Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I wonder if he’s still hurt.McCray looks like the type of back who needs a great O-line in front of him to excel. Looks great once he gets a hole to get to the second level but can't get there w/o the line.
I wonder if he’s still hurt.McCray looks like the type of back who needs a great O-line in front of him to excel. Looks great once he gets a hole to get to the second level but can't get there w/o the line.
With some of their comments I wondered if they even had a monitor in the booth with them.sometimes i was wondering what game those announcers were watching.
The false start was a killer. Going into the locker room with 17 points at halftime? Would have been sweet. I don’t want to know who that was. That really cost us the ballgame.Touchdown called back on a false start and a couple “almost” catches were costly.
My point is, Illinois did not lose becasue of the defensive strategy and play. We lost because of the offense.We got 0 sacks and it seemed like the QB had all day. Would have been nice to mix in a blitz once in a while. I understand that we were missing 2 important pieces but secondary can't hold coverage indefinitely. Maybe they only score 7. Who knows?
We were sacked 7 times.
Illinois Loyalty says “these are your sons…fighting for you.” Even though it was written in 1907, I still thought it applied today.Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but these kids are not playing the game for you. I would have advised my own kids to skip the game too. Really proud of the effort today and content with the outcome and season. Hopeful for the future rather than disappointed with what could have been.
Sorry but the actual lyrics are:Illinois Loyalty says “these are your sons…fighting for you.” Even though it was written in 1907, I still thought it applied today.
Oof, been singing it wrong for almost 60 years. Well, still it’s your sons (and daughters, but not in football) fighting for you. Really remarkable to have a reference to daughters in a song written in 1907.Sorry but the actual lyrics are:
“
Fling out that dear old flag of Orange and Blue
Lead on your sons and daughters, fighting for you
Like men of old, on giants placing reliance, shouting defiance
Oskee wow-wow!”
I don't think we can assume a dead ball penalty would have played out the same way. The defense could have reacted to a whistle or the movement of an official.The false start was a killer. Going into the locker room with 17 points at halftime? Would have been sweet. I don’t want to know who that was. That really cost us the ballgame.
Eh… I don’t know… Michigan State’s was obvious and intentional. There were at least a couple of those injuries yesterday where the players had struggles standing and walking.By the way, did you notice that MSU employed the Michigan State strategy on defense? As soon as we got rolling on offense suddenly one of their players had a mysterious injury, lying on the field for five minutes as their defense regrouped and our momentum cooled? This happened three or four times and I predicted the last two to the guy seated next to me.
Don’t know what you can do about it other than hustle them off the field quicker, but health is paramount so you don’t want to make a real injury worse.
I guess all the MSUs cheat alike!
By the way, did you notice that MSU employed the Michigan State strategy on defense? As soon as we got rolling on offense suddenly one of their players had a mysterious injury, lying on the field for five minutes as their defense regrouped and our momentum cooled? This happened three or four times and I predicted the last two to the guy seated next to me.
Don’t know what you can do about it other than hustle them off the field quicker, but health is paramount so you don’t want to make a real injury worse.
I guess all the MSUs cheat alike!
I see this video is making the rounds of Yahoo and the like. Not a good look for us......Here is a video of the post-game fight. Six players attacking an Illinois player.
Keeping it classy Mississippi State!
Way to honor your coach.
Brawl breaks out between Mississippi State, Illinois following wild game-ending play in ReliaQuest Bowl
The benches cleared towards the ending of the game.saturdaytradition.com
You're so right! 23 yds. rushing or whatever it was will not cut it.My point is, Illinois did not lose becasue of the defensive strategy and play. We lost because of the offense.
I see this video is making the rounds of Yahoo and the like. Not a good look for us......
That isn't on us. Our guy made a football play to keep the MSU player from blocking down field. The kid from MSU took exception and started a fightI see this video is making the rounds of Yahoo and the like. Not a good look for us......
Here is a video of the post-game fight. Six players attacking an Illinois player.
Keeping it classy Mississippi State!
Way to honor your coach.
Brawl breaks out between Mississippi State, Illinois following wild game-ending play in ReliaQuest Bowl
The benches cleared towards the ending of the game.saturdaytradition.com
They’d be rock stars in BIG.These refs were far from excellent
Or them, since it was 6 MSU to 1 of us to start itI see this video is making the rounds of Yahoo and the like. Not a good look for us......
This is a great summary, thanks. I've been trying to figure out how to express similar thoughts, without coming across as completely negative, and you did a fine job of that. I agree that it's reasonable to think our odds of winning the game were far better with our three stars on the field. Both because all three are great players, but also because they played the majority of available minutes all season long. As a fan, it just stinks. Having your stars sit out the most visible game of the season is not good for the sport or the team. But as you and others have said, it's totally understandable from the players' standpoint. So the fault is with the "system," and it's up to each fan to decide how they react to it.The game today was a disappointing way to end the season, but overall, this was a terrific season for Illini football given our recent past. These guys made it fun to watch the games again and gave us a bowl game to watch in January for the first time in a long time. I don't think we could ask for anything more of this team and I am grateful for all their efforts this season.
Having said that, the team that played for us today was not the team that got us into this bowl game. We were missing the #4 running back in the entire nation and started three freshmen in the secondary because were missing two absolute studs on defense in Witherspoon and Sydney Brown. When I look at how tight the final score was, how unproductive our offense was and some of the key plays that led to our loss (for example, with Witherspoon and Sydney Brown in, we are probably not even talking about "was his foot in or out?"), I am convinced that we would have come away with a bowl game win if we had our full 2022 Illini roster for the game (and maybe or Defensive Coordinator too?).
The problem is, I can't blame the players for opting out. It makes total sense for them financially to avoid the risk of injury. But this is going to be a real problem for every bowl team and every bowl game from now on. Some teams are going to be going to bowl games without their stars and it is going to lead to less productive offenses, less intimidating defenses and more disappointing results for half the fans in the stands. And if fans start to feel like bowl games aren't as good without the star players and don't mean as much, then attendance and viewership will decline. And that isn't good for NCAA football.
Anyway, congratulations and thank you to Coach Bielema, the staff and the players for a great Illini football season!