We used McCray correctly today. Not so much RPO when he gets the ball flat footed and unsure.
He is our pounder, we got him the ball moving downhill for a change.
He is our pounder, we got him the ball moving downhill for a change.
Illinois 23, Florida Atlantic 17 Postgame
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So far so good, we are 2 and 2.
I'm guessing that most of us saw the team right here pre season.
I'm guessing that most of us saw the team right here pre season.
I can only say, what an impressive win!!!! Sheesh
Illini4Chief
- TENNESSEE
This game kinda showed me who we really are......a play from behind team. It's gonna be a long, long Big 10 season with play like this. I'm sure Purdue is watching this game tape........not too excited about the future here.
I know making a Bowl Game is better than the alternative but is this really the most we can root for at this point?
Well, I've gotta give @mhuml32 credit- he called it. I expected our O-Line to take great strides this week against a lesser opponent and our defense to feast on what has been quite frankly a pretty bad offense. Instead, our O-line was absolutely obliterated once again offering next to no protection and our defensive coverage was just nowhere near where it needs to be. While I still think how we play Purdue will make or break our season, I've gotta say, 33% of the way through the season, it's hard for me to see much optimism here other than we play in the absolutely putrid B10 West. And that optimism will sour pretty quickly if we start losing against them.
Hate to say it, but this season is looking way too much to my liking as pretty much every other season we've had after a rare successful one. Mediocrity and a missed opportunity. Just disappointing how we've played this season, and in aspects of the game that I'm just not sure are fixable at this point.
Hate to say it, but this season is looking way too much to my liking as pretty much every other season we've had after a rare successful one. Mediocrity and a missed opportunity. Just disappointing how we've played this season, and in aspects of the game that I'm just not sure are fixable at this point.
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
Why didn't the officials review some calls, and they missed a clear late hit on Luke?
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
A lot of those were given away. Here's what the East side looked like at Kickoff.
And at the start of the 2nd.
I know people get real interested in the number of tickets sold/distributed, but if we can't get the actual butts in the actual seats, what does it matter? If it weren't Band Day, over a third of that East Balcony would have been empty. Yeah it's FAU, but if you're announcing attendance of over 50k, the attendance needs to look a LOT stronger.
sacraig
- The desert
KU over BYU may turn out to be a good win, but let's not pretend that Toledo over W. Michigan is.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
How does the bolded make them look any better? I get that they lost to 2 good teams and us, but they still lost.
Student section wasn't much better.
I think Lunney called a decent game, especially in the second half outside of the swing pass to Beatty that led to the fumble. The offensive line was not holding up their end which limits both the running attack and the downfield passing game, which worked well when Luke either had time or bought himself some time.
A very weird vibe around that game, it felt like FAU was winning even when Illinois was essentially dominating the second and third quarters. The start was just so bad it felt like we couldn't shake it even up double digits.
I think there was some good potential shown by the young running backs and defensive backs, but if this o-line doesn't get figured out then it will be a struggle to get to six wins. Nice to see Altmyer bounce back and play well despite getting hit all game long.
A very weird vibe around that game, it felt like FAU was winning even when Illinois was essentially dominating the second and third quarters. The start was just so bad it felt like we couldn't shake it even up double digits.
I think there was some good potential shown by the young running backs and defensive backs, but if this o-line doesn't get figured out then it will be a struggle to get to six wins. Nice to see Altmyer bounce back and play well despite getting hit all game long.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
I believe FAU might still finish top 3 in their conference, even without their #1 QB. Just look at their losses to-date:
- Clemson @ Clemson is almost a guaranteed loss for any opponent except Florida St.
- We naturally wanted them to also lose to the Illini --- prospective Big 10 West Champs, and I want to consider this as a good loss for FAU
- Ohio is presumably pretty good at 4-1, too
It's a much better FAU schedule than had they played 3 FCS opponents and us.
blackdog
- Champaign
Run blocking was much better in the 2nd half but it was still pretty rough for much of the game. Give Altmeyer time and he can make some plays although he had a couple overthrown deep balls to Williams who was WIDE open both times.
Tobe got a lot of playing time on defense and I was pretty impressed by his play. FAU challenged him a couple times on deep balls and he was able to come through.
Also what happened on that Beatty fumble? Watching live it sure looked incomplete but they didn't even review it. Ended up being points for FAU as a result
Overall not a great game but take a FG instead of turnover on downs in the first and have Feagin walk in for a TD at the end and people might be talking about it very differently.
Tobe got a lot of playing time on defense and I was pretty impressed by his play. FAU challenged him a couple times on deep balls and he was able to come through.
Also what happened on that Beatty fumble? Watching live it sure looked incomplete but they didn't even review it. Ended up being points for FAU as a result
Overall not a great game but take a FG instead of turnover on downs in the first and have Feagin walk in for a TD at the end and people might be talking about it very differently.
100%. The thing that's really disappointing is that we are starting 3 All-B10 Honorable mention linemen and have clearly developed some depth at the position the last two years. I know it takes linemen a couple of years of weight room work to be ready but do we not have some guys ready to play some more snaps for those who are clearly struggling? Do we have a problem developing the position? For a coach that clearly views it as a crucial ingredient for success, and has referenced our struggles at the position in the past, to be this bad right now is a mystery.
illinipioneer
- Richmond, VA
We need to discuss the real reason we had issues today….all blues…whether it be in basketball or football, all blues never end well!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but today was there another 10 points scored against us today off of turnovers or extended drives via penalties?
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
I disagree. We are missing some talent. We don’t have a LB corps or another player maker on D. 2 DL makes an ok line but you can double team them and make them a non factor with blocking schemes
On offense we need a better line. The line is below average. We have an above average QB and WRs and we have ok RBs.
Last years team was good but a lot of our success was the defense forcing turnovers and Chase yards after contact. We aren’t getting that this year. The pieces are mostly there but the ball isn’t always bouncing our way
Marching Illini said it. And it didn’t look like it there to me either.
ESPN also had 50k plus in the postgame stats
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