Illini Football 2026

#327      
Dkayak
Mr. Tibbs said:
YUP
no one gave us a chance vs OSU in 2007 & we played one of our finest games ever .

and Zook was our coach . go figure
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Our 2022 loss to scUM was a pants-crapping on their part. Michigan was only saved by the refs. IIRC they called Spoon’s interception pass interference despite his back to the receiver and eyes pinned to the ball. Shameful call.
 
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#328      
TheFlyingIllini1317
Dkayak said:
Our 2022 loss to scUM was a pants-crapping on their part. Michigan was only saved by the refs. IIRC they called Spoon’s interception pass interference despite his back to the receiver and eyes pinned to the ball. Shameful call.
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Think that int was Purdue. Charlie Jones was drapped all over Spoon and they called Spoon for the penalty.
 
#329      
From the cheap seats
TheFlyingIllini1317 said:
Think that int was Purdue. Charlie Jones was drapped all over Spoon and they called Spoon for the penalty.
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Yep. I think the Michigan call that cost the Illini the win was a late fourth down conversion when Michigan committed offensive pass interference on a pick play that was obvious to all but the officials.
 
#330      
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr?
From the cheap seats said:
Yep. I think the Michigan call that cost the Illini the win was a late fourth down conversion when Michigan committed offensive pass interference on a pick play that was obvious to all but the officials.
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Pick plays are rarely called, honestly.

The play I remember was McCarthy’s knee being down on an earlier 4th down - clear as can be, they revived it, and still didn’t call it.

I wish I had the screenshot.
 
#332      
BZuppke
As a passionate Illinois football fan since the early 1980s I’ve seen the lowest of lows and highest of highs. For years I’ve thought all we need is an experienced head coach who knows what he’s doing at this level. I followed the Iowa model - they hired Fry who had won before at SMU and elsewhere. We couldn’t take a chance on the lower division coach or hot assistant.

We had found success when we followed that pattern in hiring coach White and Mackovic. When Mackovic left we had a very attractive program and certainly could have hired another coach with a proven track record. We all know where we went from there.

Bielema has been a godsend to our program at a time in college football you cannot afford to fall too far behind.
 
#333      
IlliniWu
TheFlyingIllini1317 said:
Think that int was Purdue. Charlie Jones was drapped all over Spoon and they called Spoon for the penalty.
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I kind of figured they would cheat in the Michigan game. Just way too high stakes to let Illinois come in and take one from Michigan.

That Purdue game? Straight robbery. And that interception IMO not only cost them a B1G West title, but I think that interception was the difference in Spoon getting his Thorpe award (Which he should've gotten anyway).

That season, plus many of the bs calls vs Illinois we've all seen over the years, is why I'm not complaining now that Illinois has gotten the better side of some calls in recent years. It really is a respect thing and the coach matters as well which is why I'm glad they've got the B1G vet in Coach B.
 
#334      
SoCal Illini
All of these pre-season predictions are poppycock. One game at a time = 12-0!

With the help of some scandals at OSU and Oregon that force them to forfeit.
 
#335      
Fly Illini Fly!
#336      
mhuml32
lstewart53x3 said:
Connelly’s SP+ puts us at 7.0-5.0 which sounds about right.

Here’s our schedule breakdown from most difficult to least with our own SP+ ranking included for reference:

D2. SIU
124. UAB
82. Purdue
67. Michigan St
53. Maryland
49. Northwestern
48. UCLA
44. Duke
37. Nebraska
33. Illinois
22. Iowa
2. Oregon
1. Ohio St

9 of the teams we play are ranked lower than us on SP+, but obviously you don’t beat every team that’s ranked lower than you, especially when we’re talking about + or - a few spots.

If we divide up the schedule like this:

25 spots or more below: automatic win
25 spots or more above: automatic loss
Within 24 spots: split 50/50

4 automatic wins. 2 automatic losses. Then the remaining 6 games split 50/50 puts us at 7-5.

I don’t necessarily see 6 games that “even if we crap our pants we should win”. I’d say there’s 4 of those. But still, overall a very favorable schedule.
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Agree with this.

Disappointing = 5 or less wins
Realistic = 6, 7, or 8 wins
Major success = 9 or more wins
 
#339      
Fly Illini Fly!
Scoregasm said:
Anyone want to take a chance and guess the starting offensive and defensive players?
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QB: Houser
RB: Valentine

LT: Martin
LG: Matelau
C: Renfro
RG: Henderson
RT: Knapnik

XWR: Dixon
YWR: Platt
ZWR: Clement

…..

