Pregame: Illinois at Wisconsin, Saturday, October 1st, 11:00am CT, BTN

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#101      

BZuppke

BZuppke
Plainfield
BZuppke
As to the 2007 game it was my young sons first game (he’s a student in CU now). All week long he asked for one thing: A big orange finger. We came down and stopped by GameDay and grabbed one and even though he couldn’t see a lot in a large crowd that was standing quite a bit, every time he waived his finger something good happened.

Convinced this was a real thing, he dutifully packed his foam finger as we were heading to the Rose Bowl (didn’t help much there).

So I do have a great memory of the 2007 game in Champaign. Lol.
 
#103      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
BZuppke said:
As to the 2007 game it was my young sons first game (he’s a student in CU now). All week long he asked for one thing: A big orange finger. We came down and stopped by GameDay and grabbed one and even though he couldn’t see a lot in a large crowd that was standing quite a bit, every time he waived his finger something good happened.

Convinced this was a real thing, he dutifully packed his foam finger as we were heading to the Rose Bowl (didn’t help much there).

So I do have a great memory of the 2007 game in Champaign. Lol.
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AWESOME DAD POST
😎 🤽
 
#104      

Illinir1

Illinir1
Camdenton, MO
Illinir1
Our defense has been on a steady upward trajectory since their game against Wisconsin last year, but boy did they get run over in that game. And our offense, with 93 total yards was dismal. I've heard BB talk about 7 "rematch" games this year from defeats last year (Virginia + 6 B1G losses). I hope the coaching staff shares last years' game stats to motivate the players for this week's rematch.

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#105      

trtl

T
trtl
Illinir1 said:
Our defense has been on a steady upward trajectory since their game against Wisconsin last year, but boy did they get run over in that game. And our offense, with 93 total yards was dismal. I've heard BB talk about 7 "rematch" games this year from defeats last year (Virginia + 6 B1G losses). I hope the coaching staff shares last years' game stats to motivate the players for this week's rematch.

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Wisky could have put 48 on us if they wanted to but they pulled back. I respect Chryst a bit for that at least. I hope the Beloved is in position to return that kindness on Saturday.
 
#106      

illini0440

illini0440
illini0440
IllinoisssssssVarsity said:
Alright football people, let’s ignore that Ohio state has 100 nfl players on their roster. What did they do schematically, that is similar to what we do, that hurt Wisconsin, that we could also do to hurt Wisconsin?

What really stressed the badgers schemes and put them in bad positions? Asking offensively and defensively here.
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I didn’t get a chance to watch the game….but OSU is just superior at every position on the field. They can run whatever they want and win that game essentially. It’s gonna come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes on offense. Make them throw the ball and I think we win the game. For us I think we’re gonna have to throw the ball to open up the run. Leonhard is going to do everything he can to take away brown. I’d expect a lot of pressure up the middle as well.
 
#107      

220Illini

2
220Illini
IllinoisssssssVarsity said:
Alright football people, let’s ignore that Ohio state has 100 nfl players on their roster. What did they do schematically, that is similar to what we do, that hurt Wisconsin, that we could also do to hurt Wisconsin?

What really stressed the badgers schemes and put them in bad positions? Asking offensively and defensively here.
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Can Tommy Devito and our passing offense effectively move the chains and stretch the defense. Do that, and we win.
 
#108      

Ander1345

A
Ander1345
First drive for the offense will dictate a lot. Even if we don't get a TD I just want to see us come out firing. Otherwise it will be a nailbiter.

I think our D can stay with their O.
 
#111      

illini0440

illini0440
illini0440
illini0440 said:
I didn’t get a chance to watch the game….but OSU is just superior at every position on the field. They can run whatever they want and win that game essentially. It’s gonna come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes on offense. Make them throw the ball and I think we win the game. For us I think we’re gonna have to throw the ball to open up the run. Leonhard is going to do everything he can to take away brown. I’d expect a lot of pressure up the middle as well.
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Poor O-line play for Wisky is a huge advantage for us too. Expect a lot of disguised pressures from Walters and Co.
 
