Illinois 31, Kent State 24 POSTGAME

#176      

MoCoMdIllini

MoCoMdIllini
Montgomery County, Maryland
MoCoMdIllini
Sybok said:
Speaking as a season ticket holder, there is plenty of that at the game. They should consider limiting the band to change of possession/TD type of things and let the people in charge of the soundboard do more. If you can think about all the comments regarding the gray hairs at the basketball games always sitting down and not being loud, it's a similar thing that happens at the football games. Having been at more than my fair share of Bears games, I am dumbfounded by how many Illinois fans just want to sit at the ball games and observe. Finally late in the 4th quarter with a defensive stand needed, out of nowhere, the shot a video of Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation actor/UI grad) pumping up the crowd to stand up and make a bunch of noise. It was pretty awesome. Well, maybe 1/3 of the crowd was compelled to stand up. It was sad. The game was on the line and people didn't even want to stand. I don't blame anyone at DIA/MS game day for that. I just can't understand why a crowd would not want to stand and yell to create a home field advantage for the home team they paid to watch and hopefully see a win.
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Was Nick Offerman there that day or was it "stock footage" of a sort?
 
#177      

Illiniaaron

I
Geneseo, IL
Illiniaaron
I have to agree with the recent posters that are defending the fan base. The degree of ineptitude that these fans have been forced to suffer through over the past 15 years or so is really remarkable. You almost have to try to be as bad as the Illini have been. When some positive things begin to happen, the stadium will fill up. I was a freshman during Mike White's last season. Believe me the stadium was not rockin' at that time. By my senior year the team was rolling and I was fortunate enough to attend that amazing game against Colorado when they came into MS as a top-five team and Illinois beat them I think it was something like 24-22. The roof came off of the place that afternoon. I hope we get to see it like that again soon.
 
#178      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
RedRocksIllini said:
The fact that we have fewer wins in the past 15 years than Kansas is too depressing for words.
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And the fact that a lot of our company down near the football gutter are schools like Kansas and Indiana and Kentucky reveals how singular the suffering of our fanbase really is.

I've looked at the hard data here from time to time, one fears that at the end of this school year might be a statistically opportune time to do so again.
 
#179      

ILL_INI

ILL_INI
ILL_INI
WeatherfordForMVP said:
The DLine was my biggest concern coming out of this game.... I decided to investigate by analyzing each play of the second half. Didn’t care to look at the first half...every unit was awful.

Kent State ran 43 plays from scrimmage in the second half. 12 were designed tailback run plays. There were no tackles for loss by the DLine.

Kent State ran 7 designed QB runs. Two went for 3 yards or less with a tackle by the DLine, but one of those was 4th and inches and they got the first. A third was a Hansen tackle on 2nd and goal at the end of the game, but it was good pursuit/containment by the DLine.

While most of the units went from awful to good/great at halftime, my impression is that the DLine went from awful to average at best against a young, MAC OLine. It did contribute to both interceptions and it did come up big at the end of the game with the goal line stand. There just weren’t a lot of other impact plays from a unit that was supposed to be full of playmakers. Obviously the return of Milan should help (but when?), but that would seem to be a troubling performance from a unit that is supposed to be strong this year.
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It could be the scheme. Some defenses want the D-Line to primarily contain the O-Line to keep them from getting to the second level, which keeps the linebackers free. That could explain, in part, why Hansen had so many tackles for loss.
 
#180      

Deleted member 631370

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Guest
Deleted member 631370
TexasIllini said:
Did you see the Penn State game?
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Yeah, that was a weird game (having attended it). PSU started sluggishly -- not surprisingly. First game without Barkley, Gesicki, etc., and starting 9 new starters on defense. But they had firm control going into that fourth quarter. The defense was just gassed.......a combo of inexperience, some key DL out, and some incredible throws by the App State QB. They definitely have some holes they need to plug before Big Ten season (or even before the Pitt game on Saturday).

App State is a really good football team. Reminds me of Brohm's teams at WKU.
 