DE: Farrell
NT: Prater
DE: Barna

Will LB: (no idea)
Mike LB: I think Beerman?
Sam LB: (no idea)

CB: Clarke
CB: Morris
Nickel: Scott
FS: Resetich
SS / Chief: Bailey
 
#341      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
TheChief4Life said:
Realistic? anywhere between 7 and 10.
If they don't win 6, it's a failure of a season. There are 6 "even if we crap our pants we should win" games on this schedule.
They should win 7 even if everything goes against us.
They'll win 8 if toss up games split.
9 or 10 means things have fallen in our favor; 10 if everything goes 100% perfectly. If they win more than 10, either we are severely underestimating the team or the coaches or are severely over estimating the rest of the league.

That 7.5 O/U line is a perfect placement.
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Most realistic is between 5-7 wins.

So many toss up games, but it's unlikely our tremendous prowess in close games will remain due to: 1) a completely unknown kicking game 2) major question marks in the offensive and defensive lines.
 
#343      
IlliniWu
Scoregasm said:
Anyone want to take a chance and guess the starting offensive and defensive players? Maybe even a 2 deep?
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QB:

Houser
Boyd

RB:

Valentine
Laughery

WR:

Dixon
Clement
Pratt

TE:

Feagin or Abbney

OL:

Martin
Matelau
Renfro
Henderson
Kapnick or Taylor


DL:

Barna
Prater
Farrell

LB:

Brown
Beerman
Kreutz

DB:

Bailey
Scott
Clarke
Ross/Hankins
Reitsich/Williams



Just a rough draft. Could be a few guys in exchange but this team is pretty good IMO. Will surprise many.
 
#344      
IlliniWu
Fly Illini Fly! said:
That defense was just SO good.

Even after this I think they had a chance (ball was only at the 38). The awful call on Witherspoon sealed the deal once and for all.
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That defense was criminally underrated and one of the best defenses this decade/the last 25 years (Especially the passing defense). The only reason it didn't get even more acclaim was because of the wins. 8 regular season wins is pretty good for the Illini, but 10+ and all those draft picks would've had them in a lot more discussions.

Still loved that team regardless. And I also still believe they were ripped out of three wins (Indiana, Purdue and Michigan) plus other questionable calls that year.
 
#345      
TheFlyingIllini1317
IlliniWu said:
I kind of figured they would cheat in the Michigan game. Just way too high stakes to let Illinois come in and take one from Michigan.

That Purdue game? Straight robbery. And that interception IMO not only cost them a B1G West title, but I think that interception was the difference in Spoon getting his Thorpe award (Which he should've gotten anyway).

That season, plus many of the bs calls vs Illinois we've all seen over the years, is why I'm not complaining now that Illinois has gotten the better side of some calls in recent years. It really is a respect thing and the coach matters as well which is why I'm glad they've got the B1G vet in Coach B.
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I also remember some TFL's by Alec Bryant being egregious spotted for Purdue
 
#346      
kyillinifan
After all I read or heard we are not getting a lot of press. Seems like just a middle of the road team. Let's see when the season begins.
 
#347      
Old.Edgy
Fly Illini Fly! said:
QB: Houser
RB: Valentine
LT: Martin
LG: Matelau
C: Renfro
RG: Henderson
RT: Knapnik
XWR: Dixon
YWR: Platt
ZWR: Clement
…..
DE: Farrell
NT: Prater
DE: Barna
Will LB: (no idea)
Mike LB: I think Beerman?
Sam LB: (no idea)
CB: Clarke
CB: Morris
Nickel: Scott
FS: Resetich
SS / Chief: Bailey
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lee only get 10 on offense ?
 
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#348      
AirTran
PleaseMakeABowlGame said:
Most realistic is between 5-7 wins.

So many toss up games, but it's unlikely our tremendous prowess in close games will remain due to: 1) a completely unknown kicking game 2) major question marks in the offensive and defensive lines.
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Which 6?
 
#350      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
IlliniWu said:
That defense was criminally underrated and one of the best defenses this decade/the last 25 years (Especially the passing defense). The only reason it didn't get even more acclaim was because of the wins. 8 regular season wins is pretty good for the Illini, but 10+ and all those draft picks would've had them in a lot more discussions.
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Chase Brown was also extremely underrated nationally. If we won 10 wins, he'd be given way more stature.

That team had two legitimate superpowers: 1) Chase Brown 2) The Defense.

It was incredibly heartbreaking how that season ended. Very possible we won't see a more talented Illinois football team in our lifetimes.
 
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