ptgrd23
- orange county CA
Mendoza stats (2023 6-7 and 2024 6-7) with CAL. Fox has him at #25 (6th QB taken) .
Pregame: Illinois at Indiana, Saturday, September 20th, 6:30pm CT, NBC
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Great analysis, and I’ll add another angle that I was thinking about prior to reading this post.
I remember listening to SportsTalk after we beat Kansas last year. The conversation (I think it was Scott Beatty and Loren Tate, not for sure) on the show was, and I’m paraphrasing, “If we beat Central Michigan and start the season 3-0, we only have to win three more games to clinch a bowl bid! We’re halfway there!”
Our remaining schedule included Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan State, Rutgers and Northwestern; and we only had to win three of those five. Not an unreasonable accomplishment. Nobody knew what to expect from this team, but at the time six wins and a bowl invitation was considered a successful season after coming off a disappointing 5-7 in 2023.
Now here we are, almost exactly one later, discussing a week 4 game and B1G opener as a must win because we believe it could have CFP implications! How things have changed in just a year!
Just can't let them start fast.
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
From an article on Texas A&M. Substitute Aggie for Illini.
Elko was recently asked about this phenomenon, dubbed “Battered Aggie Syndrome,” during a recent appearance at the Touchdown Club in Houston. He didn’t hold back with his response.
“I’m sorry, but I had nothing to do with a majority of it,” he said. “You love Texas A&M football, so get excited. Stop being scared and get excited about what this program is doing. It’s not fair to look at past failures and eliminate how you feel about where Texas A&M football is going.”
Elko was recently asked about this phenomenon, dubbed “Battered Aggie Syndrome,” during a recent appearance at the Touchdown Club in Houston. He didn’t hold back with his response.
“I’m sorry, but I had nothing to do with a majority of it,” he said. “You love Texas A&M football, so get excited. Stop being scared and get excited about what this program is doing. It’s not fair to look at past failures and eliminate how you feel about where Texas A&M football is going.”
ptgrd23
- orange county CA
Lot of Indiana trolls on the board today.
Pretty amazing since before last season they had never won 10 games. Last IU trip to Rose Bowl was 1968.
I will say Cignetti is a miracle worker. Lets see if he can do it 2 years in a row. If he does, I see Alabama or USC coming with a $10M/year offer to steal him from Bloomington.
Pretty amazing since before last season they had never won 10 games. Last IU trip to Rose Bowl was 1968.
I will say Cignetti is a miracle worker. Lets see if he can do it 2 years in a row. If he does, I see Alabama or USC coming with a $10M/year offer to steal him from Bloomington.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I have never seen a box score like this. ODU averaged 7.0 yards per play to Indiana's 5.6, yet only ran 45 plays to Indiana's 89. Being -2 in the TO dept didn't help. Still super odd to only get half the plays of your opponent when you're averaging more yards per play.
*Edit: Looking at it deeper, almost half of ODU's yards came on 2 plays. Outside of those 2 plays, they averaged just 3.7 yards per play.
*Edit: Looking at it deeper, almost half of ODU's yards came on 2 plays. Outside of those 2 plays, they averaged just 3.7 yards per play.
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
He might be more talented, but do you think he is going to improve on O'Rourke's passing stats, even with a better arm? He is a better runner.
Here is comparing Orourke 2024 vs. the first three games for Mendoza. Given Mendoza has played cream puffs I'd assume his passing results will be worse across the board.
O: 69% completion at 9.5 YPA, 9.1% TD, 1.6% Int
M: 72% completion at 9.3 YPA, 11.9% TD, 0% Int (against Old Dominion he completed 58%, 6.2 YPA, no TDs and no picks. At the best that is uninspiring. Is that going to be representative of his stats when he plays real teams?)
This hoosier babbling is getting old. Is it Saturday yet?
ESPN's Football Power Index Picks a Heavy Favorite for Illinois at Indiana
A top-25 matchup pits a pair of Big Ten foes against one another in Bloomington on Saturday, and ESPN's FPI considers one a strong favorite
www.si.com
A 72% completion percentage with 0 turnovers is pretty good. Is 19/20 uninspiring? How much better do you want him to be than that? Most QBs aren’t completing 19/20 vs air.
Indinia was playing against air.
Corn won't grow at all on Rocky Top …We have seemed to forget about out best TE. Tanner Arkin since week 1.
