Man, idk. Those are some hot takes about Schiano... I don't understand who they think is going to want to coach Rutgers that is better than Schiano
Illinois 38, Rutgers 31 Postgame
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altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I thought the same sitting in the stands. Crazy to try a 57-yarder into that wind, which was blowing up and across the field and was really stiff. Then BB noted after the game that Moczulski nailed one from 60 in pregame warmups at the opposite end of the field into the wind, which blew most of the game from that WNW direction (from left to right on TV) then reversed in the fourth quarter. Kid's apparently got a cannon for a leg.
Still, seems to me with Luke and our WRs that we were more likely to gain > 13 yards for a first down than to make a FG from 57 into the wind. And sure enough, his kick got hung up around the 30 and then drifted east. You could see immediately it had no chance although he crushed it.
Rewatched that final play…and found myself again urging Bryant to get out of bounds
what great vision and feel for the game. Some players just have that 6th sense of where they are in space.
Props for the play call to send Bryant into that hole in the middle of a defense designed to protect deep and the sidelines. And just a great job by the OL to give Luke just enough time.
what great vision and feel for the game. Some players just have that 6th sense of where they are in space. Props for the play call to send Bryant into that hole in the middle of a defense designed to protect deep and the sidelines. And just a great job by the OL to give Luke just enough time.
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
This is where I was annoyed. You can't use selective bias when remembering your kicker made a pre-game kick from 60-yards but willfully ignoring your kicker twice couldn't keep the ball in play on a kickoff in the same wind conditions when making kick-or-go decisions. It was fine going into the game thinking you had a better chance than expected to make a deeper field goal than expected, but new data presented itself that your priors were incorrect.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Completely understandable, fully support these kids that aren't in line to start that want to find playing time elsewhere. Boyd's enrolling early this spring and depending on how he develops, could be the Bret/Lunney's frontrunner for the job in 2026.
Worked out great, but seems to me it was more a Rutgers mess up. Every Hail Mary attempt has a guy going underneath/across, so not really a special play call. The fact it was Bryant going underneath and Rutgers d being on the other end of the field, with other illini recievers blocking worked out well. So maybe it was coaching? Mostly Luke N’ Pat from my angle at home.
Either way, great play.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Random Monday morning thought. Reading some of the Rutgers message board, it is clear that our respective fan bases share similar damaged psyches, and I feel bad for them. God knows we've been there where it just feels like it's fate that Illini fans suffer, lol ... the "we can't have nice things" attitude that is STILL baked into many of our fans' minds, even for basketball!! I am so incredibly grateful that we have graduated into that next class of program that seemingly finds a way to survive games where both teams seem intent on giving the game away ... looking back to the 2021 home loss to RU after we just beat a top 10 PSU team on the road is actually a great mirror image of this type of situation. Illini teams of the past would ALWAYS make sure that they choked to just at least one more degree than our similarly struggling foes, haha.
To play devil's advocate... kicking off and kicking a FG are two very different things. Granted, it's the exact same wind and I fully agree that kicking the field goal was NOT the move there. I don't care if he made a 70 yarder the other direction in warmups
Yes - and I blame the kicker in that situation, he's got to tell coach that based on his kickoff in that direction earlier that landed out of bounds at the 20 yard line, how much was the wind vs. him shanking it and being honest id it's a 15-20 yard wind in his face and it's swirling, so he has no idea what it will do to the ball when it leaves his foot. Maybe Brett didn't ask, but if I was making that decision, I would absolutely ask the kicker how he's feeling about it and expect an honest answer. After seeing the kick, it was obviously crazy to attempt it in the first place
How much time do you think Rutgers spent during that TO preparing for a kick vs the conversion? I'm guessing it may not have been so easy if we went for it right off the bat without the whole kicking debacle.
Those out of bounds kickoffs seem rather unacceptable. There have been at least 4 this year. Maybe I don't understand something, but since he always kicks it to that side of the field you'd think he would adjust his line of approach, so if it's hooked, the ball at least stay in bounds.
