Pregame: Illinois at Indiana, Friday, September 2nd, 7:00pm CT, FS1
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That sounds like 2 field goals. How many attempts?
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
Interior O-line play and linebackers need to be much better. If they can take the week 0 to week 1 jump we can win. First road game, just win.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
If it's anything like last Saturday, probably 6. That was the most disappointing part of the game for me, particularly given how good ST were the last few years.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
DaChief4ever
- Urbana
That kicker is gonna come back to haunt Illinois.....I thought we would be better or at least as good as previous....
Does the word "beer" come into play at all?
The -3.5 line for Indiana is a joke. I would put Illinois -14. For the past decade or two, we have all shouted at the TV or in person saying "wow that was a dumb call by the coaches", or "wow that was a dumb penalty". This year is different. We have the tools in place with these players and these coaches to go 8-4 at worst. Indiana was lackluster at best in 2021. They are a team on the decline, and we are a team on the rise. The Chief will make sure we leave Bloomington with a win, 38-24. I'm rarely wrong. Hoosier daddy!!
Our last couple of kickers have been above average. Let's give him a little time before we write him off.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
McCourt is literally an NFL kicker right now. Calling him merely "above average" is ludicrous.
It was not my point to insult him or Chase but rather those guys are the exception
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Down to Indiana -3.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
I’ve seen as low as 2.5
I love your optimism, but this isn’t a game I’d bet. First, I have no idea what we’ll get with Indiana. They went big with the portal — plus had a decent recruiting class — with I think 8 on the defensive side of the ball plus two RBs. They also have a new DC. I don’t think they’ll be as bad as last year.
Second, the line play on both sides of the ball wasn’t great against Wyoming. If the DL transfers improve Indiana’s front line play, things could get dicey. And no sacks or TFLs against Wyoming has me a bit concerned. I get we were running base packages, but just from a physicality point of view you’d think we’d have had more success in that area. Then you have the FG kicking issue.
I think Illini will win, but I think it is likely to be much closer than you think. And while I like what DeVito did overall against Wyoming, he didn’t instill great confidence in me that he can make passes down field should we need a big drive. I hope you’re right though and win lots of money on the game.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
POSITIVES:
Love our coaching staff from top to bottom. I’ll give an A+ to our running backs and defensive backs in game 1. We played well on the road last year (except for UVA). Indiana was really bad last year. Our QB’s completed 75% of their passes on Saturday (albeit dinks and dunks for the most part).
NEGATIVES:
Defense had no sacks, no TFL, and blitzed only once that I recall seeing. D-Line appears to be our weakest group at this early stage. O-Line has question marks too. We can’t lose the line of scrimmage in conference games. That would spell certain doom.
DeVito seems accurate but will face much more of a test as we open the playbook against a conference rival. Hoosiers are favored.
PREDICTIONS:
Week 0: Illini 41-17 (not bad)
Week 1: Illini 20-17
I’m still someone who gives BB a shot at a
4-0 start. Oh - and I want 50,000+ at the UVA home game!
Love our coaching staff from top to bottom. I’ll give an A+ to our running backs and defensive backs in game 1. We played well on the road last year (except for UVA). Indiana was really bad last year. Our QB’s completed 75% of their passes on Saturday (albeit dinks and dunks for the most part).
NEGATIVES:
Defense had no sacks, no TFL, and blitzed only once that I recall seeing. D-Line appears to be our weakest group at this early stage. O-Line has question marks too. We can’t lose the line of scrimmage in conference games. That would spell certain doom.
DeVito seems accurate but will face much more of a test as we open the playbook against a conference rival. Hoosiers are favored.
PREDICTIONS:
Week 0: Illini 41-17 (not bad)
Week 1: Illini 20-17
I’m still someone who gives BB a shot at a
4-0 start. Oh - and I want 50,000+ at the UVA home game!
True. He did have a good number of misses in 2019, so might be good to assume that Caleb will get better.
You’re about where I am with the score. I got it 27-24 good guys. Hopefully when we open up the defensive playbook, the 24 for Indiana proves to be too generous.
This is what I’m hoping. Maybe just first game jitters and he settles into being dependable.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Indiana going throwback jerseys, which are going to make this a battle of block-I helmets. Not a fan of this move from them to have similarly designed uniforms (but it’s their right).
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