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
It’s a comparison based on the assertion Mendoza was going to be a big improvement from orourke. The point is Mendoza, playing cream puffs, has similar stats so far to ororke’s full season, which included the BIG games for orourke. Of the three games so far, Mendoza did not put up impressive stats in the one real game. He was very meh in that one. I’m not seeing how Mendoza is going to have better passing results than orourke now that they are going to start playing real teams.
Another stat not mentioned enough is the connection between Luke and Beatty. If I’m not mistaken they have connected with 19 receptions on 20 targets. Talk about a guy you can confidently go to in a crunch! That connection will only get better with time as well. I’m not even adding how versatile a weapon Beatty has been for us on returns and with some shifty rushing.
Illini 30
Indiana 24
Illini 30
Indiana 24
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Both coaching staffs have been pointing to this game at least since the summer. Apparently, both have been running “vanilla” offenses and defenses in their first 3 games, and are expected to unveil new plays, formations, etc. in this game. The winner of this game may well come down to which team can make effective adjustments on the fly. I like Illinois’ chances to adapt more quickly and effectively for several reasons: the continuity of the coaching staff, the larger number of returning starters on both sides of the ball, and the fact that they’ve been challenged in the first half of the last two games that have forced them to adjust. I doubt Indiana was forced to make any on the fly adjustments during their 73-0 win over Indiana State.
Another favorable comparison for Illinois is the game experience of the two starting quarterbacks. Mendoza has plenty of college game experience, but Saturday’s game has to be the most meaningful one he’s ever played in. His first two years were with bad teams that had little to play for, plus 3 games this year against cupcakes. If Illinois defensive backfield can effectively disguise coverages and/or Gabe and his buddies can apply consistent QB pressure it may put him in unfamiliar territory which can lead to mistakes. Plus, he is still learning how his new teammates will react under pressure. Altmeyer, on the other hand, has the advantage of playing in numerous high-pressure games with very familiar teammates and coaching staff. He also has the confidence of several great 4th quarter performances in tight games last year. I'm expecting a tight game throughout that may be decided on a late turnover.
Another favorable comparison for Illinois is the game experience of the two starting quarterbacks. Mendoza has plenty of college game experience, but Saturday’s game has to be the most meaningful one he’s ever played in. His first two years were with bad teams that had little to play for, plus 3 games this year against cupcakes. If Illinois defensive backfield can effectively disguise coverages and/or Gabe and his buddies can apply consistent QB pressure it may put him in unfamiliar territory which can lead to mistakes. Plus, he is still learning how his new teammates will react under pressure. Altmeyer, on the other hand, has the advantage of playing in numerous high-pressure games with very familiar teammates and coaching staff. He also has the confidence of several great 4th quarter performances in tight games last year. I'm expecting a tight game throughout that may be decided on a late turnover.
Last years success applies more to our team and IU. They lost the majority of last year's starters. We didnt.
First, in my preseason predictions I said that I didn't believe Duke and Indiana would turn out to be that good. I think I was right about Duke. I've begun to think I might be wrong about Indiana.
Second, we don't really know just how good either of these teams is. Indiana's signature win last year was Michigan, which isn't much. Ours was Michigan and SC. This year neither team has much to hang their hat on.
Us having more continuity leads me to pick us. I've been disappointed that the continuity on the O-Line hasn't paid dividends. I don't think there's a more important spot for us to make an improvement in that the play there. We need a better running game and we need our QB to stay healthy. I sure hope this is the game they click.
Second, we don't really know just how good either of these teams is. Indiana's signature win last year was Michigan, which isn't much. Ours was Michigan and SC. This year neither team has much to hang their hat on.
Us having more continuity leads me to pick us. I've been disappointed that the continuity on the O-Line hasn't paid dividends. I don't think there's a more important spot for us to make an improvement in that the play there. We need a better running game and we need our QB to stay healthy. I sure hope this is the game they click.
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
It’s a comparison based on the assertion Mendoza was going to be a big improvement from orourke. The point is Mendoza, playing cream puffs, has similar stats so far to ororke’s full season, which included the BIG games for orourke. Of the three games so far, Mendoza did not put up impressive stats in the one real game. He was very meh I’m not seeing how Mendoza is going to have better passing results than orourke now that they are going to start playing real teams.
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