chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
Illinois 42, UAB 23 Postgame
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
He was involved. He got stuffed on a 4th & 1 around midfield & then barely converted one in the 4th quarter. It seems when he was on the field the playcalling was very run heavy. Almost like a giveaway of what was coming.
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
Again, I’ll post the photo of BOTH packed student sections, including sections 101 & 102 that were full and totally awesome!
Attachments
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
And btw, for all of you who have been slamming how lackluster the crowd was, IT WAS HORRIBLY HOT! Our crew (section 126-40 yd line) stood and cheered for every TD and 3rd & 4th down defensive hold ‘ems, but we were all absolutely zapped! After standing, waiting for, and watching the Illiniwalk in Grange Grove and then tailgating for 2 hours, I was dripping with sweat the entire time, even drinking three bottles of water during the game…just sayin’…
I totally disagree on two fronts..First based on last nights results (I know its only the first game) this defense is worse than last year and year prior.. we're going backwards..
2024 First Game
Illinois 45 Eastern Illinois 0
2025 First Game
Illinois 52 Western Illinois 3
____________________________________________________________
the team did not make the "fatal mistakes" that a Zook, Beckman, Turner, etc team would have.
If poor tackling is not a "fatal mistake" I don't what is....
.....
Regarding Zook and Turner...Zook took Illinois to the Rose Bowl in 2007 and won BT coach of the year that year..BB has yet to take the Illinois to a bowl game of equal stature... I know these coaches didn't end their Illini career on a high note but they had their moments..
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
My 11 Notes:
- Expected a rough start to the defense: doing a new scheme, likely going to take a vanilla approach, UAB's RBs were considered their strength on the roster and the Illinois' defense is expecting to struggle to stop the run. It's not that it was not disappointing to watch but I think I had a very different expectation of game 1 than most of the folks on here.
- Houser is as good as advertised. The incompletions were throw-aways or drops. He was more mobile than expected.
- The biggest alarm for me is the running game. Valentine had that (excellent) long run and the rest was.....pretty pedestrian. I know, it's not fair to take away that long run and assess, but it's concerning against a team like UAB. Silver lining? Lunney seemed determined to run on every first down and it became predictable for UAB. I'm guessing that was done to avoid giving Duke any first-down tendencies.
- UAB had more rushing attempts than Illinois had offensive plays.
- Heard folks questioning the involvement of Feagin/Laughery/pick your favorite skill player but it's tough to complain about Feagin only getting 13 snaps when the offense only ran 43 total offensive plays.
- The complaints about the Anderson carry on 4th-and-1 is too much for me. He was perfect in a bunch of attempts last year. Where were the complaints last year then? I also get the idea of giving him the ball there because (a) you know it's a very successful approach based on history and (b) it avoids putting anything new on film.
- Biggest bummer was the flow of the game was dictated by UAB. Ultimately it cost Illinois a bunch of offensive snaps and giving reps to backups late in the second half.
- Collin Dixon took that step forward. Much needed difference maker at WR and buys some time for the WR room to get healthy. He has a chance to crack the top-6 in Illinois career receiving yards if he stays healthy.
- Weird outcome where I feel (a) great about the QB, (b) great about the top WR, and (c) very concerned about the rest of the pass catchers
- I was pleasantly surprised about the pass rush and pressures created after today. I see the vision of the 3-3-5. Rhea and (especially) Holmes are looking like valuable contributors
- Linebackers? Woof. Again, I'm hoping today was the learning curve.
- Expected a rough start to the defense: doing a new scheme, likely going to take a vanilla approach, UAB's RBs were considered their strength on the roster and the Illinois' defense is expecting to struggle to stop the run. It's not that it was not disappointing to watch but I think I had a very different expectation of game 1 than most of the folks on here.
- Houser is as good as advertised. The incompletions were throw-aways or drops. He was more mobile than expected.
- The biggest alarm for me is the running game. Valentine had that (excellent) long run and the rest was.....pretty pedestrian. I know, it's not fair to take away that long run and assess, but it's concerning against a team like UAB. Silver lining? Lunney seemed determined to run on every first down and it became predictable for UAB. I'm guessing that was done to avoid giving Duke any first-down tendencies.
