Illinois 45, Duke 19 Postgame

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#203      
BZuppke
DeeAndDWill said:
Just amazing what Bielema has done here. I was skeptical initially, but he knows winning. He knows how to create a program. And he is delivering everything I’ve ever wanted out of this program.

30 years of futility. Excuse after excuse. Chicago! The Admin! Academics! Orange Sweater Vest Army! And it ends up that it simply was the simplest reason - and ultimately the easiest thing to solve - we hired incompetent coaches.

The Peter Principle hire, an NFL guy that hated recruiting, a recruiter that literally couldn’t do anything else, the biggest moron on earth, and a splashy name brand that had no idea about college athletics while simply looking for an easy paycheck for him and his family.

Kudos to Whitman for finally making the solid hire.

We may get out talented in this league, and we absolutely will! Importantly though, I don’t think we will ever look like the clown shoes group of incompetent losers like we have for a long long time.

I’m [expletive] giddy about this program. And today feels like another step forward to a lasting foundation of a program.

(Will still be nervous after a non scoring opening drive next week against WMU)
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I agree with almost all of this but if the hiring thread is archived I advocated for Bret early and often.
 
#207      
Illini4Christ
Coach Diaz was ready for the barge today. Did you guys catch it? Illinois tried it one time and Duke stopped it, but I am sure it brought back bad memories while he was the defensive coordinator at Penn State when Illinois ran that down his mouth for an improbable win. He probably told the team that Illinois would run it today so they were prepared.
 
#209      
mini30fan
ill duke.jpg
 
#211      
Todd99
Retro62 said:
Loved being there for this one, despite the fact that I look like a lobster ready to be served. Gotta remember sunscreen 🤨. A huge contingent of Illini fans—the videos as Bret and Luke were leaving don’t reflect just how many Illini were there. Frankly, we played a C+/B- game overall, although the second half was obviously better. I’m excited about being at the IU game in a couple of weeks.
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I wasn’t there but Brian Barnhart mentioned a few times on radio how hot it was. I wonder why Brett and some other coaches wear long sleeve pullovers? Superstition?
 
#213      
Second place is 1st loser
SkyysNotFalling said:
When are we, as a board, going to learn to not overreact to everything? It gets so draining all the doomers who doom 5 minutes into games. You tell anyone we win this by 26 points at 10:59am and we’re buzzing!! GO ILLINI!!!
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Lets be honest and not Monday morning QB this one. The first half was absolutely atrocious and the final score is not indicative of how this game was played.

You couldn't look at one unit on our team that was outplaying theirs. We got beat in every conceivable aspect, but turnovers. When you win that battle 5-0, plus get dropped balls, uniform penalties, etc, you should win 100% of all games. Lets not pretend like there aren't major concerns

The first 35 minutes was horrendous, the first 45 improved to bad, HOWEVER, the 4th quarter was pretty much perfection. The late scores put some makeup on this one.

We can(and do) woulda, coulda, shoulda all games to death, but in this one.....we shoulda probably been down three scores at that half. The fact we were winning was a minor miracle.

Both lines and the corners have to be better. Thx corners have to be a LOT better. Glad we adjusted on the offensive side at the half. Quick slants, screens, play action.....it all slows down a pass rush and over active defensive ends.

Not sure we have things figured out on the defensive side yet. Worried about those interior linemen, but onward and upward.
 
#217      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
Ryllini said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1964405299760058782
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barring a season-ending injury, there's zero chance anyone else leads the team in yards. He's light years ahead of everyone else through two weeks, and I'd be shocked if he doesn't cross 300 through WMU. Anyone else from now on out who asserts "who is their top receiver", simply has no clue what their talking about.

What's super encouraging is how reliable that next group is - Dixon, Elzy, Bowick, Clement.
 
#219      
Mr. Tibbs
Illini4Christ said:
Coach Diaz was ready for the barge today. Did you guys catch it? Illinois tried it one time and Duke stopped it, but I am sure it brought back bad memories while he was the defensive coordinator at Penn State when Illinois ran that down his mouth for an improbable win. He probably told the team that Illinois would run it today so they were prepared.
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i missed that

but they were not prepared for the wildcat with Hank
 
#225      
Illini92and96
illini0440 said:
I just went through the first 20 pages of the coaching search thread…..yall hated Bret and thought he was a grade a D bag without actually knowing him 🤣(not you Bzup) but a lot of fans
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Well, from the outside he sure seemed like a D-bag, so not too surprising. And now he’s my favorite coach of all time, and I’m sure he’s a favorite of many people that did not like him prior as well.
 
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