Illinois 20, Maryland 17 Postgame

#178      
phats22
illini0440 said:
Coordinators for coordinators
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#180      
AirTran
SescIllini said:
The DC coordinator also will impact level of recruiting, a big time DC will bring better players. Cooper has much improved the D though.
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Interesting sentiment but not reality.
(1) There are 4 games to play and if we win 1 of them (I believe we will be the underdog in all 4) that changes the complexity of next year's coaching staff in its entirety. The 15 - 20 bowl game practices is where the vast majority of player development occurs.
(2) It's more likely Barry Lunney will not be here next year than Cooper not being the D - Coordinator should we win 1 of our final 4 games.
(3) Today's players do not commit based on the D-Coordinator. They commit based on:

(a) money.
(b) competition at their chosen position.
(c) who is their position coach would be.
(d) most importantly, which current players and recruiter help recruit them.

(4) We have one of the lowest off -field spends on defensive coaches in the B1G
(5) If the we get to a bowl game BB is more likely to stick with the 3-5-3 and Roger Cooper as long as it shows decent results. Changing coordinators won't get us better players, Players that enjoy the current staff and like the 3-5-3 system will be our best recruiting asset.
 
#181      
Illinois_2_AZ
blackdog said:
Abney never came back in.

They've been working those short pitch plays in more as a way to run stretch zone plays on the same side the RB lines up in the shotgun. I don't think it had anything to do with the hand and more that they like it as a counter to how the defense is aligned.
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Thank you.
 
#187      
RabidDawgClassic
Mr. Roberts said:
I don't know why, but I just have a good feeling about that UCLA game.
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I don’t want to say UCLA isn’t good, but when you look at their schedule, it’s no surprise they’re undefeated.

@Cal
San Diego State
Purdue
@Maryland
@ Oregon
Wisconsin
Michigan St
Nevada

Their two best wins are Wisconsin and Oregon. The Badgers have played above preseason expectations while Oregon has played way under.

The rest of their schedule:

@Minnesota
Illinois
@Michigan
USC

The remaining teams aren’t world beaters but should pose a tougher test than anyone else they’ve faced. Would not be surprised if they lost at least 3 of those.
 
#189      
TampaToo
Illiniindian said:
Not sure he was wrong. I mean Hauck’s coordinators seems to know what they are doing. Seems like Hauck was not as ready as he thought to accept going from an HC to a DC
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Spin in it how you’d like. He made the hire with some red flags and that’s on him. Cooper has done a great job recovering from a disastrous start. I trust Coach B will review what talent is available and will make the right call.
 
#190      
BretMyBeachHouse
ChiefGritty said:
Literally no one would guess that, that's a crazy one.

We have so many fewer wins since 1996 than so many other teams, as a percentage of our wins that's wild.

We have had some damn good kickers and punters here over the years.
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Before 1996 Chris White and Mike Bass stand out. It seems like one other one I'm missing.
 
#194      
chiefini
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#195      
Illiniindian
BretMyBeachHouse said:
I suspect we have the money to do better than Cooper. In any case he's setting himself up for a nice payday somewhere.

I'll also add that great performances against Maryland aren't really the determination of how good he is.

These next 4 weeks will really tell.
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It’s not just Maryland game, we looked better against Oregon as well. Defense has saved us the last two weeks
 
#196      
Illiniindian
BretMyBeachHouse said:
Which means he was wrong.
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I see it differently now. He hired Hauck based on his defensive philosophy. I think BB’s thought process is making sense based on what we saw the last two weeks. Bret hired Hauck because he saw an effective scheme that could work for Illinois based on our limited NIL budget .
I don’t blame Bret for not knowing Hauck was a head case. Difficult for any employer to know that before onboarding a person.

But respect your opinion and know I am in the minority here.
 
#197      
RabidDawgClassic
ChiefGritty said:
Literally no one would guess that, that's a crazy one.

We have so many fewer wins since 1996 than so many other teams, as a percentage of our wins that's wild.

We have had some damn good kickers and punters here over the years.
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Here’s the list:

2026 Maryland
2025 Tennessee
2025 USC
2023 Maryland
2023 Toledo
2020 Rutgers
2019 Wisconsin
2014 Penn State
2006 Michigan State

The four recent ones were true walk-offs. Weird that they would say since 1996 since our first one was in 2006.

Other notables
2008 Iowa (46 seconds left)
2015 Middle Tennessee (2:09 left)
 
#200      
Altgeld's Bells
blackdog said:
Abney never came back in.

They've been working those short pitch plays in more as a way to run stretch zone plays on the same side the RB lines up in the shotgun. I don't think it had anything to do with the hand and more that they like it as a counter to how the defense is aligned.
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Actually, I just saw a replay of the winning kick on the news and Abney was in on the play blocking, so it seems he's ok?
 
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