Offensive Coordinater Rod Smith has decreed that AJ Bush is the man to run his offense for this one year of ILLINI football. I am all in on this decision. All of you should be too. It is such a luxury to have AJ out there willing his way through a football game and more wins than we have had in a long time. Nit pick all you want, what does the final scoreboard say?
Illinois 38, Rutgers 17 POSTGAME
Man not only was he boring but he was outright wrong in a couple instances. I’m don’t know football at the level I know basketball, so when I can see he’s wrong, it must be bad.
I put it in the game thread, but I swear I heard Marchese pronounced as Mar-queso. I didn't dream this did I?
Nope. It was on the weird run-into-a-punt-returner-before-he-catches-the-ball noob mistake.
The refs blamed it on Christian Bobak but the announcers correctly saw that it was Marchese. They just decided to pronounce his name however the heck they felt like it.
Without going back to doublecheck over 100 posts, I think this is the first mention of that touchdown pass. That was a good pass and catch. Bush should get credit, as should Smalling.
Smalling doesn't seem to be getting as many targets as I would expect, regardless of who is playing QB. Is he getting double teamed at the line? In the secondary? Is there an answer for getting him the ball more often?
As to the bigger question, I'm pretty torn between MJ and Bush. Both offer different strengths right now, but the reps could be very valuable for MJ. Bush's reps are valuable in a different way, but only to the extent that his starts translate to wins. I think if I had to answer right now (and assuming Bush stays healthy for 7 more games), I'd ask the staff to look for one more game to get MJ significant reps...preserve the redshirt, give him as much experience as possible, and reevaluate next spring/summer.
Edit: I was pretty pumped about AJ's contribution/block on Corbin's big first quarter run. The block itself was not particularly significant, but his presence was. I do not believe that run, the yards of which are all attributed to Corbin, happens without Bush. I can't see the Rutger's player's number in the replay, but he didn't attack Corbin because AJ's body was in between. And that's 50ish yards instead of 10-15.
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Deleted member 533939
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If you think AJ was impressive throwing the ball, then it just shows how low expectations are for Illini fans.
And rightly so...last year we had 8 TDs to 19 Ints from our QBs.
So far this year we are 5 TDs to 2 Ints and one of those picks was a garbage time Matt Robinson pick against Ped State.
Our expectations ARE low. Every time AJ throws the ball and it’s not a pick, I’m content. If we catch it awesome. If it’s for a TD even better!!
Now impressed overall? No, but as I said that one back shoulder TD was impressive.
So far this year we are 5 TDs to 2 Ints and one of those picks was a garbage time Matt Robinson pick against Ped State.
Our expectations ARE low. Every time AJ throws the ball and it’s not a pick, I’m content. If we catch it awesome. If it’s for a TD even better!!
Now impressed overall? No, but as I said that one back shoulder TD was impressive.
Ooof, those stats from last year...I must have successfully purged them from my memory.
It wasn't entirely clear to me why I was SO exuberant after our win, (hijack a thread much, why yes I did), but those stats are hard to ignore. I'm seeing meaningful progress, and it feels like a return of hope. If we get to 5 wins this season, Illini football will provide a boost that I could really use this year. The joys of being a fan have been too few for too long, since the only team I'm really emotionally invested in is Illinois football. [No, I cannot explain how that happened, but as many of you know, it's a tough row to hoe.]
What does that have to do with the fact that it was right in the receiver's arms for an easy TD and was dropped? He gave his WR a chance and it was an easy catch to make. If it had been thrown deeper the DB might've had a play on the ball. Catch the dang ball....period!!
Yep the team that IU only beat by 7.
So you keep score by total yards and ignore the TOs.....interesting.
What? We were single digit favorites and won by 3 TDs and had a WR drop an easy TD in the end zone.
How many drops were there that would have boosted that total in a game we were running the ball down their throats?
Deleted member 533939
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It's possible that the throw was late and the ball should have been caught. These 2 things aren't mutually exclusive.
Yeah but I blame the receiver more than the QB, it was abysmal technique. The QB underthrew him, but you dont let a pass bounce off your chest pads.
It was both their faults, a "good" QB would've timed it correctly. A "good" WR would've caught the ball regardless (seeing as he had both hands on it). Honestly, probably just personal opinion as to who was more at fault.
Its a vicious cycle. The QB makes bad throws, the WR's drop catchable balls, etc etc etc
QBs under thrown balls all the time because the WR is watching the ball and can adjust much easier. Blaming the QB when the ball is in the WRs hands in the end zone is foolish. Wes have to adjust and Green adjusted just fine, he just didn't catch the ball.
We're a pretty darned good football team at the peripheral stuff that affects game outcomes at the margins - turnovers and special teams - and no question being better than our competitors at those things is part of the Lovie philosophy (even if turnovers are always going to contain an element of luck).
Having said all of that, fundamentally football is a question of who can move the ball on who. If we can be an elite team in the TO/ST department we will get more bang for our buck in the total yardage battle than most, but that still fundamentally describes the state of play as talent and schemes match up.
We should have destroyed that Rutgers team. We could have. And had we done so that total yardage measure would look very different.
If we beat Purdue next week it will be because we put together a much more complete performance.
Deleted member 533939
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No one is blaming the QB for the dropped ball. Literally no one. Every single person has blamed Carmoni.
It doesn't change the fact that the throw was late and that he was basically not impressive as a passer vs a bad team. Please stop putting words in my mouth.
I totally understand where you are coming from and agree for the most part. Case in point: the 2007 Illini Defense. It really was not very good, and it operated under the bend but don't break philosophy. That worked for that season (sans USC), but in 2008 with a defense that should have been pretty solid, they were not good. Same for 2009. Thus a demotion for Disch and Mallory moving on. Koenning had an aggressive D that forced turnovers but also vastly improved the yardage sacrificed per game. Having said all of that, this year's defense is on pace to be a record setter for the program with turnovers, and turnovers ultimately set the offense up for success while demoralizing the other team.
One could argue that Lovieball lives on the premise of forcing the QB to make no poor decisions. Blough will be tough to stop. It all starts with the DLine. I know it has been said previously, but they have not been able to get much of a pass rush. Watch them in a game on passing downs. They run straight at the linemen with little to no moves to get around. The DL coach should be feeling some pressure to perform, because this group overachieved under Phair and is underachieving right now.
Actually 2007-2011 was a very good run of Illini Defensive units. Our S&P+ rankings per year:
2007- 24
2008- 35
2009- 55
2010- 21
2011- 10
We should have won so many more games during the Zook years, but our Special Teams were inexplicably bad and there was a Mike Schultz thrown in as well.
This Defense has got to start getting pressure with front four. Lovie's D demands and will also lead to more turnovers. Milan made a big difference on Run D, but Gay and Roundtree need to step up. I thought Carney and Pate (despite roughing penalty) cause the most havoc.
Deleted member 29907
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This is what surprises me - maybe I am not paying enough attention - but do we stunt at all? Its almost a contain type approach with the intent of knocking the ball down at the line of scrimmage - which was partially working earlier on.
With all the true freshman and first-year starting QB's we face this year, this has to be a uniquely good opportunity to set a lasting record.