Illinois 24, Nebraska 13 Postgame

#178      
Dad gets the 2-0 week! Crowd was actually a lot more into it and we ended up standing most of the game. Great effort and Nebraska fans can't be mad for blowing a 4th quarter lead because they got straight outplayed in the 2nd half
Nebraska also broke their one-score loss streak
🤣
 
#181      
Great win, and one we HAD to have. These last 3 are tough, BUT i feel like we have a shot in all 3.

I did not think that 4 or 5 weeks ago. Bowling again. Proud to be able to say that three straight seasons.
 
#182      
He was pleading with them to save his job....
There’s a line between making your point to the refs (often effective at getting you a call or two later) and overdoing it until you tick off the officials (often costing you a call or two later).

MR crossed this line repeatedly. Marshall got called for PI in the second half for the same stuff he was NOT called on in the first half. Wondered how much of the above impacted that.
 
#183      
There’s a line between making your point to the refs (often effective at getting you a call or two later) and overdoing it until you tick off the officials (often costing you a call or two later).

MR crossed this line repeatedly. Marshall got called for PI in the second half for the same stuff he was NOT called on in the first half. Wondered how much of the above impacted that.
Good point. Perhaps Ruhle informed the refs they missed that blatant PI his team committed in the first half :)
 
#185      
There’s a line between making your point to the refs (often effective at getting you a call or two later) and overdoing it until you tick off the officials (often costing you a call or two later).

MR crossed this line repeatedly. Marshall got called for PI in the second half for the same stuff he was NOT called on in the first half. Wondered how much of the above impacted that.
As a former official in a different sport, I 100% agree with this. At some point, officials will (no matter how hard they try to not do this) basically think “Bleep him, I’m sick of hearing from that guy”.

All told, our coaches don’t go over the line that much complaining to officials. In particular, I think Brad has really grown in this area while at Illinois. He’ll still get after someone if he feels it’s really warranted, but he has drastically dialed that back over time.
 
#186      
At 1:08 is the same fake FG play Bret referenced from the '09 Wisky-OSU game, though there it looks to be about a 4th and 7 from the 9 rather than a 4th and 12 from the 33. Maybe every football coach is like this, but I'm always amazed at Bret's recall for stuff like this to say, "Nebraska's field goal block looks like this, so let's run that play from 17 years ago."


I heard someone say a while ago on this board (apologies to the person who did say it, as it’s a GREAT reference and I’d love to give appropriate credit to who said it) that Bret is a great football ops guy. He earned his chops on the defensive side of the ball, but his attention to detail and ability to effectively analyze how things work in a football program is extremely impressive. Things like this show his level of attention to the details of how things work. I’d actually love to pick his brain one day about this to learn more about how I could apply what he does with operations and details to my own job.
 
#188      

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#190      
So the atmosphere last night where my seats are was WAY better than it usually is. I had four Nebraska fans in front of us that were hilarious the whole game, really got in to the stadium antics and atmosphere, and stood the whole time. The people behind me stood the whole time too. This was great because I like to stand during games.

My MIL and FIL however mentioned they couldn’t see. My wife crabbed about this today on our drive back home.

So, here’s my question: what is the appropriate amount of “oh sorry, I’ll sit” and “sorry, maybe people who can’t stand as well shouldn’t come to games”?

I understand that the latter sounds insensitive, but I’d also argue forcing me to sit, while not viewed as insensitive, follows the same logic: why should my enjoyment be hampered by yours?

I am not an unreasonable person, and I DO see the side of people that want to (have to) sit all game, but I’m not going to sit more than necessary just because.

So, what do we consider an appropriate amount of standing? Or do we follow a “tough 💩 ” stance? I never want to go back to the mid-2010s era when Illinois was terrible, but man… not having to deal with packed stadiums did have some benefits.
 
#191      
A line from Bielema's opening press conference "to win games first you have to stop losing them" continues to pretty much define what he's built.

If you don't beat yourself and make the other team beat you, in the big sloppy muddy middle of college football, a lot of opponents just aren't going to be able to do it, more than you think (more, indeed, than I thought a month ago)

Watching this program cheat the laws of gravity is such a joy.
 