- UAB had more rushing attempts than Illinois had offensive plays.
- Heard folks questioning the involvement of Feagin/Laughery/pick your favorite skill player but it's tough to complain about Feagin only getting 13 snaps when the offense only ran 43 total offensive plays.
- The complaints about the Anderson carry on 4th-and-1 is too much for me. He was perfect in a bunch of attempts last year. Where were the complaints last year then? I also get the idea of giving him the ball there because (a) you know it's a very successful approach based on history and (b) it avoids putting anything new on film.
- Biggest bummer was the flow of the game was dictated by UAB. Ultimately it cost Illinois a bunch of offensive snaps and giving reps to backups late in the second half.
- Collin Dixon took that step forward. Much needed difference maker at WR and buys some time for the WR room to get healthy. He has a chance to crack the top-6 in Illinois career receiving yards if he stays healthy.
- Weird outcome where I feel (a) great about the QB, (b) great about the top WR, and (c) very concerned about the rest of the pass catchers
- I was pleasantly surprised about the pass rush and pressures created after today. I see the vision of the 3-3-5. Rhea and (especially) Holmes are looking like valuable contributors
- Linebackers? Woof. Again, I'm hoping today was the learning curve.
UAB would be like 75%+ to win vs EIU or WIU. This is not an apt comparison honestly.
WIU drove deep into our territory on their first drive last year.
Zook got to the Rose Bowl with a 9-3 team because of one of the craziest seasons in college football history. BB had a 9-3 team in 2024 that was on par with that 2007 team and would have done the same if the setting was the same. He has also maintained that bar instead of moving immediately to a losing season afterwards.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Those are FCS opponents. My lord.
Don’t ruin his trip this early down Debbie Downer Lane.
Now UAB is good??? Whatever...If you think our defense is better than the two prior years, more power to you
“Man! Why aren’t we beating this team just as much, if not more, than the team’s leagues below them in talent, funding, leadership, and facilities?!”
Purdon’t will beat the Sycamores tonight by 40+ and he’ll think it’s evidence we’re worse.
For reference also, Rutgers loss last night was bad of course. But that was still an FBS team. If they lost to an FCS team (*cough *cough Michigan), it’s a different story.
Last edited:
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
EIU & WIU aren't of the same level as UAB. UAB not great but it's a D1 program who beat a top 25 program as recently as last season (Memphis). EIU & WIU aren't doing that anytime soon or ever.
Zook & Turner did have their moments but both of their tenures (especially Zook) were defined by losing the winnable games on a consistent basis due to fatal mistakes. Things like costly turnover, idiotic penalties (late hits, roughness, taunting, etc). Missed tackles are not ideal, but those aren't fatal mistakes. We didn't give up any 80 yard touchdown type of plays. We at least made UAB earn what they got. Is there room for lots of improvement. Absolutely. Might that be the case all year. Also quite possible. I'm just not gonna go whole hog on the sky is falling after 1 game with a head coach who has established credibility in Champaign that hasn't existed since I was in high school/college. And I'm 54 now.
Couple things, I don't know how great UAB is, but they do play in the American and upset Memphis last year after they showed Dilfer the door. Comparing them to 2 FCS teams is disingenuous.
I am very concerned about our tackling, but we played a G6 team in our first game after installing a brand-new defensive scheme and dealing with massive roster turnover...very different than playing FCS teams while continuing the same defensive scheme from the prior year with higher roster retention.
As far as Zook and Turner go...the B1G is significantly better and deeper than it had been previously. The 2007 team finished 9-4 and 2001 was one of the B1Gs worst years ever. Only UI (12) and scUM(20) finished the season ranked.
We have equaled the win totals for those 2 teams in our last 2 seasons. I find it incredibly hard to argue BB has not been the most successful UI coach in a VERY long time.
Well I’ve gone back and watched the tape …
All weekend we need to focus on tackling and recruiting defensive players …
We need Daniel Brown healthy … Get him healthy …
Hauck made some adjustments in the 2H … It’s time to cut it loose … Get more aggressive … And let’s run tackling drills until we get the
right !!!!!
Someone call Brad … Miss a tackle … Those boys can run to Ubben and hit the treadmill and run back … The tackling has to be fixed NOW !!!