#112      

Genesis

G
Genesis
I know this will sound like I overdosed on the Kool Aid, but based on the poor play of some of our West opponents, it's no longer crazy to think that, after starting 3-1, we could go 3-1 again and then 3-1 again the rest of the way. I won't predict that, and certainly wouldn't bet it, but even if we finish 4-4, there will be dancing in the streets. I'm already counting on Nebby and the Cats. Then we only have to pick off two of WI, IA, MI St, and Purdue.
 
#114      

willillini

W
willillini
illini0440 said:
I didn’t get a chance to watch the game….but OSU is just superior at every position on the field. They can run whatever they want and win that game essentially. It’s gonna come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes on offense. Make them throw the ball and I think we win the game. For us I think we’re gonna have to throw the ball to open up the run. Leonhard is going to do everything he can to take away brown. I’d expect a lot of pressure up the middle as well.
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can't disagree. If we could run it a little, just a little, play action and misdirection that gets guys in the open field leads to big plays. i always like the passing game and spreading the field against the Badgers. Gonna come down to the big fatty's though. can our d-line handle/run around those 330 lb'ers. I like Newton's center of gravity, he's hard to move and quick for a man his size. if we slow the run down we can make them do what the don't want to, throw the ball.
 
#115      

illini0440

illini0440
illini0440
willillini said:
can't disagree. If we could run it a little, just a little, play action and misdirection that gets guys in the open field leads to big plays. i always like the passing game and spreading the field against the Badgers. Gonna come down to the big fatty's though. can our d-line handle/run around those 330 lb'ers. I like Newton's center of gravity, he's hard to move and quick for a man his size. if we slow the run down we can make them do what the don't want to, throw the ball.
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Their o-line isn't what it has been in the past. Think our D line wins that battle.
 
#119      

superfan

superfan
superfan
Our last game was against a (good) FCS school. Wisconsin's last game was against tOSU. On one hand I don't want to read too much into that eyeball test. On the other hand, I love orange Kool-Aid. I'd feel a lot better if McCray was (is?) healthy, but I like our chances. I think the defense is going to get to Mertz.

The fact that fans are talking "upset" and not "keep it respectable" is a huge testament to this staff and team.
 
#124      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Looking at the last time we beat Wisconsin (2019 upset), it is SO refreshing that our formula for a victory is so different. If you watch the highlights of that game, it was classic Lovie Ball - we needed a few perfectly timed defensive takeaways and uncharacteristically big offensive plays to scrap out a thrilling victory. It feels so reassuring to know that if we come into this game and play fundamentally sound football and wear them down, I feel confident in a win. THAT is the type of football program I want!

If Tommy and our receivers can give us a competent passing attack, I firmly believe our running game and defense can pull us over the top. As others have said, this is an unbelievably important game for our program's momentum. Yes, we got two big upsets on the road last year, but they were kind of "too little too late." We were 2-5 (1-3) when we shocked Penn State, and we were 3-6 (2-4) when we upset Minnesota up there; we already had losses at home to UT-San Antonio, Maryland and Rutgers. While we were playing with house money in both of those games, with only our diehard fans seeing the fun progression of this program in BB's first year ... we are now playing to be 4-1 (1-1) before two MASSIVE home games vs. Iowa and Minnesota. This actually IS a turning point to get the casual fan back in the fold, because if we can win in Madison, we can compete in any game in the West - including vs. Minnesota.
 
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#125      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
redwingillini11 said:
Can't recall the last time we felt like we had a fighter's chance going into the Wisconsin game. Let's not disappoint! Play a good game and who knows what can happen.
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The last time I thought we had a fighter's chance in Madison was in 2008 ... and it was one of the most deflating Illini losses I can remember. Coming off of our Rose Bowl season, we spent the first four weeks ranked and played an elite Missouri team fairly close in St. Louis. We had a disappointing close loss to Minnesota at home, but we followed that up with a nice rebound by crushing Indiana. So, we knew we were stocked with talent and just needed to figure it out, and we were 4-3 (2-2) going into Madison to face a 3-4 Badgers team.

We lost 17-27 in what I remember as an infuriatingly incompetent game on our part, and we would finish the season losing 4 out of 5 (including that debacle vs. Western Michigan in Detroit...) to miss a bowl. While we all got back on the hype train for what looked like a promising 2009 season, I really think the Zook Rose Bowl magic died that day in Madison. At the very least, it was clear on that day that we were NOT a top 25 team who simply caught some bad breaks.
 
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