Illinois 24, Maryland 6 Postgame

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#101      
LJ22
kyillinifan said:
Sat a few seats from a Md fan. He yelled the whole time we had the ball. Great win. A game we should win and did. Now beat Wisc.
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The one Maryland fan in the whole stadium? That fan base just doesn't show up at all and today was no exception.

Also have to drag on our fans a bit. A gorgeous weather 2:30pm mid-November game where we are up two plus scores...and people head for the exits in the third quarter!?! Do you know what I would have given for those for most of my 30+ years of watching Illinois football!? It was kind of sad.
 
#102      
hoopsfan47
For the Illini, as most college playoff hopefuls, it is all about the QB. Altmeyer's growth has been tremendous and quite valuable. He will be missed, regardless of how talented the next starter is. But if that guy is good enough and the roster can improve, especially both lines, anything becomes possible, as you say, in a couple of years.
 
#103      
TheChief4Life
I think people underprepared. It was a nice temperature, but nice "weather" is in the eye of the beholder. And when you come to the game in a T-shirt, the weather isn't so nice after the sun goes down and the wind is a constant 20 mph...

Case-in-point: I was fine through out the entire game. My son, who only brought a T-shirt despite his parents warning him otherwise, was not as fine. :LOL:
 
#104      
lstewart53x3
What encouraged me about the defense this game is that it actually worked the way it’s supposed to work philosophically and for a lot of the season it didn’t.

This defense is designed to give up yards, but limit big plays to extend drives, limit possessions, and lead to mistakes. Then, when needed, bow up in the red zone and force field goals instead of touchdowns.

The problem is, for much of the season it still allowed big plays, couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down, and gave up red zone touchdowns.

In this game, however:

- We forced Maryland into long drives (they had zero plays over 20 yards. Their first field goal required 13 plays to get 65 yards and their turnover on downs in the red zone required 17 plays to get 96 yards).

- We got off the field on 3rd and 4th down (3-12 on 3rd and 0-2 on 4th).

- We bowed up in the red zone (two field goals, one turnover on downs, and zero touchdowns in 3 red zone trips).

Once we went up 21-6, the game was effectively over because they weren’t going to get the possessions needed to come back thanks to the defensive style and our offensive efficiency in the 2nd half.
 
#105      
Brosky
I sometimes wonder if Altmyer is the most underrated QB in the B1G. He's a lot better runner than most people realize and he's opportunistic. He lets the game come to him, and his passes, whether long or short, are accurate. That first Clement TD pass was a thing of beauty.
 
#106      
Brosky
Maryland had a player named BAH. I kept waiting for Locks to put Humbug in, but he never did.
 
#107      
Vinegarben
A win is a win. I wouldn't think Bret could be too happy with this performance. I struggled to stay awake during this non inspiring wish I was somewhere else performance.
It just seemed to me they weren't really up to playing today. Actually, it has seemed that way for a few games to me.
If these guys don't come ready to give an all-out performance, the next 2 weeks this season could suddenly turn sour. Wisconsin is playing better; Indiana didn't beat them by 53 points. Northwestern took Scum to the last second and in fact should have beaten Michigan [except the refs gave Scum all the calls]
8-4 or 7-5 would leave a horrible taste after so much hype.
 
#108      
Illiniguy74
A certain long time local sports reporter had a very similar attitude in his younger days when it came to team officials and connected individuals vs. we ordinary fans.
 
#111      
illinoistradition
LJ22 said:
The one Maryland fan in the whole stadium? That fan base just doesn't show up at all and today was no exception.

Also have to drag on our fans a bit. A gorgeous weather 2:30pm mid-November game where we are up two plus scores...and people head for the exits in the third quarter!?! Do you know what I would have given for those for most of my 30+ years of watching Illinois football!? It was kind of sad.
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I’m mostly disappointed in the students. As you said, a gorgeous day. And the NEZ was maybe 70% full at its max. Less than half full by halftime. They deserve to stay over there if they can’t show up and make some noise.
 
#112      
blackdog
LJ22 said:
The one Maryland fan in the whole stadium? That fan base just doesn't show up at all and today was no exception.

Also have to drag on our fans a bit. A gorgeous weather 2:30pm mid-November game where we are up two plus scores...and people head for the exits in the third quarter!?! Do you know what I would have given for those for most of my 30+ years of watching Illinois football!? It was kind of sad.
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It was definitely the most lackluster engagement of the season. Reminded me of games of the recent past where everyone wanted to sit on their hands quietly all game.
 
#113      
OrangeBlue98
Curbelo Fanboy said:
It is a mark of how much we’ve improved that we can win a league game with a very mid effort on offense and some odd replay calls.

An ugly win looks a heck of a lot better than a pretty loss. Today wasn’t necessarily ugly. Just kind of blah. But we used to lose these kind of games with regularity.
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In past years, this would have been our annual “WTF?” home loss. It’s a step forward that we overcome a middling performance and some atrocious officiating to still win by three scores.
 