#192      
Dad gets the 2-0 week! Crowd was actually a lot more into it and we ended up standing most of the game. Great effort and Nebraska fans can't be mad for blowing a 4th quarter lead because they got straight outplayed in the 2nd half
The crowd was really good last night. Better than I expected considering the temperature.

My only disappointment was a lot of season ticket holders around me sold their seats and were snatched up by Husker fans. I had red all around me. Did not approve.
 
#193      
A line from Bielema's opening press conference "to win games first you have to stop losing them" continues to pretty much define what he's built.

If you don't beat yourself and make the other team beat you, in the big sloppy muddy middle of college football, a lot of opponents just aren't going to be able to do it, more than you think (more, indeed, than I thought a month ago)

Watching this program cheat the laws of gravity is such a joy.
Nebraska after last night is a great example of a program beating themselves. Once we stopped making mistakes ourselves, we started to attack yards and points on them.
 
#194      
Not all that many years go... The Illini footballers would never be on National television on a Friday night.

The Illini uniforms would not have looked as cool as last night.

The team would not be playing with confidence and a bit of swagger.

There would not be as many Illini fans filling up the place.

The Illini would not be a place that would interest top recruits.

Not all that many years ago... Nebraska was untouchable. Only Oklahoma gave them pause – and often a loss as well. The Big Red were a Big Deal and everybody knew it.

Nebraska uniforms now largely mirror what they looked like back then and those uniforms are the only thing that resemble the proud and successful Husker program of the past.

Nebraska does NOT play with confidence or swagger. Like they once did.

Nebraska has a LONG home sellout streak but that is now in serious jeopardy.

Nebraska will only get top recruits now if they overpay for them for going to Lincoln instead of some other place they’d rather be.

The Nebraska program has gone through a series of restarts for 25 years and nothing has worked.

While the Illini have elevated themselves into the upper half of Big Ten football (at least) and have moved above the current state of the Husker program.

Nebraska is looking at yet another purge and restart.

The Illini have a solid foundation and are always now building on that.

Nebraska fans are weeping or turning away. Illini Nation is smiling and excited.

The College Football Sands have shifted. The Sea of Red is now a Sea of Tears.

And in Orange & Blue Nation it’s SURF’S UP!... ‘Catch a Wave, and You’re Sitting On Top of the World”.
You know we have sand…
 
#197      
A line from Bielema's opening press conference "to win games first you have to stop losing them" continues to pretty much define what he's built.

If you don't beat yourself and make the other team beat you, in the big sloppy muddy middle of college football, a lot of opponents just aren't going to be able to do it, more than you think (more, indeed, than I thought a month ago)

Watching this program cheat the laws of gravity is such a joy.

I said at halftime that we started playing better towards the end once we stopped shooting ourselves in the foot and that if they played that in the 2nd it would be a good outcome. Nebraska continued beating themselves all game long.
 
#198      
So the atmosphere last night where my seats are was WAY better than it usually is. I had four Nebraska fans in front of us that were hilarious the whole game, really got in to the stadium antics and atmosphere, and stood the whole time. The people behind me stood the whole time too. This was great because I like to stand during games.

My MIL and FIL however mentioned they couldn’t see. My wife crabbed about this today on our drive back home.

So, here’s my question: what is the appropriate amount of “oh sorry, I’ll sit” and “sorry, maybe people who can’t stand as well shouldn’t come to games”?

I understand that the latter sounds insensitive, but I’d also argue forcing me to sit, while not viewed as insensitive, follows the same logic: why should my enjoyment be hampered by yours?

I am not an unreasonable person, and I DO see the side of people that want to (have to) sit all game, but I’m not going to sit more than necessary just because.

So, what do we consider an appropriate amount of standing? Or do we follow a “tough 💩 ” stance? I never want to go back to the mid-2010s era when Illinois was terrible, but man… not having to deal with packed stadiums did have some benefits.
It's a good discussion point. To have a great home atmosphere that opposing teams don't like there needs to large amounts of cheering, yelling and hollering. And yes a lot of standing in critical or exciting moments. I'm handicapped and so am sensitive to people with mobility issues that can't get up and down constantly. I admit I don't know where the happy medium is.
 
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