It looked like the #2 outside DB was maintaining inside leverage on ACJ for a bit too long because the #1 DB waited too long to close in. The #3 DB was matching Dixon's pattern and not reading Luke's eyes (which were locked to the left the entire time) and then passed him off to the corner playing the deep zone on the right side. What it seemed like was the outside DB on Rutgers were supposed to stick with the deep clear out (Capka-Jones ran the deep clear out), but was late in sliding over to close in on ACJ.
So it seems like the #2 DB didn't stick to his assignment (getting over to Pat) because the #1 DB was late on recognizing the play and could have resulted in a deep coverage bust.
Luke also changed the snap cadence, causing the DB's to start too early, with their leverage revealing the match coverage they were playing. Beautiful play design that was basically guaranteed to work once Luke read the furthest inside DB (provided we picked up the blitz, which was executed perfectly)
Makes sense! Figured something like that happened, had no idea about the cadence though.
Thanks for the thorough breakdown. Seems like you’ve been through your fair share of film sessions.
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
The late shift and leaving Dixon totally uncovered suggests to me that it was just a total communication breakdown and those 4 DB's didn't really know what they were in, but in any event they certainly did not execute in a way that was conscious of it being 4th and 13.
Our pass pro holding up and Luke reacting smartly to the blitz was a constant theme of that game, bringing the house was not the call I would have made there in any event.
Our pass pro holding up and Luke reacting smartly to the blitz was a constant theme of that game, bringing the house was not the call I would have made there in any event.
That was my senior year, about 4th row upper balcony, roughly 40 yd line. Great seats
One of my favorite things about that was the OSU broadcasters call on that touchdown...anyone have a Rutger's call on Bryant's touchdown?
I think Schiano was maybe not thinking the route was going to be a crossing pattern, given the urgent need to get the first down and stop the clock. It's doable, but getting lined up and set to spike the ball is easy to mess up.
Just a terrible decision there to call the TO. There was no universe in which that FG is good. And even if he hits it, you just tip your cap and call it a day. Now it's all on him.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Bryant caught it 5 yards past the first down marker with 9 seconds remaining and clock stops until the ball is set on a first down remember. You can not only spike, you can probably spike and run another play. And all three defenders on that sider of the field were way behind Bryant. Just a total bust.
Right, his biggest risk there was Bielema changing his mind.
(I cannot help but pat myself on the back for being the only guy in the game thread who was saying to go for it. I assume I wasn't the only one thinking it, but still)
Dixon was well-covered as I pointed out. The design of his route was to clear out the #3 DB and give PB as much space as possible to make the catch. He broke his route at a shallow depth (well before the first down) into the defender's leverage. The throw was going to Pat 100% of the time.
I wouldn't blame the Rutgers DBs for this play. Yes, the 2 outside DBs made very glaring errors (#2 DB looks like the most critical error of watching the QB too much instead of tracking Pat once ACJ route stem went deep), but even then, the blame should go on their D coordinator. There's so much nuance and communication to playing match coverage and it falls on coaches to mitigate that sort of risk. They should never have sent that deep safety on the blitz (the one McCray picked up) because it meant that the #2 DB had to execute the coverage perfectly and introduced needless risk given the game scenario (all they had to do was get the stop). If we were already in FG range, that call would make a lot more sense
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
He was not. The 4th DB that Dixon gets passed off to never breaks deep, Dixon was strolling into a 30 yard radius of green grass at the moment Altmyer throws.
I can't find the video with the second angle that shows this, I thought it was in this postgame thread somewhere. It's not really visible in the TV shot. The TV shot looks like the 4th DB must surely be locking onto Dixon but he doesn't, and then takes the terrible angle that allows Bryant to score.