#114      
TheChief4Life
Again… it was not “gorgeous” weather. It was unseasonably warm, until the sun went down. When? At halftime. Combine that with the uptick in the wind after halftime (which remained constant), it was actually rather unpleasant.

Was it the normal unpleasant or used to in the middle of November? No. But, if fans did not prepare correctly, which I can tell you from being there, they did not, it got very chilly and unpleasant in the second half.
 
#115      
BWBW
Honest question, no snark intended. How much of the defense getting off the field on 3rd downs was our defense and how much was it Maryland's offense's ineptness? I will run through the replay to try to get my own answer, but at the moment, I'm guessing 50/50. Interested in what other's think.
 
#116      
RML
Beat the basketball team to nine wins?
 
#118      
Illini4Chief
Maryland 238 passing yards. I was at the game, after watching on media, finally got to the game live. Amazed and concerned how poor our secondary pass defense is. Lots of Maryland guys open, no one near.....first drive of game Maryland marches down the field. Not sure what Aaron's idea of coverage in the secondary....But looks like a huge problem if we are going to have success. I can see Wisky and NW, getting ready for the air raid.........big probem.
 
#119      
Ramrod2010
blackdog said:
It was definitely the most lackluster engagement of the season. Reminded me of games of the recent past where everyone wanted to sit on their hands quietly all game.
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First game attending this year and, silly me, was once again shocked at the funeral atmosphere on 1st and 2nd downs.

When we have our defense out there for the first drive of the game we should be on our feet making noise every single play.

Love the team, and am so happy with the direction of the program. But it is such an unserious setting, almost welcoming for the other team.
 
#120      
Ramrod2010
LJ22 said:
The one Maryland fan in the whole stadium? That fan base just doesn't show up at all and today was no exception.

Also have to drag on our fans a bit. A gorgeous weather 2:30pm mid-November game where we are up two plus scores...and people head for the exits in the third quarter!?! Do you know what I would have given for those for most of my 30+ years of watching Illinois football!? It was kind of sad.
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12 minutes left in the game. Like, come on young bloods...

1000002244.jpg
 
#121      
LJ22
TheChief4Life said:
Again… it was not “gorgeous” weather. It was unseasonably warm, until the sun went down. When? At halftime. Combine that with the uptick in the wind after halftime (which remained constant), it was actually rather unpleasant.

Was it the normal unpleasant or used to in the middle of November? No. But, if fans did not prepare correctly, which I can tell you from being there, they did not, it got very chilly and unpleasant in the second half.
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I was there. In a long sleeve t-shirt. A sweatshirt was really all you needed (and I'm always cold).

We can debate the definition of gorgeous weather, but I'm still going to be of the opinion that "it got kinda chilly" isn't a good reason for the stadium to be 1/3rd full in the third quarter.
 
#122      
OrangeBlue98
LJ22 said:
I was there. In a long sleeve t-shirt. A sweatshirt was really all you needed (and I'm always cold).

We can debate the definition of gorgeous weather, but I'm still going to be of the opinion that "it got kinda chilly" isn't a good reason for the stadium to be 1/3rd full in the third quarter.
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Completely agree. For November 15th in Central Illinois, the weather was darn near ideal. I’ve attended plenty of games throughout the Midwest at this time of year where I dressed like Nanook of the North.

Very disappointing from the students yesterday. They don’t understand or appreciate how good they have it right now.
 
#123      
Marshall_Lucky
OrangeBlue98 said:
Completely agree. For November 15th in Central Illinois, the weather was darn near ideal. I’ve attended plenty of games throughout the Midwest at this time of year where I dressed like Nanook of the North.

Very disappointing from the students yesterday. They don’t understand or appreciate how good they have it right now.
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I fear this is new CFB, where once you are no longer in the running for the playoff, your season is over.

I do think that can be overcome if there are rivalry games or chances to ruin another team's season. Maryland presents neither of those opportunities though
 
#124      
mhuml32
A couple PFF trends to mention


Melvin Priestly was struggling to start the season but has settled back in to his normal, solid self.

Screenshot 2025-11-16 at 9.45.41 AM.png


Says Eddie Tuerk played a snap at left guard and McMillen played a snap at left tackle?

The defensive line PFF scores are inverted from expectations going in. Also, Pat Farrell's snap count has substantially increased since Washington. Also, interesting that he's playing primarily passing downs.



Screenshot 2025-11-16 at 9.53.05 AM.png
 
#125      
MoCoMdIllini
mhuml32 said:
A couple PFF trends to mention


Melvin Priestly was struggling to start the season but has settled back in to his normal, solid self.

View attachment 45002

Says Eddie Tuerk played a snap at left guard and McMillen played a snap at left tackle?

The defensive line PFF scores are inverted from expectations going in. Also, Pat Farrell's snap count has substantially increased since Washington. Also, interesting that he's playing primarily passing downs.



View attachment 45003
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I want to say it was Priestly that had to leave the game for one play due to an injury. He got better.
 
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