Illinois 20, Western Kentucky 7 POSTGAME

BZuppke said:

I'm not saying we don't want a more talented QB, but Crouch can be effective and is apparently our best option. The harsh statements that he's not a division I QB are offbase. Down the road I expect we'll have a more talented QB here. Not this year.

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On board with this. If Crouch is a Kyle Orton-esque "Game Manager" then we will peak. Realistically, we can't expect him to throw for 300 yards every game. Just do enough to win, and that's fine by me.

BZuppke said:

I also agree the criticism of Crouch is off base. He played well for what he can do. He made some great throws and made some not so good ones, and one bad interception.

He showed toughness and leadership. He's not the next Tom Brady, but he can get us to a decent record this year. The idea that "he's not a division I QB" is absurd. He will do better for us than Lunt ever could.

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While I agree that it doesn't make sense to criticize Crouch too much, I think your confidence in him is a little over the top. He's obviously a hard nosed kid that gives max effort, but let's be honest he's not much of a passer. Just off the top of my head, can you think of any team in the conference other than Rutgers that Crouch might start for?

After watching the game on tape the Illini deserve a lot of credit for how they played Saturday night. Scoring at the end of the first half and the first drive of the second half basically closed out the game. The defense played extremely well. However some of the penalties and the fumbles were stunning. They were lucky not to lose any of the fumbles. And how W. Kentucky didn't score on the drive before halftime was incredible. How in the hell does the holder get an unsportsmanlike penalty on an extra point? And two sideline interference calls in one half? That was Beckman-esque.

champaignchris said:

I agree that some are overstating Crouch's weaknesses.

The biggest issue is that he goes stretches where he simply doesn't give his receiver a chance to make a play on the ball. I think 6 of his first 7 throws last game were like that, with the exception a screen pass that was blown up by the USF d-line from the get go.

To his credit, he improved as the game went on.

The secondary issue is that he doesn't have much arm strength. The interception was a perfect example of that. He just can't get the ball to the receiver on a medium out with any zip. This however is an issue that can be gameplanned around. Certainly plenty of successful college QBs with noodle arms.

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Agree he's not the greatest passer in the world, but he did hit some cross the field out and comeback patterns last week that i thought were very nicely thrown balls - Dudek and Turner as I recall. And a pressured first down throw to Dudek off balance. First week he threw more deep balls - just didn't put them in the right spot - so he seems to be able to get it down field given a decent amount of time by the O line. The interception just looked like a poorly thrown ball to me - misjudged where he needed to put it. It may just be that my expectations on his passing were a bit lower than some so he's pleasantly surprising me.

VAIllini35 said:

Agree he's not the greatest passer in the world, but he did hit some cross the field out and comeback patterns last week that i thought were very nicely thrown balls - Dudek and Turner as I recall. And a pressured first down throw to Dudek off balance. First week he threw more deep balls - just didn't put them in the right spot - so he seems to be able to get it down field given a decent amount of time by the O line. The interception just looked like a poorly thrown ball to me - misjudged where he needed to put it. It may just be that my expectations on his passing were a bit lower than some so he's pleasantly surprising me.

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I don't think arm strength was the issue on the interception. It sure looked like he was attempting to place the ball on that throw and just did not do it with the kind of confidence or velocity needed. I believe that was more mental than physical. So, hopefully, that throw was simply a mistake made that is not likely to be repeated as he gains confidence.

I'll side with the announcers call on that particular play. He should have let that pass go just a second earlier. It should have been in the air before the receiver made his break. The defender wouldn't have been able to make the play had that happened.

icengineer said:

I'll side with the announcers call on that particular play. He should have let that pass go just a second earlier. It should have been in the air before the receiver made his break. The defender wouldn't have been able to make the play had that happened.

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Good call. Crouch will learn to trust his receivers and throw to the spot.

Crouch is a great kid. Works super hard, great leader, and puts it all on the line. If you watched him in any number of fall, pre-season practices, you saw him throw all over the place. He threw behind receivers, he threw over receivers, he threw into the dirt... he threw a ton of picks. It's not his arm strength it's his consistency. You have to give him credit (and you have to give the play callers credit) that he eventually got into a groove, made some nice passes and put that great drive together in the 3rd quarter. Our QB is a lot like the rest of the team; they sort of go in fits and starts. Consistency is what we need to strive for all over the field. With Crouch I don't wonder if it isn't all mental. I think he can continue to improve. I think a bigger question is can he stay healthy with his runs up the gut and his vaults into the endzone. So glad the game is on for Friday! This game will tell us a lot about what we can expect for the rest of the season. Play hard! Stay healthy!

jrichisamazing said:

Crouch is Jaylen Tate all over again.

He's not good enough to win games for us, so he just needs to avoid losing games for us. So far he seems pretty good at that. Let Epstein, Foster, Bonner, Dudek, and the D win as many games as possible.

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Uh, No, just plain NO! Our O'Football was more like the Jaylen. Crouch has a lot more going for him and he knows it. He is not going to blow this chance this year.