Illinois 45, Duke 19 Postgame

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#451      
Mr. Tibbs
altgeld88 said:
Yep. Spot on IMO. Announced attendance was 24k in a 35k stadium. Lol. No way. There may have been around 15-17k top and we composed a large part of that. On the visitors side of the stadium it felt like an Illini home game.

BTW, the Duke partisans we encountered were gracious. Nice group of guys behind us who congratulated us on the win. Then, as we were leaving the horseshoe end of the stadium afterward near Cameron Indoor, several guys who looked like basketball players intersected our path in the end zone plaza and, seeing our orange attire, offered a sincere "Nice win, guys" and props.

On the flip side there was an obnoxious group of 8-10 Duke supporters in the next section over (maybe a dozen rows up from the sideline) who heckled our bench continuously. I felt badly for anyone in O&B around them. Early in the 4th I looked over at one of the most vociferous of this group, who had been using a small cheerleader megaphone to amplify his catcalling all afternoon, and he's berating our players loudly while holding an infant in one arm. In the blazing 90+ degree sun. Combination lol/SMH.

Really glad we went. Although we looked largely meh in the first half, the salient difference in the BB era is that we're very well-coached, force mistakes, and capitalize on them. I kept marveling at how good our special teams are, then thought back to the ST nightmare of the Zook era, and gave thanks anew for where we are. And when we finally started wearing them down our O&D were like hot knives through butter. That fourth quarter was fun.

It's pretty great to see how well our fans travel. Can't wait for our Bloomington road trip in 12 days.
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I’m jealous of your travels to road games. Lucky you

I’m trying hard to go to the Purdue game .
 
#452      
mhuml32
I'm not ready to give up on Feagin but he needs to embrace the size and contact he creates. I disagree with the thoughts about the lack of speed, acceleration, etc. The issue is footwork and indecisiveness. Either he doesn't trust the hip yet or he's trying to process too much information. He isn't going to have a lot of wiggle, that's certain now. Just hit the dang hole with violence and punish folks. That's why Valentine is so easy to love, he gets to the line immediately and is always sure where he wants to go.
 
#453      
Mr. Tibbs
mhuml32 said:
I'm not ready to give up on Feagin but he needs to embrace the size and contact he creates. I disagree with the thoughts about the lack of speed, acceleration, etc. The issue is footwork and indecisiveness. Either he doesn't trust the hip yet or he's trying to process too much information. He isn't going to have a lot of wiggle, that's certain now. Just hit the dang hole with violence and punish folks. That's why Valentine is so easy to love, he gets to the line immediately and is always sure where he wants to go.
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Feagin is your 3rd down RB whether it’s 3rd & 2 or 3rd & long

I just don’t think he’s earned the 1st & 10 role
 
#454      
altgeld88
Mr. Tibbs said:
I’m jealous of your travels to road games. Lucky you

I’m trying hard to go to the Purdue game .
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I hope you're able to do it. We went in '23 and, despite the ugly Illini loss, had a great time. Sunny end-September day and Ross-Ade is a nice place to see a game, except for the deafening train whistle from the 10-story-high scoreboard, which seemed to be triggered after every other play. Take earplugs!

I've only moved into the stage of life where I can road-trip at will since '23. It's pretty nice. In '23 I hadn't seen an Illinois football game since 2007 in Syracuse, and 2001 before that. After the IU game this month it will have been five in three seasons. Hoping to raise the W-L tally to 4-1 in Bloomington.
 
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#455      
RabidDawgClassic
altgeld88 said:
I hope you're able to do it. We went in '23 and, despite the ugly Illini loss, had a great time. Sunny end-September day and Ross-Ade is a nice place to see a game, except for the deafening train whistle from the 10-story-high scoreboard, which seemed to be triggered after every other play. Take earplugs!

I've only moved in into the stage of life where I can road-trip since '23. It's pretty nice. In '23 I hadn't seen an Illinois football game since 2007 in Syracuse, and 2001 before that. After the IU game this month it will have been five in three seasons. Hoping to raise the W-L tally to 4-1 in Bloomington.
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Our stories are actually opposite. When I was younger, I made treks to Illini road games in both basketball and football, with only Michigan State and Penn State being the “classic” B1G cities where I haven’t seen a game. Now I live far out of classic B1G country and rarely even bother to see other teams that play out here in LA. But that’ll change this basketball season when the Illini get a double dose of SoCal teams.

I remember my dad saying “why do I want to fight the crowd when the game is on tv?” I didn’t get that then, but I sure do now.
 
#456      
therealmiket86
mhuml32 said:
I'm not ready to give up on Feagin but he needs to embrace the size and contact he creates. I disagree with the thoughts about the lack of speed, acceleration, etc. The issue is footwork and indecisiveness. Either he doesn't trust the hip yet or he's trying to process too much information. He isn't going to have a lot of wiggle, that's certain now. Just hit the dang hole with violence and punish folks. That's why Valentine is so easy to love, he gets to the line immediately and is always sure where he wants to go.
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The problem is he hesitates. Ar 260lbs I want him running people over and punishing defenders. Vision is an area he can improve at
 
#457      
Guest
Just throwing this out there, apropos of nothing. According to the FightingIllini sports website box score, the attendance was 23893.
 