Houser is just a DUDE … If this defense can even halfway help him … He can win us games … When we get Clement full go and Platt healthy … Defenses are going to STRUGGLE that are not CFB playoff caliber …
The thing that gives me the most confidence … Bret is pissed … I like that …
All weekend we need to focus on tackling and recruiting defensive players …
We need Daniel Brown healthy … Get him healthy …
Hauck made some adjustments in the 2H … It’s time to cut it loose … Get more aggressive … And let’s run tackling drills until we get the
right !!!!!Someone call Brad … Miss a tackle … Those boys can run to Ubben and hit the treadmill and run back … The tackling has to be fixed NOW !!!
Houser is just a DUDE … If this defense can even halfway help him … He can win us games … When we get Clement full go and Platt healthy … Defenses are going to STRUGGLE that are not CFB playoff caliber …
The thing that gives me the most confidence … Bret is pissed … I like that …
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Show me where I said either of those two things in my post.
Offense looks like it will be fun to watch this yr. Defense looks like it will be fun to play against! Be an interesting yr
I will argue that UAB is light-years ahead of those two teams. They have two legit backs who were also making people miss and had great contact balance.
I 100% agree that the tackling has to be better, but those guys had something to do with it too.
a large grain of salt with this for various reasons but it sure feels like Hauser is going to make the loss of Luke feel minimal.
The talk of the board is the defense (rightfully so) but the unit flips out previous defense philosophies on its head. We’re going to give up yardage and gash plays. I see the vision—a couple negative plays and an aggressive action away from getting a stop. It’s also only going to get better. I still think it’s going to be tough sledding especially against premier opponents but it sure feels like when push comes to shove you need a QB who can win you a game to beat us. We pressured their QB on essentially every drop back. We had guys in the backfield constantly. I’m cautiously optimistic about what this defense will produce, but I do think it’s going to be boom or bust every series. I think Bailey only gets better and raises the floor of this defense by himself. I was afraid for UAB everytime he got close to a ball carrier.
My biggest takeaway: special teams looks great. As a unit, I was terrified. Not enough plays to draw conclusions, but KR/PR/K/P all having plus games is reason to applaud no matter competition.
Last thought: Valentine is an absolute stud. Bold prediction: 3rd round pick in the 2027 NFL draft. Hope I’m wrong and we get a senior valentine but man he’s got all the tools.
The talk of the board is the defense (rightfully so) but the unit flips out previous defense philosophies on its head. We’re going to give up yardage and gash plays. I see the vision—a couple negative plays and an aggressive action away from getting a stop. It’s also only going to get better. I still think it’s going to be tough sledding especially against premier opponents but it sure feels like when push comes to shove you need a QB who can win you a game to beat us. We pressured their QB on essentially every drop back. We had guys in the backfield constantly. I’m cautiously optimistic about what this defense will produce, but I do think it’s going to be boom or bust every series. I think Bailey only gets better and raises the floor of this defense by himself. I was afraid for UAB everytime he got close to a ball carrier.
My biggest takeaway: special teams looks great. As a unit, I was terrified. Not enough plays to draw conclusions, but KR/PR/K/P all having plus games is reason to applaud no matter competition.
Last thought: Valentine is an absolute stud. Bold prediction: 3rd round pick in the 2027 NFL draft. Hope I’m wrong and we get a senior valentine but man he’s got all the tools.
What's up with Perry? Is he nearing a return?Well I’ve gone back and watched the tape …
All weekend we need to focus on tackling and recruiting defensive players …
We need Daniel Brown healthy … Get him healthy …
Hauck made some adjustments in the 2H … It’s time to cut it loose … Get more aggressive … And let’s run tackling drills until we get the
Someone call Brad … Miss a tackle … Those boys can run to Ubben and hit the treadmill and run back … The tackling has to be fixed NOW !!!
Houser is just a DUDE … If this defense can even halfway help him … He can win us games … When we get Clement full go and Platt healthy … Defenses are going to STRUGGLE that are not CFB playoff caliber …
The thing that gives me the most confidence … Bret is pissed … I like that …
He’s done for the year …
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
I'm on the edge of ready to declare Bret the best Illini coach in my lifetime. And as mentioned above I'm 54. He is damn good. Simple as that.