departure.

Bielema confirmed the news of Hawthorne's departure Tuesday afternoon at Big Ten Football Media Days. “He did an internship last year in the National Football League so yeah, I think he's just moving on to another opportunity,” Bielema said Tuesday.
 
#324      
BuckFan12
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
About the schedule - I want the teams we play to be bad. Especially the bottom feeders (obviously nothing will come from wanting Oregon or Ohio State to lose).

Like Michigan State, UCLA, Maryland, Northwestern - those are the teams I’d wish are as bad as can possibly be. The more guaranteed wins we can get, the better.

Nebraska and Iowa are the toss up games.

Oregon and OSU are guaranteed losses. The two in the non-conference are guaranteed wins.

So really it’s a 8 game season.
Click to expand...
I think there's a very real world where UCLA is noticeably better than Nebraska. They had a top 25 portal class that brought in 42 new players. Chesney is a really good coach too IMO. They also retained a good amount of the talented players that UCLA had last year. They're probably a year or two away from taking the jump they want to but I still think they are trending up where as Nebby is the opposite. At the very least when you factor in the fact that it's a road game across time zones I think that game will be more difficult.
 
#325      
fuddrules
mhuml32 said:
Just listening to Bielema's press conference now; Interesting nugget that he seems higher on the tight ends and lower on the WRs. Both comments seem to me more about depth, where he seems to trust more tight ends than he expected and less WRs than he expected to play meaningful reps.
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I heard the same thing and thought he was sending out a red herring.

But looking at the roster, only Clement and Dixon have both Illinois offense and game experience. TE not much better.

I'm hoping it opens the door for both Jordan Anderson and Feagin to be used all over the field. Both are talented and know the offense well.
 
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