Pat Bryant had a concussion vs Oregon last year and suited up the following week vs Minny. Hopefully the same deal with Bailey ?Unacceptable …
Put a WR in at DB … Put someone in … I don’t give a rats …
Robert Jones freshman DB traveled … He should’ve been in … Where was Karriem at ?? He should’ve been in earlier … Tyson Rooks …
We’ve got other options …
Matt Bailey, T Cox and Luke Altmyer in down 50 is flat out unacceptable …
I can nearly guarantee Bret will say “can’t let one bad week turn into two” … Well that starts with HIM … No need to risk half your top paid guys in a blowout loss …
And to everyone saying “oh you wouldn’t say that to him” …
You bet yourI would and I have … I didn’t like the answer and neither did many of the donors who are cutting the checks for these kids …
Indiana 63, Illinois 10 Postgame
- Status
To those of us who are long suffering, masochistic Illini fans that have stuck with Our Beloved through thick & thin (mostly thin) we aren't the least bit taken by surprise by this latest haymaker to the gut. It is part of being an loyal supporter that can't be dissuaded and/or discouraged. The only gut punch that compares to this is the time back in the early days of 1984...................
3 point girl
- texas
I watch between 7:55am and 8am monday through friday to see the 10 top plays.
Great analysis, as always! Especially #4. This has been the biggest problem as a program in my 50 years of fandom. We have a bit of success, then immediately !!!! down our leg. The result is everyone outside the program immediately says "see, it was a fluke. The program sucks." That has, over the years, seeped into the collective fandom and breeds all of the "waiting for the other shoe to drop" takes from most who have been fans for over 20 years and seen this happen several times.
With that said, I think we finally have a head coach who may be able to overcome that. He still has many chances to deliver a successful season even with a loss Saturday. But, some things have to change (i.e. coaching staff/recruiting, protecting the players you do have in blowout games - either winning or losing, game planning, in game adjustments, etc.)
I'm more optimistic than I have been in a long time, but there is still much work to be done to resurrect this program.
I totally understand your worry... please understand 'OUR/MY' worry... Since Ray Eliot retired, we've had 15 head coaches... And many (most?) were desperation hires.. Pete Elliot (no relation to Ray) Valek, Blackman (was at least respectable), Moeller, White (flashy, but could not last) Mackovic (strategic but needed more money) Tepper - Good defensive coach, but reached his Peter Principle), Turner (couldn't recruit), Zook (couldn't coach), Beckman (effin disaster), Cubit (bigger disaster), Smith (good in name only)... Yes, I do believe we now have a much, much better coach/CEO to run this program. Finally.. Yet, We are Illinois, and we are NOT allowed to have nice things. We are only allowed to catch lightning in a bottle once every few years. You are young, and I totally appreciate your optimism and your enthusiasm. I sincerely wish I could sustain mine.. I'm old - REALLY, and only have memories of what has happened in our HISTORY... my expected remaining timeline won't allow for many more bottled lightning catches if they remain 'once in a while'...
Retro62
- North Bethesda, Maryland
I'm here to throw myself on the mercy of the board: I think @altgeld88 and I may be the cause of the disaster. Two years ago, we traveled to Purdue and the result was nearly as painful. However, we were at Maryland two years ago for our win there, at Rutgers for the Pat Bryant last second score, and at Duke this year. It's when we venture away from the East Coast that trouble ensues. Or, it could be that the state of Indiana is our own Bermuda Triangle...but that's true for so many people--even people in Indiana.
Oddly enough, the inverse is true for basketball. We traveled to Michigan and the boys administered a proper smackdown, but stayed here on the coast for Duke and...well, let's not relive that debacle.
It's quite possible I need to cast runes, consult a seer, or try scrying or augury before I commit to any more midwestern tilts. If @altgeld88 is amenable, maybe I'll use phrenology.
