I didn't have an issue with the play call. Iowa packed in pretty tight but sniffed the play out pretty well. We had an open receiver(s), but Art didn't move off of his primary. He has to be able to see that the throw wasn't there and either look for option 2 or just throw the ball out of bounds.
Illinois 9, Iowa 6 Postgame
That's his issue. He never looks off his primary. Didn't last year, didn't with Iowa.
The thing is--we should have known that was coming. Our effort to defend it was less than stellar.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
Seriously , weve been dealing with less than average quarterbacks since Nate.
Once we now get a good 5-6 games out of TDV, its abvious to us the difference it makes when you have a guy that give the O options on just about every down
Im not blaming our years wandering aimlessly on the field all on the QB's we've had, but a good QB gets you in a bowl game OFTEN.
A bad one? never or seldom
lets hope TDV is only out a game or two, if that . otherwise, we will become very predictable when in passing downs
I was at UIUC the same time you were. Lucky for me I was able to attend most games through the 80s then it became more erratic. But, this qualifies as #2 for me behind the 1983 win over Michigan at #1. #3 was 2007 over Wisconsin (but that was expected).
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
The good news in this story.................from the 35 yard line on the West Side, we appeared to have 50,000+ in the stands. Just another 8-10k and we may look full.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
we hosted a family party for my 89 year old F-I-L from 4-8, so I missed game minutes here and there, but every angle they showed while I watched , the stadium looked FULL , but they never showed the complete east side balcony or horseshoe
the very most high usage NFL RBs get around 20 carries a game, on a very rare day, you'll see a RB eclipse 30 (Jonathan Taylor Week 1 and Saquon Barkley Week 4 are the only ones thus far). Chase is going to break if he gets the kind of carries people seem to think he should have gotten. We do need some other offense other than just feeding Brown the ball until he gets injured. He's already leading the nation in carries at 151, the next highest guy is at 136 and only 23 guys are over 100 carries (amongst the 131 FBS teams).
CleaverName
- Chicago but not there anymore
Saw this article about the Iowa OC... https://slate.com/culture/2022/10/brian-ferentz-iowa-nepotism.html
blackdog
- Champaign
I think Griffin has been getting some harsh criticism this year. He's perfect on his extra points and he's only had one of his 4 misses from inside 40. It's not like he has been abysmal.
sbillini
- st petersburg, fl
Apart from the occasional veering into other debates that mostly distract from the point the author is trying to make, i generally agree with the article.
I think the big issue that Iowa may now face is, especially with articles like this published, is losing the locker room. My guess is there's an underlying feeling consistent with the article amongst players/other coaches, but they've mostly covered over it with confidence in KF and his coaching record. When that underlying feeling becomes so obvious that the general public is shouting about it, it's hard to cover it anymore.
SampsonRelpenk
- Edwardsville, IL
The one and only Iowa fan worth following, we know her pain.
LOL... The only human emotion stronger than FEAR.... is HOPE...
Illinir1
- Camdenton, MO
I read the article, agreed, and thought "this was us with Lovie Smith and his Son, Miles." I still don't know how Josh allowed Lovie to hire his own Son. Should never have happened.
To be fair he was repeatedly shoving our defenders out of his break.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Undeniably true, but given how handsy we are in those same breaks we don't have a ton of room to complain.
We are very, very good at interrupting receivers routes and catch processes in ways refs don't call. The day may come when they do, be aware of that.
soupy17
- MI
I think an underrated aspect of Griffin's early struggles may have been the holding? If you watch Robert's Check the Tape videos from IlliniBoard, he pointed out one from one of the early games (which one is escaping me) where Hugh basically dropped the hold and Caleb had to kick it off the ground. It's clearly taken Robertson a few games to get fully comfortable, and his punts were great against Iowa. The holding skill is probably an underrated thing for a punter to learn and I think has an under-appreciated affect on kicks.
This is pure speculation on my part - just connecting some of Hugh's early punting jitters to be overall jitters, with the one piece of video evidence that came to mind.
Don’t worry the refs will make up for it when we play @MI.
I think the fine line, and WI suffered from this against us, is grabbing or interfering with receivers arms while they’re reaching for the ball. Seems like that’s an auto call this year.