Looking ahead to 2024

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#1      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
Sat, Aug 31___TBA nonconference home game (probably EIU)
Sat, Sept 7___Kansas
Sat, Sept 14__Central Michigan (Homecoming)
Sat, Sept 21__at Nebraska
Sat, Sept 28__at Penn State
Sat, Oct 5____--bye--
Sat, Oct 12___Purdue
Sat, Oct 19___Michigan
Sat, Oct 26___at Oregon
Sat, Nov 2____Minnesota
Sat, Nov 9____--bye--
Sat, Nov 16___Michigan State
Sat, Nov 23___at Rutgers
Sat, Nov 30___at Northwestern
 
#2      

phats22

P
phats22
Dan said:
Sat, Aug 31___TBA nonconference home game (probably EIU)
Sat, Sept 7___Kansas
Sat, Sept 14__Central Michigan (Homecoming)
Sat, Sept 21__at Nebraska
Sat, Sept 28__at Penn State
Sat, Oct 5____--bye--
Sat, Oct 12___Purdue
Sat, Oct 19___Michigan
Sat, Oct 26___at Oregon
Sat, Nov 2____Minnesota
Sat, Nov 9____--bye--
Sat, Nov 16___Michigan State
Sat, Nov 23___at Rutgers
Sat, Nov 30___at Northwestern
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#3      

Marshall_Lucky

M
Marshall_Lucky
Given the odd fact that we seem to be more focused in road games than at home, having two winnable road games to end the year may be just what we need to find win #6
 
#5      

mhuml32

mhuml32
Cincinnati, OH
mhuml32
Dan said:
Sat, Aug 31___TBA nonconference home game (probably EIU)
Sat, Sept 7___Kansas
Sat, Sept 14__Central Michigan (Homecoming)
Sat, Sept 21__at Nebraska
Sat, Sept 28__at Penn State
Sat, Oct 5____--bye--
Sat, Oct 12___Purdue
Sat, Oct 19___Michigan
Sat, Oct 26___at Oregon
Sat, Nov 2____Minnesota
Sat, Nov 9____--bye--
Sat, Nov 16___Michigan State
Sat, Nov 23___at Rutgers
Sat, Nov 30___at Northwestern
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Apropos to nothing: Since the 2010 B1G expansion announcement, Illinois has played 7 road games against Penn State but only 4 home games.
 
#7      

Chukwuwumba

Chukwuwumba
Chukwuwumba
mhuml32 said:
Apropos to nothing: Since the 2010 B1G expansion announcement, Illinois has played 7 road games against Penn State but only 4 home games.
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That’s crazy. Should be a home game. Especially since penn st has 5 BIG home games.
 
#8      

Big Jack

Big Jack
Decatur
Big Jack
To any of the insiders who have knowledge please feel me on the status of Magnus Moller... I am not a big football recruiting person but was intrigued by him when he committed but have heard little to nothing about him since.. Is he just in the body building phase of playing OL or is just got as strong and fb savy
 
#9      

illini80

illini80
Forgottonia
illini80
Big Jack said:
To any of the insiders who have knowledge please feel me on the status of Magnus Moller... I am not a big football recruiting person but was intrigued by him when he committed but have heard little to nothing about him since.. Is he just in the body building phase of playing OL or is just got as strong and fb savy
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From what Werner said on his last football pod, he is fairly far down the chart, but has a chance to see the field next year as a depth piece. Sounds like he has some work to do and might need another year.
 
#10      

Mr. Tibbs

Mr. Tibbs
southeast DuPage
Mr. Tibbs
Big Jack said:
To any of the insiders who have knowledge please feel me on the status of Magnus Moller... I am not a big football recruiting person but was intrigued by him when he committed but have heard little to nothing about him since.. Is he just in the body building phase of playing OL or is just got as strong and fb savy
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guys like him normally look better walking off the team bus than they do on the field

its a hard game to learn how to play at age 18 when you are that size.

OL line footwork is so so important
 
#13      

phats22

P
phats22
so, with our 5-7 finish this year BB has 18 wins in the past 3 yrs. anyone want to guess the last 3yrs stretch where we had 18+ wins?

2000-2002- (20+ wins). also had 8 wins in 1999. prior to that? 1992-94.

this program has been a dumpster fire for a really long time. in his first 3 yrs, BB has brought a level of competence we haven't seen in decades. still a ways to go but ....

i posted this last fall but think it's still helpful (or at least helps me :) -

BB is turning this thing around but this isn't 3 pt turning a Honda Civic in a cul de sac, it's a container ship in open water (can take up to 1.8 miles to turn!).


1701722898130.png
 
#22      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
One minor thing I am kind of apprehensive about is that our attendance might go down a bit in 2024. Last year and especially this year were huge steps forward for attendance, and I think it is essential for this program to develop Memorial Stadium into a venue opponents fear. As a reminder, here is an overview of the very positive trend we have seen:

2022
Wyoming/Virginia/Chattanooga: All below 38,0000
Iowa: 44,910
Minnesota: 45,683
Michigan State: 56,092
Purdue: 45,574 (bit of a dropdown with the cold weather and loss to MSU)

2023
Toledo: 48,898
Penn State: 49,099
FAU: 53,512
Nebraska: 46,703 (Friday night a week after getting smoked at Purdue)
Wisconsin: 54,205
Indiana: 53,157
Northwestern: 42,310

When you actually dig into it, that is a really, REALLY great trend. And here are a few notes why:

1. Our new floor appears to be 49k for a Saturday with even semi-decent weather. That is FANTASTIC, considering we were struggling to get above 45k for huge games vs. Iowa and Minnesota last year.

2. You can try to chalk the Wisconsin game up to Homecoming even though that is WAY higher than we have drawn for Homecoming in several years, but you simply have to be impressed with the crowd for Indiana. IU brings a very small contingent themselves, they are not a "big draw" for the casual fan and we were only 4-5 coming into the game. To draw 53k+ in that situation shows great progress.

3. While the NU attendance might look like a setback, that game drew just over 27k in 2021, and it hadn't cleared over 40k in attendance in that final weekend spot since the 2007 Rose Bowl season. It always gets bad attendance, and 42k is a HUGE improvement.

So, that brings us to next year's schedule:

Saturday 9/7 vs. Kansas
Saturday 9/14 vs. Central Michigan
Saturday 10/12 vs. Purdue
Saturday 10/19 vs. Michigan
Saturday 11/2 vs. Minnesota
Saturday 11/16 vs. Michigan State

I think the KU game has the chance to push above 55k if we can have a nice portal outing and build a bit of optimism/hype. I also think the Michigan game will get great attendance regardless (especially given the anniversary), and if we look surprisingly good it could even sell out. However, the other ones are not great draws and will likely depend entirely on us being surprisingly good.
 
#23      

illiniwil

I
illiniwil
Marshall_Lucky said:
Lowering season ticket prices last year must have hit some quotas for DIA. Just got an email informing if IFUND meme ers want to keep free parking next year for football, the min donation is increasing from $100 to $250
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i got moved from lot 32 to the research park for 2023. said i needed to bump my ifund level up.
 
#25      

Dkayak

D
Dkayak
illiniwil said:
i got moved from lot 32 to the research park for 2023. said i needed to bump my ifund level up.
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We might go back to doing the 1–1/2 mile walk from North Campus, an enjoyable stroll with many potential routes and stops along the way.
 
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