You can kind of see it here, I'll keep looking for the other clip I saw
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Right, that was a coverage bust by #24 the zone defender on the right, but not entirely sure it was a miscommunication. It could have been relevant if the playcall was to get through his progressions over to Dixon's side, but Luke never looked his way; I'm sure that when he saw that safety charge the line, he knew Pat would be 100% open (and a relatively easier throw)
Here's the view you were looking for. Can't tell if Collin improvised a bit to get away from #24 the cloud zone corner, but he did execute his main job of getting #6 out of the way. #6 is looking at Luke's eyes the whole way and not at his friend #24, which kind of suggests to me that he's supposed to switch over to whoever is running the dig and #24 was supposed to cover his deep corner, but got caught ball watching. I'm getting more and more confused at this defensive call the more I look at it. Maybe they expected the dig to be a bit shallower? Really terrible call by the Rutgers DC
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
It's coming out of a timeout of course so there shouldn't have been any problem getting the play in, but I still say Occam's Razor here is that picture is four DB's not all executing the same play, or at least not understanding the one they're running.
The first down line is the 27 yard line and until they see the ball in the air no one is even breaking to our go-to receiver on an in cut 4 yards beyond that. That was SOMEBODY'S job here, surely.
Presumably due to injuries, #24 Kevin Levy was in, a freshman with one tackle this season, which I assume was in garbage time when they lost 42-7 to Wisky. Meanwhile, #6 Shaquan Loyal is an experienced senior safety. My impression is that Loyal sees that Levy was burned by Dixon (whom you can see in the lower right corner) and edged over to help (you can see this in the Scott Richey video), though Bryant must have been the prime focus. Once the ball gets in the air, Loyal tries to double back and loses his footing a bit, which you can see here, preventing him from getting to Bryant's spot.
At this point Levy is the only guy with a real shot, Bryant gets to the 20 and takes one hard step to make it look like he's running up the right hash. Levy bites hard and he loses his footing as Bryant bounces out to the sideline. It's over at this point, though Dixon makes sure by getting in Loyal's way
Levy was a four-star recruit and we were in his final five. At his announcement, he did the cap swticheroo thing picking a Florida State hat before announcing for RU.
At this point Levy is the only guy with a real shot, Bryant gets to the 20 and takes one hard step to make it look like he's running up the right hash. Levy bites hard and he loses his footing as Bryant bounces out to the sideline. It's over at this point, though Dixon makes sure by getting in Loyal's way
Levy was a four-star recruit and we were in his final five. At his announcement, he did the cap swticheroo thing picking a Florida State hat before announcing for RU.
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Unless Rutgers’ coach explicitly says otherwise (he won’t), there’s no way anyone can say that that that defense play was anything but 4 DBs all executing a different defensive coverage play/scheme. It could be a number of factors: cadence changes (good review on that), good offensive play design, 18-22 year olds in a high pressure situation, poor coaching, etc.
But Dixon WAS wide open on that play at the time of the release (so not after the ball was thrown), and the fact that Bryant was as open as he was 3 yards past the first down mark is just inexcusable if you’re a Rutgers fan.
I think it’d be disingenuous to say there was no luck involved in this play (and the T.O. call), but it’s also nice to know we have a QB and receiving core we can trust in these situations.
But Dixon WAS wide open on that play at the time of the release (so not after the ball was thrown), and the fact that Bryant was as open as he was 3 yards past the first down mark is just inexcusable if you’re a Rutgers fan.
I think it’d be disingenuous to say there was no luck involved in this play (and the T.O. call), but it’s also nice to know we have a QB and receiving core we can trust in these situations.
Love this breakdown of final play conversation
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet and that I noticed from normal media highlights is the receivers turning back to block. One Illini guy successfully impeded one defender, another was in position to, but ultimately decided it wasn’t necessary and presumably rather than risk a penalty,Ran into the end zone after Bryant. A surprising number of teams’ receivers don’t or are not good at blocking downfield. It is often the final piece of what makes a big play. Any team can be good at that, but choose not to for some reason. Good coaching and unselfish play. Justin stepp having a great year.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet and that I noticed from normal media highlights is the receivers turning back to block. One Illini guy successfully impeded one defender, another was in position to, but ultimately decided it wasn’t necessary and presumably rather than risk a penalty,Ran into the end zone after Bryant. A surprising number of teams’ receivers don’t or are not good at blocking downfield. It is often the final piece of what makes a big play. Any team can be good at that, but choose not to for some reason. Good coaching and unselfish play. Justin stepp having a great year.
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