#182      

Deleted member 631370

D
Guest
Deleted member 631370
Second and Chalmers said:
Scott Satterfield of App State replacing Larry Fedora at UNC seems very plausible.
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Very possible. Satterfield is a heck of a coach, though he's an App State grad and has spent virtually his entire coaching career at App State. It'll be interesting to see if he's the kind of guy who will turn down bigger offers to stay put for the long haul, ala Gregg Marshall or Mark Few. But if he does make a move, UNC seems like a logical choice for many reasons.

Speaking of......I'm not sure what happened to Fedora and Carolina. The wheels came off.....and very suddenly. I guess that 11-win season in 2015 was an aberration, because the rest of his resume at UNC is not particularly impressive.
 
#183      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
Verified Insider said:
Speaking of......I'm not sure what happened to Fedora and Carolina. The wheels came off.....and very suddenly. I guess that 11-win season in 2015 was an aberration, because the rest of his resume at UNC is not particularly impressive.
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One part Gene Chizik (who has ironically now been on both sides of the "that coach was only good because of X coordinator" thing), one part recruiting (he's been good but what he inherited was even better), one part that team wasn't *quite* as good as it looked, they didn't beat much of anybody, one part Fedora's offense not being as unique anymore, it's a bunch of things.

Fedora might pull it together this year, but you look at their schedule and they really might be something like 1-5 in a month and that would probably be all she wrote.
 
#185      

Illiini

Illiini
In the land of the Nittany Lion
Illiini
Still think that the second half Illini was the team we’ll see for the rest of the year, if not better. Kent State was celebrating a little too soon in the first half. I saw a rather hangdog Barrett sitting on the bench late in Q4. We were rolling at the end, close to adding another 6, and KSU had lost that go-for-it-on-fourth cockiness that started blowing up in their faces. The second half was what I expected for the whole game. And if it had been...
 
#186      

the national

the national
the Front Range
the national
Illiini said:
Still think that the second half Illini was the team we’ll see for the rest of the year, if not better. Kent State was celebrating a little too soon in the first half. I saw a rather hangdog Barrett sitting on the bench late in Q4. We were rolling at the end, close to adding another 6, and KSU had lost that go-for-it-on-fourth cockiness that started blowing up in their faces. The second half was what I expected for the whole game. And if it had been...
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that go-for-it-on-fourth cockiness almost won them the game. The gimmick almost worked, that's the scary part.
 
#187      

Deleted member 633632

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Deleted member 633632
FiveStar said:
Everyday we lit would be a great littyville song. Unfortunately a couple years old now
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Just the chorus from Meek Mills ft. Torey Lanez "Litty" every time we need a big stand or make a big play would be alright with me!
 
#188      

Deleted member 29907

D
Guest
Deleted member 29907
Illiini said:
Still think that the second half Illini was the team we’ll see for the rest of the year, if not better. Kent State was celebrating a little too soon in the first half. I saw a rather hangdog Barrett sitting on the bench late in Q4. We were rolling at the end, close to adding another 6, and KSU had lost that go-for-it-on-fourth cockiness that started blowing up in their faces. The second half was what I expected for the whole game. And if it had been...
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We also have to remember that Bush didn't get to run with the team until first of August (that's a month from "Hi" to "Suit up") - that and given he hasn't been a starter in the past, I think really accounts for the slow 1st half. Completed 6 of last 8 passes and PFF of 86.5 for 11th QB in P5? Not too bad given the time in the system and never starting a game.
 
#189      

Illinnoying Orange

Illinnoying Orange
Illinnoying Orange
LongLiveTheChief7 said:
Just the chorus from Meek Mills ft. Torey Lanez "Litty" every time we need a big stand or make a big play would be alright with me!
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NO ... How in the love of all that is good could you suggest something this corny? Especially considering your screen name? If anything, at least pick a classic, iconic hard-edged song to use. Something that can stand the test of time. That song ain't it.
 
#190      

Deleted member 29907

D
Guest
Deleted member 29907
willdddd said:
You're actually comparing Kent State with App St? App St. has been one of the better teams in their division over the past few years and are known for playing ranked teams close, even winning a few of them, Kent State is by far one of the worst teams in college football.
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I think the thought is that Penn State is a might better than us - so while not a perfect compare, it is an example of a team that was much better than their opponent, on their home turf, that was challenged. See this quite a bit the first week. One team, nothing to lose, the other plays tight.

