DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Nah --- just ensuring we cover all 5 potential outcomes.
Oregon 38, Illinois 9 Postgame
- Status
Nah --- just ensuring we cover all 5 potential outcomes.
This was a reality check for us Illini fans. We don’t have the athletes to compete with elite teams. I think generally speaking our coaches are extracting about as much performance as can be expected. We will compete with most programs now that are not in the top 15 and are steady building a good culture of competitive football but we need more Thorobreds and stouter line play. I hope everyone heals quickly and I agree that we should have given multiple backups PT for a plethora of reasons!
The Bryant injury really concerns me as he was both hit in the head on the play then had his head bounce of the turf, which is generally a higher chance of a more serious concussion than if his head didn't bounce.
What worries me is that considering we're sitting 6-2 and there's still a shot at playoffs if we win out, is there's going to be pressure to play next week whether it's team or personal. And playing so soon after a concussion, even if cleared carries very serious and significant risk to long term injury. As hard is it might be, if he does indeed have a concussion, the right thing is probably to sit him despite how important this game is, which would give him 3 full weeks to recover.
This has been a magical season, but rather safe than sorry if he's concussed
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
While it might be an academic truth that we could qualify for the CFP, we don't belong there . . . not yet anyway. Today shattered all of the orange tinted glasses.
I’m glad Bret is pissed and didn’t expect us to get handled like we did.
My guess would be that it was on national TV, these guys want to play and show out, they're competitors, they want to put the ball in the end zone and they didn't want to lose by 30.
Plus Bielema, I'm SURE, wanted them to taste a little success during the game. You don't just throw in the towel because you're losing. When you're building a program, you finish the game out. You play whistle to whistle.
At the end of the day, Pat had 3 catches for 26 yards. That's not good enough. Last week he had 4 catches for 32 yards. That's not good enough. He had 2 catches for 33 yards against Penn State. That's not good enough.
I'm not bringing that up to single out Pat. He's the least of their problems. That said, he needs to be better and you get better by playing against upper echelon teams...which he's struggled again.
JMHO
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
When they went for it on that 4th down play in the first half, it read as trying to run up the score. They were already up by the 3 TDs, and while I understand you're putting a resume together for the selection committee, eff that.
I hope Bret took note of that. From everything I've seen, that's the kind of thing that fuels him into the future and I'm absolutely here for it
Neither coaches or players decides when a concussed player plays—or practices—or reads or watches TV—again. That’s up to the doctors.
Remember it for the next time we play them.
For us to win a game like this we need a physical run game to shorten the game. We can’t get in a shoot out
I think the missed face mask and us missing the tackle on third down on their first drive took killed us
Oregon was the better team and to pull the upset you need a lot of things to go your way which didn’t happen.
Hope the team gets healthy
Oregon was the better team and to pull the upset you need a lot of things to go your way which didn’t happen.
Hope the team gets healthy
How many passes will Henry get? Last season was abysmal and now you've got the Purdue and Oregon game as complete and utter failures.. Our standard is becoming higher than this under Bret .
I'm not a big fan of complaining about a team running up a score because we do have a say so in the thought process. Make a stop. We're part of that equation.
Another team shouldn't feel compelled to take it easy on us. I would rather lose 72-0 knowing that my opponent went balls out for 60 minutes than losing 38-9 knowing that they felt pity on us and cashed it in.
It's their job to score and our job to stop them. We need to hold up our end of the bargain. We didn't.
Trying to run up the score in the 1st half? That's crazy-talk. At that point, there's still a lot of game left to play. That's not running up the score...that's smart football. They clearly took their foot off the gas in the 2nd half...probably could have put up 60 if they wanted to.
InDaAZ
- Eugene, Oregon
The game went about as expected, if not as hoped.
Being as I was fully decked out in O & B, if there’s anyone here on this board who I-L-L’ed or I-N-I’ed or high fived with me, thanks for the Illini camaraderie! It was great to see our fans well represented throughout the concourse and sprinkled around the stadium. My seat was two sections over from the main Illinois contingent.
Along with all the “welcomes” and “nice to have you heres,” from Duck fans (I live here, and this is the first time I wasn’t rooting for the home team at Autzen
), I took a lot of good-natured ribbing as well - all in good fun.
But you’d better believe they heard a few “Just wait till basketball season” retorts from me!
Jan 2 at the MATT is circled on my calendar…
Today was 2- & 3–star kids going up against 5-stars, but BB has the program needle pointing up. Hopefully none of the injuries are serious, and we close the season out strong…
Being as I was fully decked out in O & B, if there’s anyone here on this board who I-L-L’ed or I-N-I’ed or high fived with me, thanks for the Illini camaraderie! It was great to see our fans well represented throughout the concourse and sprinkled around the stadium. My seat was two sections over from the main Illinois contingent.
Along with all the “welcomes” and “nice to have you heres,” from Duck fans (I live here, and this is the first time I wasn’t rooting for the home team at Autzen
), I took a lot of good-natured ribbing as well - all in good fun.But you’d better believe they heard a few “Just wait till basketball season” retorts from me!
Jan 2 at the MATT is circled on my calendar…Today was 2- & 3–star kids going up against 5-stars, but BB has the program needle pointing up. Hopefully none of the injuries are serious, and we close the season out strong…
While I hope we are able to be fueled, I have a hard time ever thinking a team is running up the score in the first half of almost any game. I think anything you can so do in the first half to build as big of a lead as possible is fine.
Exactly. Almost worked for Purdue.
They showed the 3 games on BTN and we weren’t one of the three.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
They’re “new money.”
Despite getting severely outclassed and absolutely dominated today, you telling me you have a shot at 10-2 and a playoff spot, and you're not going all out for it? Giving everything you've got? Playing injured? Because you don't think you're good enough, or that you don't belong, or that you'll embarrass yourself? Then don't bother suiting up in the first place.
While it might be an academic truth that we could qualify for the CFP, we don't belong there . . . not yet anyway. Today shattered all of the orange tinted glasses.
I realize we're a damaged fanbase with decades of trauma, I've been there, but damn, you play to win. So what if your worst nightmare comes true, we're the 12 seed and we get blown the frak out by an OSU or Georgia by 50pts? If we got there, we deserved that spot and we gave ourselves a chance. I've seen more 1 and 2 win seasons than I've seen winning seasons. I've only seen a single 10 win season in over 25 years of being a fan! So maybe getting embarrassed in the CFP is your worst nightmare, but that'd be one of my wildest dreams relative to what we've gone through over the decades.
So I don't care if we're not CFP material. I don't care that most pundits had us winning 2-4 games this season, myself included. Go 10-2 and force the committee to make a decision, don't whimper and cry you're not Oregon, take your football home and finish 6-6 because of an inferiority complex. Because you play like winners long enough, hell, you might actually become one
the fact they started an ILLINI chant with I-N-I is further evidence of their lower academic status compared to Illinois
- Status