#458      
skyIdub
Dan said:
Is this being talked about enough? Because this is an incredible thing for our humble football program.
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#459      
QueenCityIllini
sacraig said:
Indiana is trash.
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Indiana was a flash in the pan last season. I have a ton of friends who are die hard Hoosiers and we get into debates often when comparing our program to their program. We have built a sustainable program from the ground up through trials and tribulations where as Indiana complied a team of transfers who had been playing together for 2-3 years. I am praying for the downfall of Cignetti and this program harder than Moore and the team up north.

I do not want to beat Indiana in Bloomington. I want to show them what culture looks like. I want to show them what a sustainable program looks like and I want them to google Bret Bielema when it is all said down. I want another 45-19 thrashing in Bloomington. !!!! Indiana.
 
#460      
jamarvelous31
#463      
Illini4Chief
BretMyBeachHouse said:
Looking at the Georgia roster it looks like they returned one starting RB. Perhaps they looked at their roster and weren't convinced on the other guys so decided to sign another proven back. This "bad" decision, if it is one, is more on Georgia than on Josh.

Season is still young. Lots can change. I'm hoping for the best for him.
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Josh sure didn't get many touches in last two games......I know they had the illness mentioned in August early, but seems to be way down on the roster these first two games....2 carries at last game?
 
#465      
Bassinillini
Illini4Chief said:
Josh sure didn't get many touches in last two games......I know they had the illness mentioned in August early, but seems to be way down on the roster these first two games....2 carries at last game?
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Bret recently commented that to date, as far as he was aware, no one who transferred out has experienced marked success at the next program. I wish Josh lots of success but looks like he is keeping Bret's streak in tact.
 
#466      
altgeld88
RabidDawgClassic said:
Our stories are actually opposite. When I was younger, I made treks to Illini road games in both basketball and football, with only Michigan State and Penn State being the “classic” B1G cities where I haven’t seen a game. Now I live far out of classic B1G country and rarely even bother to see other teams that play out here in LA. But that’ll change this basketball season when the Illini get a double dose of SoCal teams.

I remember my dad saying “why do I want to fight the crowd when the game is on tv?” I didn’t get that then, but I sure do now.
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Yeah. I did that, too, intermittently until my daughter was 4 (now I remember that in fact the 2007 game in Syracuse wasn't the most recent game for me before @ Purdue in '23... it was the 2008 night game at Penn State) and then didn't do it again for 15 years. Work and family constraints during that time. With my daughter off at college and work and personal factors easing, I've been able to get back to it. Have enjoyed VA Tech games the past couple seasons, too, which offers a classic D-1 gameday atmosphere. The Hokies' entrance to Enter Sandman at Lane Stadium is off-the-hook awesome, though their program is sputtering.

I grew up going to Big Ten football games with my dad so it's something that I've really enjoyed reconnecting with via my bro @Retro62. It's a huge bonus that this coincides with our ascent under BB. Also, having lived far from the Midwest for nearly 35 years, the ability to catch the team here on the east coast is nice. And there's nothing like the golden hours in the Midwest in September and October. The evening before that Purdue game a couple years ago we drove from The Beef House back to Lebanon, Indiana north of Indy at dusk directly into a rising harvest moon on a two-lane state highway. I get chills just thinking about the beauty of that drive. Am stoked about getting back there next week.
 
#469      
Battle89
RabidDawgClassic said:
Our stories are actually opposite. When I was younger, I made treks to Illini road games in both basketball and football, with only Michigan State and Penn State being the “classic” B1G cities where I haven’t seen a game. Now I live far out of classic B1G country and rarely even bother to see other teams that play out here in LA. But that’ll change this basketball season when the Illini get a double dose of SoCal teams.

I remember my dad saying “why do I want to fight the crowd when the game is on tv?” I didn’t get that then, but I sure do now.
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I'm somewhere in the middle but probably closer to your (or your dad's) POV now Rabid. Went to a ton of games when younger (ten Homecomings in a row after graduation, plus other various games including road trips) but I have some mobility issues now that make basketball games a little tough and football games really tough.

I still make 1-3 hoops games a year but it's been a long time for football. Maybe Lovie's UNC game. Way too long.
 
#470      
Battle89
altgeld88 said:
And there's nothing like the golden hours in the Midwest in September and October. The evening before that Purdue game a couple years ago we drove from The Beef House back to Lebanon, Indiana north of Indy at dusk directly into a rising harvest moon on a two-lane state highway. I get chills just thinking about the beauty of that drive. Am stoked about getting back there next week.
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Poetry, I feel the same.
 
#472      
IlliniFanHere
Illini4Chief said:
Josh sure didn't get many touches in last two games......I know they had the illness mentioned in August early, but seems to be way down on the roster these first two games....2 carries at last game?
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Georgia Dawg people .....Frazier the hot hand RB for Dawgs, breakout freshman year, now in full control, ,Jones at 2 and Bowens up and coming.....
 
#474      
zentrails
therealmiket86 said:
The problem is he hesitates. Ar 260lbs I want him running people over and punishing defenders. Vision is an area he can improve at
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He did use a nasty stiff arm to flatten a Duke tackler on one run for about 8 yards IIRC, the announcers said, "and he's not getting up" LOL (no he didn't get seriously hurt)
 
#475      
BalloonsTheElephant
I skimmed this thread down sorry if this was discussed, but I feel like the commentators were coached on talking about Illinois substitution timing. It was even an ad hoc discussion with their rules guy who said "yep, Illinois is well within their right to do what they are doing".

It just felt like a point of emphasis they wanted to make after the Citrus Bowl. It was mentioned 3-4 times.
 
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