Second, how do we know Kent State is one of the worst teams in college football? They certainly had some good talent and could have been a team waiting for the right coach. Certainly their QB was talented. I am not saying they may not be, but I think first week of the season is a bit too hard to tell.
 
#191      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
I don't really want to get into this debate, but I'm guessing Kent State will be a bad team overall again this year. That QB is an Auburn transfer and a genuine talent, but whenever we executed at all we practically walked through that defense. They'll be on the losing end of a lot of vintage MACtion 55-45 type games, and it might be more 55-25 against the better teams that execute on D.
 
#192      

Joel Goodson

Joel Goodson
respect my decision™
Joel Goodson
WeatherfordForMVP said:
The DLine was my biggest concern coming out of this game. After watching the first time, I was pessimistic about their performance, as was Robert and many here. Then Rees Woodcock was high on the DLine. Now, Rees is overly optimistic anyway, but he went out of his way multiple times to praise the DLine. I decided to investigate by analyzing each play of the second half. Didn’t care to look at the first half...every unit was awful.

Kent State ran 43 plays from scrimmage in the second half. 12 were designed tailback run plays. There were no tackles for loss by the DLine. Two went for less than 4 yards with a tackle by a DLineman, one by Roundtree on 1st and goal at the end of the game and an impressive tackle by Carney. 5 were up the middle for 4 or more yards. 5 went immediately to the outside with tackles by a linebacker or DB.

Kent State ran 7 designed QB runs. Two went for 3 yards or less with a tackle by the DLine, but one of those was 4th and inches and they got the first. A third was a Hansen tackle on 2nd and goal at the end of the game, but it was good pursuit/containment by the DLine. Three involved some big holes and gains by Barrett. The seventh was on third and goal at the end of the game. It appeared to be a designed run for the QB but he had nowhere to go and ended up throwing an incomplete pass.

Kent State drew up designed pass plays 24 times in the second half. For 10 if them, the pass was too quick to allow for much pressure. For 9, there was enough time but the Illini got no meaningful pressure, meaning that it did not disrupt the QB’s rhythm. (For some of these, there was some pressure coming, but it was too late to disrupt the play). 6 of these 9 went for 10+ yards. Ouch. One of these 9 was deflected by Roundtree or Oliver and incomplete. One more incomplete, and the last complete for 6 when Kent State needed 16.

Four plays involved meaningful pressure. One by Oliver resulted in a high pass which was tipped by the receiver and intercepted. Another which was a real team effort resulted in an interception on 4th and goal at the end of the game. In another Isaiah Gay got in there resulting in an incomplete pass, and Roundtree was held, so 10 yard penalty. On the fourth, Gay had the drop on his man. Looked like he was held to me, no call, pass complete for 10 yards.

Only one sack. Play never developed for Kent State downfield, and whole line got off their blockers as Barrett scrambled to his right. Avery got their first to slow down Barrett, then Carney and Jackson combined for the sack.

While most of the units went from awful to good/great at halftime, my impression is that the DLine went from awful to average at best against a young, MAC OLine. It did contribute to both interceptions and it did come up big at the end of the game with the goal line stand. There just weren’t a lot of other impact plays from a unit that was supposed to be full of playmakers. Obviously the return of Milan should help (but when?), but that would seem to be a troubling performance from a unit that is supposed to be strong this year.
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VG deep dive. Yes, there's cause for concern WRT the DL, Hopefully, they get it together soon, otherwise...
 
#200      

ILLGang'19

ILLGang'19
ILLGang'19
Illiini said:
A 28-7 second half is what I mean by “going away.” Illini were deep in KS territory when Lovie said take a couple of knees. We ame from behind, caught and passed KS and looked ready to do more. Near the end, TV camera caught Barret sitting on the bench looking like a whipped dog.

Yeah, we were going away.
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B1G where ya down style of play .