I’m not worried about Duke. Im excited to see us throw some big gun plays on defense out there.
Illinois vs Duke, Saturday, September 12th, 2:30pm CT, FS1
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
As the saying goes in college football, week 1 is a pathological liar.
The classic week 2 step up to power conference competition is like George Washington with the cherry tree though.
The classic week 2 step up to power conference competition is like George Washington with the cherry tree though.
I don't believe Sutter or JC Anderson are currently in top 5 of the depth chart on their respective teams.
i don't see it that way, but to not show your entire play book on either side of the ball
is pretty typical for early season games, especially when the game is in hand in the 3rd
quarter and the competition is stepping up. even more so when you run +-14 plays on
offense in the first half.
Yesterday reminded me a lot of how I felt in 2023 watching us play Toledo. I felt like “man, we’re better than this right?” And then for like a week I tried to talk myself into us being off that day with a lot of turnover and that we’d be fine. Then Kansas took us to the woodshed.
Duke game will do a lot towards making me feel confident or pessimistic about a bowl game this year.
Duke game will do a lot towards making me feel confident or pessimistic about a bowl game this year.
I get it - but no way Duke beats us at home
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
While Duke hasn't played yet, their SP+ is assuming they are similar to Illinois where their offense is much better than their defense. I would take the over on 40 (comfortably).
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
We looked way worse in that Toledo game which we were insanely lucky to win, but on the flip side I suspect UAB will be quite a bit worse than that Toledo team which wound up 11-3.
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
I don't think we looked worse at all. UAB was never scoring a full field TD on our first team D. Offense looked better than 2023, and even with the Hail Mary it wouldn't have come down to a 4th and 16 to win on a walk off fg. There are still issues for sure, but I don't think that's the case.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
That’s what I said, we looked worse in that Toledo game, where we just kind of looked sloppy and unready all the way around.
Last night’s problems were solely defensive and weren’t huge errors or penalties, we just couldn’t limit them on a play to play basis.
They were not limited to defense. Not being able to get enough push up front to comfortably pick up short yardage situations is concerning. That needs to change. Us letting up 4th and short while they're stopping us.....think about how the time of possession changes if that's reversed.
We need to control the LOS on both sides of the ball vs teams like that.
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
Blaming that on my bad front nine, sorry. Turned it around tho, hopefully our tackling is the same story.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I was extremely annoyed by the 4th and 1 stuff too, but it's kinda hard to say we didn't control the LOS on offense when we averaged 5.8 yards a carry and allowed just 2 TFL's and no sacks.
The offense ran 43 plays and scored 35 points with no sacks, no turnovers and no penalties. That's a smooth, easy night. We used to be unable to do that against absolutely anybody.
Only 2 pressures allowed all game from the O-Line.
blackdog
- Champaign
It was also the first game for a mostly new offensive line. They will continue to get better and more cohesive as the year goes on but already its impressive that there really weren't many missed assignments.
That's really the expectation vs a team like that. 17 drop backs, 2 pressures....it's what I'd expect.
If we don’t throw to the TEs 10 times a game do we even really need TEs? 
. Could point out numerous times last night when multiple guys were open….only 1 football. A couple times the TE was open but Houser missed it. Also the whole point of the TE is a guy who can both block and run routes so the defense can’t just key run or pass.
. Could point out numerous times last night when multiple guys were open….only 1 football. A couple times the TE was open but Houser missed it. Also the whole point of the TE is a guy who can both block and run routes so the defense can’t just key run or pass.