Oddly enough, the inverse is true for basketball. We traveled to Michigan and the boys administered a proper smackdown, but stayed here on the coast for Duke and...well, let's not relive that debacle.
It's quite possible I need to cast runes, consult a seer, or try scrying or augury before I commit to any more midwestern tilts. If @altgeld88 is amenable, maybe I'll use phrenology.
Not sure where to put this. Might have already been posted.
Sucks to hear but it's true!
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
If memory serves, Illinois was down 14-0 after three plays or something like that In that 1986 Nebraska game.I'm a glass-half-full guy and trained myself as a young man to look for the pony in the pile of manure.
@Retro62 and I had a fantastic four-day road trip from DC to the Great Midwest. 1,500 miles round trip. Gorgeous, warm weather (a bit hot for me but no complaints.) Beautiful country, from the Appalachian Mts in Western MD, WVa and PA, through the rich flatlands from Ohio to Champaign (literally, IIRC: "the plain.") Wonderful coffee and pastry at a café in German Village in Columbus. The Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, IN where the game footage in the film was shot. our second visit in two years. Friendly people proud of their landmark; interesting conversation about the place, chills down my spine to be able to chuck up a few Js in that gym. Dinner at The Beef House. Drving into the sunset to Champaign. Walking through campus to Murphy's for a beer (my first time there since the Saturday night Michigan game weekend in Sept 2000.) Breakfast at Merry Ann's that stuck with us well into the afternoon (thanks, @illinoisfootball for the rec). Wandering through campus, alive with students and activity. The union; Lincoln Hall theatre; Krannert; the Mechanical Engr Building and M.E. Lab (where I visited my old office and chatted with its current inhabitants about my work there in the Stone Age of computing); the main library in all its incredible wood-paneled glory; the Armory; Smith Memorial Hall where we sat in silence in the auditorium admiring its mahogany and Beaux Arts majesty (and were treated to a mini recital by a student); and the chef's kiss... at the end of the afternoon getting into Scott Hall where I was an R.A. my JR/SR years and where @Retro62 lived, too. Seeing the old hallways and my old door. Walking those stairwells that I knew so well. Recalling the guys on my floor. I still have the pewter mug a group of them gave me for graduation. Hadn't been in there in 25 years and may never be in there again (the four of the remaining six pack will bite the dust at some point.) So many lifelong memories born in that building.
Then BBQ @ Black Dog in Urbana and back out on 74 to Indy overnight as the sun set behind us. Then a fabulous breakfast in south Indy and six hours at The Upstairs Pub in Bloomington watching four ball games simultaneously, drinking beer, and chatting with the students, all of whom were unfailingly kind and good natured, before heading to the stadium for the game. Raucous atmosphere in Memorial Stadium, packed, in a frenzy for their team, just incredible energy that gave me chills.
And then the entire reason for our trip, the apex: the game.
I noticed that in giant block letters inside the tunnel through which the IU players enter the field is emblazoned "DO YOUR JOB"
Gentlemen, I know you're 18-22 yrs old. But your job is to play football not only competently, but with heart, tenacity and, above all, self-respect. Get yourselves together asap this week and read Joan Didion while you're at it. Well, maybe tonight, before anything else. And then please go out on Saturday morning and kick USC's a$$.
Because I am well pi$$ed off tonight having returned home 86 hours after I departed and having enjoyed ~ 84-1/2 of those hours completely and deliriously, with some happy memories that I'll take to my grave. I paid handsomely for my seat to see you perform, only to sit through that complete horror of an unraveling. Maybe I'd feel more charitable if the basketball team hadn't subjected me to a similar experience in MSG last February. I have now, within seven months, paid extremely well to sit through the worst defeat in 120 years of Illini basketball in NYC and, in Bloomington last night, among a handful of the worst, and perhaps the most disappointing, in 135 years of football.
