Illinois vs Purdue, Saturday, October 3rd, 3:15pm CT, BTN

#76      
Illinirog70
cuillini said:
My question is how will this affect the players? Have they given up, or do they approach the rest of the season with a "us against the world" attitude?
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The players will likely react with great enthusiasm. The knew that the DC was a fraud and his leadership was lacking and disorganization reigned.
It's a much brighter day now and the defense will be remotivated. Whether it remains that way will depend on their success rate.
I was a fixer in business, taking over divisions and companies who were failing. Without exception the leadership team was motivated by the positive attention and proceeded to become more successful than even they believed.

BB is such a motivator that I forecast the defense will become an asset rather than a liability.
 
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#77      
ptgrd23
I predict we will massacre Purdue 58-19. Our offense is elite! Our defense will have 11 men on the field and have something to prove.

The 3-3-5 can work. Duke was ACC champ last year. Ohio State is a top 4 team. We have a great secondary and good defense. We just need a good DC calling the defense.
 
#79      
Dkayak
Illinirog70 said:
The players will likely react with great enthusiasm. The knew that the DC was a fraud and his leadership was lacking and disorganization reigned.
It's a much brighter day now and the defense will be remotivated. Whether it remains that way will depend on their success rate.
I was a fixer in business, taking over divisions and companies who were failing. Without exception the leadership team was motivated by the positive attention and proceeded to become more successful than even they believed.

BB is such a motivator that I forecast the defense will become an asset rather than a liability.
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General Omar Bradley said morale was primarily a function of confidence in leadership and had little to do with dry socks, good chow, or even winning. If troops feel they’re being led as well as possible under the circumstances, in pursuit of a worthy cause, morale is solid. IIRC he also wrote of having to remove fairly capable leaders for having lost the confidence of their troops.

Morale could soar now that our weak leader has been removed. Hauk will be an easy act to follow. His prompt removal reflects positively on Bret’s leadership, which should inspire confidence.
 
#84      
Second place is 1st loser
ptgrd23 said:
I predict we will massacre Purdue 58-19. Our offense is elite! Our defense will have 11 men on the field and have something to prove.

The 3-3-5 can work. Duke was ACC champ last year. Ohio State is a top 4 team. We have a great secondary and good defense. We just need a good DC calling the defense.
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Our corners are a horror show and outside of Bailey, there's not a safety on the roster that makes a difference.

Our defensive line and linebackers are well below average. We knew all of this coming into the season. We've come up short on the prep level and woefully short in the portal, specifically, at those two position groupings.

I'm wondering what and/or who you're seeing that makes this defense "good"?
 
#86      
ptgrd23
Second place is 1st loser said:
Our corners are a horror show and outside of Bailey, there's not a safety on the roster that makes a difference.

Our defensive line and linebackers are well below average. We knew all of this coming into the season. We've come up short on the prep level and woefully short in the portal, specifically, at those two position groupings.

I'm wondering what and/or who you're seeing that makes this defense "good"?
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xavier.png

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Juice Clark - All B10 honorable Mention
 
#87      
Second place is 1st loser
ptgrd23 said:
View attachment 51865
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Juice Clark - All B10 honorable Mention
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That was two freaking years ago. Are you seeing good things out of either of them or you seeing them get turned around in circles or Moss'd? I know you have eyeballs. Now, you can argue that he's not the same guy since the injury and that's a sellable point. Anything outside of that is blind to what's happening.

Edit: Let's go with your theory that both of them are effective, along with Bailey(who legitimately is a playmaker). What are you seeing on the D-Line, which is where literally every starts and what are you seeing out of our LB corp that shows that they can run stuff, fill gaps or drop back into coverage?

We get no pass rush, our LBs are behind the play and when they do get to the ball carrier, they are just overmatched. It's just what's happening.

All of these comments.....remove Bailey from them. He's a legitimate talent.
 
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#89      
jrock
Spread is way too low. Hammer away on the Illini to cover. Probably something similar to the UAB game. 45-24 Illini.
 
#90      
aaeismacgychel
AssemblyHallForever said:
This may be Bret’s hardest coaching year with all the injuries and not having a DC. Bret needs to rally these guys and plant Purdue into the ground. We cannot win the game 34-24 or something like that, we need to put 40 plus and limit Purdue to no more than 10. We need to send a message that we are not done. I believe that we can salvage this year with 8 wins and a solid bowl game.
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I mean if someone told me we win this week 32-24, I’m taking that happily. This whole we need to beat teams by 40+ I’ve never understood. It’s rarely that easy for any team. Just win the game, whether it’s by 70pts or 1pt, just win.
 
