I would be very interested to see those 7 games listed.
IU has rushed for 300+ yards in all 3 games as wellView attachment 43731
Wow, Mendoza is so good. I wish IL had a QB anywhere close to him statistically. Even better if he also hadn’t thrown an INT all year.
Edited to add: I think this going to be a really close game. These are two well-matched, extremely well-coached teams.
Like last year, IU doesn't have a featured back. Beebe was one of 3 backs who shared nearly equal touches with Black and Hemby.Beebe’s last touch was with 9:34 left in the 3rd quarter. Not many coaches anywhere are going to pull guys at halftime. Although the QB was pulled at halftime with a 45-0 lead.
Big in the sense that Beebe is a different style back than Hemby and Black. Hemby and Black are both speedsters with home run ability, Beebe more downhill that gets you yards after contact.How big of a loss is their RB in this game?
CBS projecting an 11-1 record. File that under things I didn't think I'd see. Bret could run for governor, mayor, have a statue built & have his name added to the Zuppke Field name.Stark contrast in playoff prospects, mirroring the coaches’ polls.
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College Football Playoff Rankings projection: Miami keeps ascending as Texas A&M, Illinois enter the mix
Peering into the crystal ball at which teams are setting themselves up for playoff traction entering Week 4www.cbssports.com
In that case, I sincerely hope that you know nothing about this team.I don't believe we're going 12-0 in the regular season. This shapes up to be one of our top 3-4 toughest games --- AND it's on the road. The first half performances against both Duke and WMU scare me just a bit.
45 IND
31 ILL
(I could only predict a win EVERY week if we were UGA, Ohio State or Alabama. We're just not yet in that stratosphere. Now if we were to win 14-0 it would prove that I know absolutely nothing about this team!)
ILL !!!!!
If those are the big differences why did you point to Mendoza's completion %?The big difference between the two in QB play is in their scramble ability and sacks.
Luke’s taken 9 sacks.
Mendoza just 1 sack.
Overall Luke 17 rushes -12 yards
Mendoza 15 rushes 72 yards
Those negative plays are what leads to drive killers. And whether you blame the o line, QB, OC- 9 sacks vs 1 sack is a rather large discrepancy in 3 games
Lol this is such a garbage stat.Bielema is 0-7 in his career at Illinois vs opponents that finished the season in the top 45 of scoring offense (PPG).
Last year Indiana was #2.
This year they are currently #14.
iu friday fans: football, football, football, footballPlot twist? They’re actually the same people and cringe reversible jacket bandwagon fans!![]()
And both those plays were option keepers by a QB who's a much better runner than Luke, so we're not going to be co-opt that strategy.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.
View attachment 43728
We have a team as least comparable if not better than last year's team. Therefore, games before the 2024-2025 season are irrelevant for the most part. Last year we lost to two top 45 PPG teams, Penn State (#5 AP/#22 PPG) and Oregon (#3 AP/#8 PPG), in their houses by large margins. I don't think this Indiana team is as good as those two teams but it will be a tough fight nonetheless. I expect it to be a closer game than the two games mentioned above.I'm not going to research this but I'm guessing it's some form of the following
2021 Virginia
2021 UTSA
2022 Michigan
2022 Miss State (?)
2023 Kansas
2023 Penn State
Another useless cherry picked stat is that Coach B is undefeated when his team scores more points than the opponent. IU should be very concerned...Lol this is such a garbage stat.
If those are the big differences why did you point to Mendoza's completion %?
It's clear that you think Indiana is going to crush Illinois, and that you're not actually interested in hearing anything that challenges that opinion. So, why are you here? Why not go write Cignetti/Mendoza fanfic on a site that will appreciate it?
Just for the record: Outside of Illinois' big 3 at RB - Jordan Anderson has taken 1 carry (that in short yardage, not end of game). That's everyone who has played RB @ Illinois so far this year.If you’re rotating backs with an insurmountable lead and a shutout, most coaches would give playing time to backups. Did IU fear losing the game if they let up with only a 45-0 lead? Outcome still in doubt? Feeling insecure?
What exactly is the point of running up the score on an overwhelmed cupcake? They’ve already taken enough of a beating to have earned their money. It comes across as either a lack of confidence or something worse, cruelty. Once the game is decided, confident teams exercise their depth and minimize risks to starters on both sides.
This was me. I thought the sarcasm was abundantly clear, but obviously not.Woo boy I’ve seen a lot of bad arguments on here. Here’s some things to digest. If you’re a tl;dr kinda reader, just skip to #5 as I think it’s the most important and novel idea that I haven’t seen elsewhere yet.
1. Whoever compared Mendoza and Altmyer’s stats through 3 games is a little silly. Mendoza’s been pulled early in, I believe, all of their games except Old Dominion. Volume stats (TD’s, Yards) aren’t a fair comparison.