They ranked like 124th defensively last year. But they do return a lot.
Pregame: Illinois at Kansas, Friday, September 8th, 6:30pm CT, ESPN2
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First road game. We aren't a team that wins its first true road test. (Yet)
I hope to be wrong, but I’m seeing us lose by 2 scores. 10-14 point loss.
But I’m a BB believer and have faith we can make a bowl game this year.
6-6 keeps this thing moving forward and allows us to get past the gap year.
(Gap year: As defined by Robert at Illiniboard, is basically the year before BB’s recruits are developed enough to take on the majority of the starting roles and where we are still relying on Lovie recruits. Which is this year)
I hope to be wrong, but I’m seeing us lose by 2 scores. 10-14 point loss.
But I’m a BB believer and have faith we can make a bowl game this year.
6-6 keeps this thing moving forward and allows us to get past the gap year.
(Gap year: As defined by Robert at Illiniboard, is basically the year before BB’s recruits are developed enough to take on the majority of the starting roles and where we are still relying on Lovie recruits. Which is this year)
I just want them to make a bowl game this year. 6-6, 7-5 or 8-4 is fine. You have to remember, the program was nearly dead when BB took over and we are only in year 3 of his tenure. His first year he went 5-7, which is to be expected and his 2nd year he went 8-4. Success take time. We are headed in the right direction. Just keep having winning seasons.
His first year where he went 5-7 was just WAY better than anything I’d come to expect from first year rebuilds.
Especially in B1G play where we knocked off 2 ranked teams on the road.
People are declaring our season over just because we played close with a lower conference opponent. As recently as 2021 we lost to a lower tier team (UTSA) and beat #7 Penn State on the road. A narrow win over a good G5 team is no reason to think this team's ceiling is suddenly much lower. Toledo was picked to win their conference, and I think we should be happy about being able to beat a team which might finish the year 9-3 and ranked.
What I want to see is the Law Firm wake up and cause some hell for the Jayhawks. Give the Kansas faithful a prelude to the exhibition basketball game.
What I want to see is the Law Firm wake up and cause some hell for the Jayhawks. Give the Kansas faithful a prelude to the exhibition basketball game.
I think people take too many negatives away from week 1. I'm not super concerned about the Dline or the penalties. We have a professional coaching staff, this stuff will get cleaned up. My expectations are still as high as they have been all offseason.
I expect to be 2-0 headed into a monster game against Penn State.
I expect to be 2-0 headed into a monster game against Penn State.
They are?? I have not seen any doing that. I do see people expressing concern in our line play against a MAC opponent, which I believe is reasonable. It is also very reasonable to expect that to improve starting next week with ample film for the staff to use as motivation. The season is a marathon and we just passed the 2 mile mark.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Bielema has helped us end a lot of streaks, and it's high time to end another one ... our losing streak at Power Five, non-conference opponents.
2021: L 42-14 at Virginia
2015: L 48-14 at North Carolina
2014: L 44-19 at Washington
2012: L 45-14 at Arizona State
2009: L 49-36 at #5 Cincinnati
2007: W 41-20 at Syracuse
It's possible I missed some, but I think Syracuse in 2007 was our last non-conference road win at a Power Five opponent, with the current losing streak standing at 5 games.
The pessimist in me is scared to death that we are about to see a near carbon copy of the Friday night loss at Indiana last year ... feeling like we can beat this team the entire time, but some infuriating setbacks do us in (and perhaps a few screwjobs from the refs). However, the optimist in me really thinks our defense will correct many of last week's mistakes and this one will be down to the wire before Luke and Co. lead us on a late drive to win it and/or put it out of reach. Either way, I do not envision us getting blown out ... that simply has not been Bret's style here. Other than an early uncharacteristically lopsided loss to Virginia in 2021 and a dud vs. Wisconsin a couple of games later, we have never lost a game under Bielema where we were not in it until the end (or almost). I think we will be much more focused this Friday and more closely resemble the tough Illini team of last season ... whether or not that's enough to win likely comes down to whether or not our defense makes too many untimely mistakes.
2021: L 42-14 at Virginia
2015: L 48-14 at North Carolina
2014: L 44-19 at Washington
2012: L 45-14 at Arizona State
2009: L 49-36 at #5 Cincinnati
2007: W 41-20 at Syracuse
It's possible I missed some, but I think Syracuse in 2007 was our last non-conference road win at a Power Five opponent, with the current losing streak standing at 5 games.