#92      
Brosky
ptgrd23 said:
I predict we will massacre Purdue 58-19. Our offense is elite! Our defense will have 11 men on the field and have something to prove.

The 3-3-5 can work. Duke was ACC champ last year. Ohio State is a top 4 team. We have a great secondary and good defense. We just need a good DC calling the defense.
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I agree. The 3-3-5 is flexible and can supply passer pressure; Put two edge guys on the line with the three down linemen, and you don't know where the pressure will come from. Or, they can function as LBs and create a 5 man defensive line.
 
#93      
Fly Illini Fly!
Purdue Pass O vs Illinois Pass D:

Purdue #8 EPA/pass → Illinois #129 EPA/pass defense

Illinois Pass O vs Purdue Pass D:

Illinois #16 pass success → Purdue #133 pass-success defense
 
#95      
AssemblyHallForever
aaeismacgychel said:
I mean if someone told me we win this week 32-24, I’m taking that happily. This whole we need to beat teams by 40+ I’ve never understood. It’s rarely that easy for any team. Just win the game, whether it’s by 70pts or 1pt, just win.
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I am not saying win 63-10. I am saying the defense needs to stand up against one of the worst teams in the country. Our offense needs to put points on the board against a team that nearly gives up 40 a game. This is a statement game. It’s Homecoming and we will have recruits in town. But winning 32-24 will not instill confidence heading into East Lansing.
 
#96      
Illini2010-11
AssemblyHallForever said:
I am not saying win 63-10. I am saying the defense needs to stand up against one of the worst teams in the country. Our offense needs to put points on the board against a team that nearly gives up 40 a game. This is a statement game. It’s Homecoming and we will have recruits in town. But winning 32-24 will not instill confidence heading into East Lansing.
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Record aside, Purdue is far from one of the worst teams in the country. The teams that they have lost to have a combined 11-1 record (the lone loss Wake Forest to Miami FL). Outside of against Notre Dame (one of the absolute best teams in the country), Purdue has averaged around 39 points a game. In short, Purdue knows how to score points and are very efficient at it.

Winning 32-24 would actually instill quite a bit of confidence for many of us, and likely the team as well. It would indicate that the defense is improving.
 
#97      
Birdus
ptgrd23 said:
I predict we will massacre Purdue 58-19. Our offense is elite! Our defense will have 11 men on the field and have something to prove.

The 3-3-5 can work. Duke was ACC champ last year. Ohio State is a top 4 team. We have a great secondary and good defense. We just need a good DC calling the defense.
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Duke should be ranked but they are not. No respect. I agree, our offense is really really good and we will put up some points. I really like Hauser. If we are healthy, I could see us putting up 50 against a BIG opponent before the season is over.
 
#99      
Genesis
aaeismacgychel said:
I mean if someone told me we win this week 32-24, I’m taking that happily. This whole we need to beat teams by 40+ I’ve never understood. It’s rarely that easy for any team. Just win the game, whether it’s by 70pts or 1pt, just win.
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This is understandable from a fan perspective, but not optimal for the team. A team must practice the way they need to play in the game. Likewise, you need to play in the easy games the way you need to play in the tougher games. Essentially this is a practice to get the offense closer to its highest efficiency and the defense to its most effectiveness. You never want to practice being just good enough.
 
#100      
Illini2010-11
Genesis said:
This is understandable from a fan perspective, but not optimal for the team. A team must practice the way they need to play in the game. Likewise, you need to play in the easy games the way you need to play in the tougher games. Essentially this is a practice to get the offense closer to its highest efficiency and the defense to its most effectiveness. You never want to practice being just good enough.
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Can we please stop treating Purdue like an easy game where we should absolutely blow them out? They are a greatly improved football team, record aside, and the Illini are in a more rebuilding year. There is a reason why the spread is around -10 Illinois. I would be highly happy if the Illini cover the spread, but the Illini need a win regardless of style points. An eight point win would be highly acceptable to me, as long as we are cleaning up many of the fixable errors that we have seen through the first third of the season.

People place way too much importance on the extent of the final score. I care more about reducing the silly mistakes, fixing fixable communication errors, and improving week over week. In the end, what we need is the W in the books. Winning by double-digits would be icing on the cake.
 
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