Kansas 34, Illinois 23 Postgame

I do not watch as much football as I once did, and at the risk of over-generalizing, but it often seems that team speed in many conferences is superios to that usually demonstrated in the Big Ten.

The level of team speed demonstrated by the Illini in the first two games seems average at best.

ChiefGritty said:

If that left side was playing better I might agree with them.

I don't understand how Crisler got that assignment in the first place. You're telling me Seth Coleman wasn't clowning him in every practice?

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That’s exactly what I was thinking- we have one of the best dlines in the country and the coaches can’t see when someone isn’t ready/fit for their position?

Where are we on the “F Around and Find Out” graph?

Joel Goodson said:

it was a helluva lot easier (to take) when we knew we sucked. ugh

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Well now we know, so you’re saying it will get easier?

Well, we desperately need offensive lineman with pass blocking skills, defensive lineman, and linebackers after witnessing the past two games.

When do the PFF grades come out on players? Will be interesting to see those again

It seems our offensive linemen say "welcome to our backfield "; our defensive linemen say "We don't want in your backfield "; and our linebackers say "where is the field?"

I'm concerned that this season becomes the last basketball season. Lots of chatter (5 guys going pro!) and no one ever coming together as a team. I think this is fixable, but sure looks like we're in a big hole.

I'm still optimistic. I think Bielema gets this figured out. I will say that the inexperience of Henry may be showing.

What's Leonhard doing to help?

Good "from the stands" from Robert:


I like the comparison with the 2001 Sugar Bowl game.

BWBW said:

It seems our offensive linemen say "welcome to our backfield "; our defensive linemen say "We don't want in your backfield "; and our linebackers say "where is the field?"

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OLine appears to be much better at run blocking than pass blocking.

The defense in general looks very poorly coached and well coached at the same time. Meaning, the game plans are bad. They did not look prepared for the offense Toledo and Kansas ran, but adjustments at halftime led to improvement. So who's in charge of the game plan and who's making the adjustments, is it the same person?

I think we've ultimately got a pretty young team and there will be growing pains. Unless Kirk Cameron, Alan Thicke, and the delectable Joanna Kerns are involved, growing pains aren't terribly fun to watch.

the linebackers look sooo slow. Would we be better off just letting Hayden and kreutz play even though there inexperienced? I think they both bring more speed.

Well, we needed more than one of 9 cat life. Sorry for the error in my model.

1st half: KU: 28, IL: 7
2nd half: KU: 6, IL 15

Cat was reviving but ran out of time.

I think we will improve. Imrove enough to beat PSU? Possible. Probable?

john1952 said:

I do not watch as much football as I once did, and at the risk of over-generalizing, but it often seems that team speed in many conferences is superios to that usually demonstrated in the Big Ten.

The level of team speed demonstrated by the Illini in the first two games seems average at best.

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I agree and I thought our tackling was poor.

LFOD said:

Good "from the stands" from Robert:

From The Stands - Kansas

This one is From The Visiting Athletic Director's Suite. No, I didn't have an invite (Josh, call me) but I needed a quiet place to record From The Stands away from the press area (but without actually going down to the stands because I'm on a tight schedule here). So I walked down the hall...

illiniboard.com

I like the comparison with the 2001 Sugar Bowl game.

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His gap year is looking pretty spot on right now.

Big ten teams not named Ohio state usually get torched by teams from other conferences from a speed standpoint. While we might have a few fast guys, other conferences have a lot. Imo it’s usually at the linebacker spot where the difference is most exaggerated. However, with our d line getting no push it’s hard to tell where our physical weaknesses truly are.

But, it won’t stop me from being excited about going to the game next week.

illiniguy24 said:

I see your points and don’t disagree it could’ve changed some things, but we got absolutely waxed. No string of events was changing that last night. Kansas was chillin second half

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I think it was more of the Illini defense making some slight adjustments 2nd half and Kansas offense making mistakes that were not made 1st half. Kansas was still moving the ball with general ease, but had a fumble, interception, and turnovers on downs. With exception of last drive, Kansas was in Illini territory every drive of 2nd half. It is crazy they only got 6 points given how they were consistently in Illini side of field.

I can handle not being good enough, but I can't handle stupid penalties like r roughing and unnecessary roughing when throwing a player to the ground after the whistle has blown.

Question for those who know more than me--Why did it seem like Newton & Howard were subbing out so frequently? Is there a package that they aren't suited to? Seems to me that we want our All American/All Conference linemen in the game, especially with how poor the line seems in general.

My only other major comment--our defense seems a LOT slower than it did last year. Slower to get into coverage, slower to get into the backfield, slower on pursuit, slower to wrap up, etc. A combo of lack of physical speed and lack of urgency to put the opponent on the ground.