The pessimist in me is scared to death that we are about to see a near carbon copy of the Friday night loss at Indiana last year ... feeling like we can beat this team the entire time, but some infuriating setbacks do us in (and perhaps a few screwjobs from the refs). However, the optimist in me really thinks our defense will correct many of last week's mistakes and this one will be down to the wire before Luke and Co. lead us on a late drive to win it and/or put it out of reach. Either way, I do not envision us getting blown out ... that simply has not been Bret's style here. Other than an early uncharacteristically lopsided loss to Virginia in 2021 and a dud vs. Wisconsin a couple of games later, we have never lost a game under Bielema where we were not in it until the end (or almost). I think we will be much more focused this Friday and more closely resemble the tough Illini team of last season ... whether or not that's enough to win likely comes down to whether or not our defense makes too many untimely mistakes.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
I think this is a little less of a thing, since some of the key starting positions (see Altmyer at QB) can be immediately filled with impact transfers, due to the transfer rule changing to allows you to not sit out a year after first transfer. Sure it may still technically be a gap year since many of BB's high school recruits are not fully developed yet, but I do not think it impacts the overall results quite as much as you may be alluding.
I truly think 5 to 6 wins was the floor for this team (going into the season), and I think many would be semi disappointed with that result. I think 7+ wins is 100% realistic given how relatively easy the conference schedule shakes out this year. Saturday's win was very important to getting to 7+ wins, since Friday night will be a real challenge.
At worst, this team should be 2-1 non-conference, and I see no reason to believe that the Illini do not go at least 5-4 in the conference season. That gets us to a minimum of 7 wins. At this point, 6-6 (meaning a loss to FAU or a losing conference record) would be a let down IMO and actually may hurt some momentum given how easy the conference schedule is this year (it will only get harder moving forward).
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
Illini offense begins to roll. Defense stiffens at the right time late.
ILLINI 35-KU 30
ILLINI 35-KU 30
Two things
1. I love Cheers!
2. Probably 90% of the people that posted in the Illinois vs Toledo game thread thought our season was over at halftime. Smart money is majority of regular posters don't touch a foot in that thread.
So are you telling me. a touch down every drive is cool mediocrity? that is at 3.5 yards a carry. 3 straight carries is at the average is a first down everytime. Now if you are referring to his actually average per carry in the Toledo game. That isn't 3.5 yards a carry it was 2.73 yards a carry. If he averages that then we will be mediocre. But the goal is to keep the chains moving. So if we average 3.5 yards gained a play. We will score a lot of points.I guess the problem is you are cool mediocrity
But that is just my opinion using the actual numbers not emotion. I played QB. I know our OCs goal outside of scoring on every play was to try to average more than 3.5 yards a play for this excate arguement. Don't worry about the big play all the time, the goal was to take care of the ball, to move the ball and get first downs. The rest will take care of itself.
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
They are the expected MAC champions. They are projected to repeat. This means they know how to win and have a winners mentality. They don't roll over for anyone, including us. The only game they were "out of" last year was the Ohio State game, at Ohio state in week 3. It was an blowout. 77-21. In that game OSU longest 2 drives were 11 plays 75 yards for 4:26 of clock. and in the 4th quater 11 play 68 yards 4:59. Outside of that. most drives were 7 plays or less. The other 4 losses for Toledo was by a touch down or less. They were 8-0 with 2 or less TOs last year. We beat them when they only had 1 TO. That was a good team we beat.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
I always lose my mind briefly and go into the game threads. Then, after reading roughly a page of awful hot takes, I shut it down and just watch the game play out on my own. It's better for my mental health that way.
Kramerica Industries
- Greenville, SC
I'm more of a Post Game Thread kinda guy
Game threads are toxic. Haven’t been in one for a couple years now.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
If I was a preacher and somebody asked me what hell was like, I would respond that it would be like being stuck in an Illinois Loyalty basketball or football game thread.
I’d add “while the team is underachieving and/or simply losing”.
I haven’t been in them for so long I don’t know what they’re like when we are playing well.
Like Wisconsin or NW last year, those had to be good game threads right??
Eh, honestly, I thought the game thread was pretty well behaved despite the game situation. Far more self control than I would have expected.
Personally, I think the game threads are more like tickets to the penny theatre than something to be avoided. There's a lot of yelling from the audience, drunken behavior, and some lack the education to understand what they're watching, but at the end of the day there's still a lot to laugh at and you've got the camaraderie of your fellow commoners.
Also, sometimes you need some place to rant about the refs or play calling, and if you do it outside in public, often times people try making you wear this uncomfortable jacket and taking you to this white room that doesn't even have a TV or streaming services. Best to be avoided.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Newbies: follow this advice
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