The last time I left an Illini game early it was 1986 v. Nebraska. NU scored on a pick-six on the initial play of the game. It was 28-0 after 1Q, 38-7 at half, 52-7 after 3Q, and 59-14 at the end. Last night was, of course, different, because expectations were so (and too) high.
In Sept '86 I simply walked down from the east balcony and across Peabody Drive. This weekend consumed somewhat more effort.
The only positive thing that occurred to us after around 8:20 ET last night was that we buggered off after the hot-knife-through-butter initial IU drive of the second half made it 42-10, and got to the car just as it began to rain heavily. So there's that. In addition, it rained hard enough to wash the sheet of encrusted dead insects off the windshield on the way back to Indy. Didn't need to use the squeegee when I gassed up at 8 a.m. So there's that, too.
I must have said to my bro at least a half-dozen times between last night and this evening: "Man, I'm really glad we decided to leave a day early and spend a day in Champaign."
To all of you who have endured season after season of misery in the stands, I know I sound like a spoiled child. I'm sorry. I don't intend to. All of you have depth and character of fandom via your consistent support over years if not decades that, frankly, I lack. I just felt taken last night, like a rube in a confidence game. I know lots of other fans did, too. It sucks. While I could keep that to myself, I decided not to, partially 'cause I wanted to share my experience on campus and how much I love our university and cherish the Midwest. And, let's be clear, because I want to vent.
Unfortunately, a pony does not exist in this pile of manure. I'm not even bothering to look. Spread it wide and fertilize something that will grow. Quickly, please. If something precious indeed is at the center of the pile, well, great. Use it.
He's not lying.
Pete Elliot was considered a very good football coach. The slush fund did him in. But I truly understand yuour sentiments, because I am of the same generation.
This is an absolute embarrassment. You can clearly tell how Cignetti feels about Bret and Staff....
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Would you describe yourself as a casual fan? Because if not, you are getting defensive about a comment that wasn't directed at you in the first place, and you're certainly proving the psychological part right.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I appreciate what other fans - including my dad - have been through, and I never mean to discount that. Also, while I have not lived through all of our misfortunes by any means, I am not THAT young ... I'm 34, and I have seen a few potential turning points lead to us crashing and burning like it's Groundhog Day. However, what I DO NOT accept and never will, is that there is some inherent curse out there in the cosmos that prevents Illinois from realizing its potential. Each new coach is a new beginning, and while it might lead to another failure ... Bret Bielema is not constrained by disappointments from past eras past the point of battling the reputational battle.
There isn't something in the water in Champaign.
Illini4Chief
- TENNESSEE
Don't like to agree, but hope this gives us some kinda spark
I agree with most of what you said, except for Cubit. He went 5-7 in his one year at the helm and he got absolutely no help from the suits.
I can't disagree with Cignetti.
Chuck Nuggets
Dip your nuggets in my staff source sauce.
Ah, yes, the nebulous "them" directed at no one and everyone at the same time.Would you describe yourself as a casual fan? Because if not, you are getting defensive about a comment that wasn't directed at you in the first place, and you're certainly proving the psychological part right.
Defensive? It's a message board, Hoss. You post something. Others choose to move past or respond.
You're going to have to do better than that.
Cubit was a dead man walking when he was named. I feel bad for him because I didn’t think he was a terrible person. But, he was never going to get support/money/help/etc. in his short tenure.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I believe you're right. On the second drive we fumbled within three downs around inside our own 30 and NU's offense took it in quickly. We were down 14-0 with ~13:00 left in the 1Q.
Here we go... if you're seeking context for the IU beat-down have a gander at this:
Huskers take fight out of Illini
Clipping found in Lincoln Journal Star published in Lincoln, Nebraska on 9/21/1986. Huskers take fight out of Illini
www.newspapers.com
We had 29 rushes for three yards. NU had 64 rushes for 470 yards. They outgained us 543-207. NU fumbled five times but lost only two. We lost both of our fumbles.
2025 meet 1986.
- Status