My takes on the Illini:

1. When it's really hot out, why doesn't Bret go with a lighter shirt?
2. Aaron Henry may be out of his league.
3. Luke Altmyer will be a stud for us. Love his skill and grit.
4. Josh McCray seemed slow to me, and not capable of breaking big runs. Why are we not giving teams a dose of Reggie Love and Feagin so that we are not wearing down our defense? Our time of possession has been awful.
5. Why are the coaches not cleaning up the post play extracurricular shoving and jawing? Do you think Tom Osbourne, Joe Paterno, or Bobby Bowden would have tolerated this? One or 2 dumb penalties like this can be the difference in the game.
6. Who is responsible for scheduling Friday night games? This needs to stop.
7. We seem to be playing to lose instead of playing to win. We showed in the 2nd half what we can do, but too little too late. Play calling is everything, which I believe falls on Lunney.
8. Hoping the law firm will reopen after a 2 week hiatus.
9. Our Specials Teams game seems ok.
10. It's a long season, with a lot to play for. Correct some of this above, and maybe we can catch Penn State sleeping.

cookie86 said:

the linebackers look sooo slow. Would we be better off just letting Hayden and kreutz play even though there inexperienced? I think they both bring more speed.

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I’m ready to see what Kruetz can do.

I don't usually get to watch games lives because I work most weekends, so I was pumped to catch this one. That lasted about 2 min.......
Our defense just isn't the same.
-Credit to Newton coming alive. I think our DL will be a strength going forward.
-We need pressure from the edge. I understand trying to contain an athletic QB, but when he's picking us apart I don't understand not letting Coleman/Jacas be aggressive and make a play if they're "future NFL" guys.
-I though X Scott overall played pretty well. M Scott is still learning the position, but there were flashes. With Bailey coming back soon, I'm hoping S/star can be a strength.
-at CB, Taz has not been the stalwart they were projecting. A lot of dumb, dumb penalties that have killed us. The other CBs just need experience.
-LBs have been pretty much nonexistent.
-Defense in general needs to sure up tackling and majorly improve the angles they take. This needs to be fixed ASAP.

We will see in the next few weeks if Henry has the chops to make adjustments.

As far as offense goes. Count me in the group that is excited about Altmeyer. Kid is a gamer.
He was getting KILLED out there by Minnesota cast-offs, but his play overall is giving me some hope for our offense.
-As others have said, Zy is a turnstile at RT. He looks incredibly uncomfortable even lining up pre-snap out there. At this point, the Zy as an NFL guy rhetoric is a total joke if he stays at tackle. He was great as a guard. Leave him at guard. At LT, Pearl got worked over a few times as well. I don't understand his hype either.
-Our RBs just aren't Chase Brown. Love is a fine player, but he just doesn't have the burst and balance to make the game breaking runs that Chase did. McCray isn't the type to just come in for a few touches here and there. He's a power back that gets better as the defense gets worn out trying to bring him down.
-Bryant was terrible this game.
-Our TE's were a plus. Tip had a nice TD catch and Moore had like 4 or 5 catches right down the seam. Great to see.

Lunney still has to prove it. I'd be shocked if BB wasn't calling him out afterwards. Stop with the gimmick nonsense. We had great OL push and a few good runs in a row, and we snap the ball to our TE. Come on....I will also never understand snapping from the shotgun in short yardage situations and handing off with the RB having no forward momentum. We've been stuffed so many times doing that. Get under center and hand it off to McCray for 1 yard. BB's calling card is big, physical run blocking OL. Use them.
He was also drawing up catch and runs for Washington...not his strength. And IW is just not a down the field jump ball guy. He's 5-9 but blazing quick. COACH TO YOUR PLAYERS STRENGTHS.

As bad as this game was, I think we'll be OK going forward. I think the 9 or 10 win predictions are probably gone, but I don't think we'll be 4-8 (at least I hope).
As others have said, we should fare better against B1G west style offenses, and this staff has shown the ability to make adjustments in the past.

Ransom Stoddard said:

Question for those who know more than me--Why did it seem like Newton & Howard were subbing out so frequently? Is there a package that they aren't suited to? Seems to me that we want our All American/All Conference linemen in the game, especially with how poor the line seems in general.

My only other major comment--our defense seems a LOT slower than it did last year. Slower to get into coverage, slower to get into the backfield, slower on pursuit, slower to wrap up, etc. A combo of lack of physical speed and lack of urgency to put the opponent on the ground.

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I’ve heard it said that the staff wants to make sure they don’t overplay them and have them wearing down as the season progresses. They felt like that hurt us in November last season. Tifwiw.

I was optimistic on this season but after 2 games, I have little hope for this year. We looked unprepared in both games.

Our Defense was pathetic. It also looks like we do not have the offense to outscore teams. Last year we had a strong run game and a stout defense. We were physical and it made it fun to watch. Aaron Henry looks lost and it is reflected in how his D has been executing. Changes need to be made. Altmeyer does look good but we need a run game (not him). Our Offensive Line needs help. I don't think Walter Payton would have been able to do anything behind them.

On a side note, Kansas was dirty. 2 targeting fouls and another more egregious one that was not called. Apparently when you attend a school where you don't need your noggin, you don't value it.

Best news, few teams left on our schedule has any facsimile this guy.


If a draft guy is noticing a QB, then he might be pretty good.

Seems to me the OL problems are fixable with some obvious personnel moves.

Defense is a complete mess, and I’m getting concerned that BB made a huge mistake promoting A Hen over Kane. BB’s presser comment about needing to look at the scheme … yikes. Perplexing that he didn’t see this coming during training camp.