Pregame: Illinois at Wisconsin, Saturday, October 20th, 11:00am CT, FS1

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#26      

Krush 2010

Krush 2010
Krush 2010
Wiscy scores 75 before halftime, but since we're Illinois they leave the starters in until 5 minutes to go and score 132 points.

Seriously though, I have a strange feeling we bounce back a little bit this week. Not near enough to win, but something like 52-24 where we have something that resembles an offense for part of the game...
 
#27      

mattcoldagelli

mattcoldagelli
The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
mattcoldagelli
Wisconsin will beat us by as much as they want to beat us by.

The sad fact is, they're going to be more focused on the much bigger game at Northwestern the following week.
 
#28      

UofI08

U
Chicago
UofI08
If it’s close, it’ll have more to do with Wisconsin’s lack of interest than anything we’re doing.
 
#31      

BZuppke

BZuppke
Plainfield
BZuppke
If we could pass the ball I think we could have a balanced attack and score some points.
 
#32      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
Rod Smith just told us he hasn’t wavered on AJ Bush as starter.
https://twitter.com/JWerner247/

Game Notes

FS1: Justin Kutcher, Petros Papadakis & DeMarco Murray

https://fightingillini.com/news/2018/10/15/football-game-week-illinois-at-23-wisconsin.aspx
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Lovie Smith press conference
https://twitter.com/JWerner247

Lovie: After a game like that, you're excited you have more games to play as much as anything.

Lovie: Very few things from that game that we liked what we did. You saw how it played out.

"It was a collapse that game."

Lovie: I know we'll play a lot better than we played last week with this upcoming game against Wisconsin.

Lovie: We were in position to make some plays. We didn't.

Lovie: Don't have a lot of answers for that Purdue game. Now, we go back to work to answer that. You have to move on. Can't let a bad game beat you again. You go back to work.

Lovie: Wisconsin gets your attention. Two years ago they dominated us. Last year, we played them better.

Lovie: Weren't a whole lot of positives against Purdue. Started fast, blocked a PAT. Not a whole lot. When you get beat that bad, we had a few individuals who played pretty good.

Lovie: Sydney Brown is a pretty good football player. Has been since he got here. In anew position, so there's a learning curve. He's going to get better and better each week.

Lovie: We have a plan to take care of mistakes. We've already started that process.

Lovie on Tony Adams: Talked about hamstrings more than I'd like to. He pulled it. Unfortunate. Eventually he will be back. Not season-ending. Won't practice tomorrow. Kerby Joseph has an ankle injury.

Lovie: Dele Harding will play a lot more against a traditional offense vs. Wisconsin.

Lovie: Wisconsin has a system, a commitment to the run. We played a lot of spread fofenses. Wisconsin will huddle. "There is some old-school flavor to that." They want to grind you.

Lovie: We didn't win one-on-one battles up front on defense. Need more production there. We'll keep working guys, looking at different combinations.

Lovie on Wisconsin RB Jonathan Taylor: "He's definitely a scholarship player."

Lovie on Wisconsin offensive line: "They look pretty good coming off the bus. ...When you think of Wisconsin offensive linemen, they fit the mold."

Lovie: Wisconsin had a process to establish what they are. Coach Alvarez started it. There was a commitment to that. "We understand who they are."
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#33      

Deleted member 654622

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Deleted member 654622
I am very interested to see how they come out and play considering all the circumstances. Being a Lovie supporter, I want to see these guys playing HARD, regardless of the score.
 
#34      

Illinibatt

I
Illinibatt
I'm just not seeing it with AJ Bush.
And to me, that means we're throwing away developmental reps for MJ Rivers at this point.
 
#35      

Hoppy2105

H
Little Rock, Arkansas
Hoppy2105
Illinibatt said:
I'm just not seeing it with AJ Bush.
And to me, that means we're throwing away developmental reps for MJ Rivers at this point.
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I’m trying to figure out a reason to preserve his redshirt as well. Trying to keep him healthy? You have 2 amazing runningbacks, why not throw the pass attack in there?

If they don’t find a serviceable throwing QB, they may not be around to reap the benefits of Rivers’ redshirt senior year.
 
#36      

Deleted member 29907

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Deleted member 29907
UofI08 said:
If MJ Rivers isn't starting, AJ Bush better have a really short leash.
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If you could fix two things with AJ 1) Get the throw out quicker, and 2) better reads on RPO - particularly getting the ball to the backs more often whether into the line or on swing passes it would make a huge difference. Not sure if that can be fixed watching tape and hounding - hope so.

With MJ - last time he was out there - he was subject to the pass rush (standing int he pocket) and making a few 'throw it up for grabs' plays.

Honestly if the receivers aren't going to catch the ball or adjust it really doesn't matter who's out there.
 
#37      

AutoPoster 3000

AutoPoster 3000
AutoPoster 3000
Illinibatt said:
I'm just not seeing it with AJ Bush.
And to me, that means we're throwing away developmental reps for MJ Rivers at this point.
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I know the QB is always going to be the focal point of blame but we gave up 404 yards and 29 points in the first half last week. Bush is an athlete-profile QB, not a gunslinger. That MJ Rivers is less of a runner doesn't exactly make him shootout material either. He's not topped 168 yards in a game and his longest completion is 32 yards. Ultimately we have nothing but square offensive pegs and all this defense gives us is round holes. Blough was hanging around the pocket sending long texts to friends on his iPhone and practicing his golf swing before casually tossing 20 yard completions to wide-open receivers. There's no offensive counter-scheme for that.
 
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#38      

DaChief4ever

D
Urbana
DaChief4ever
There's only two ways Wisky can beat us......

One...they throw the ball
Two..they run the ball.
 
#41      

Deleted member 746094

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Deleted member 746094
Let’s not forget that WI got beat pretty bad last week and will want to put a beating on us to get their playoff resume back on track.

We play our best game of the year on both sides and I still think we get beat by A LOT. We just don’t have the talent to compete against the top of the B10.
 
#42      

Neale Stoner Fan Club

Neale Stoner Fan Club
Tailgreat
Chiraq
Neale Stoner Fan Club
Wisconsin no longer has a playoff resume. It has 2 losses, including a bad one at home to Brigham Young. Even if Wisconsin runs the table, including winning the B1G title game, it is not in the playoff picture.
 
#44      

KrushCow31

KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
Chicago, IL
KrushCow31
Wisconsin: Whatever they feel like scoring
Illinois: 7
 
#45      

Deleted member 746094

D
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Deleted member 746094
Neale Stoner Fan Club said:
Wisconsin no longer has a playoff resume. It has 2 losses, including a bad one at home to Brigham Young. Even if Wisconsin runs the table, including winning the B1G title game, it is not in the playoff picture.
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Yes. You are correct. Forgot about BYU loss.

Still think they come out plenty motivated to show we don’t belong on same field.
 
#47      

illini80

illini80
Forgottonia
illini80
Bush is going to have to complete some passes. There is isn't a team out there who is not going to stack the box the rest of the season.
 
#48      

Illiniaaron

I
Geneseo, IL
Illiniaaron
Krush 2010 said:
Wiscy scores 75 before halftime, but since we're Illinois they leave the starters in until 5 minutes to go and score 132 points.

Seriously though, I have a strange feeling we bounce back a little bit this week. Not near enough to win, but something like 52-24 where we have something that resembles an offense for part of the game...
Click to expand...
Do you realize how bad it is if a 52-24 loss is a bounce back?
 
#49      

Krush 2010

Krush 2010
Krush 2010
Illiniaaron said:
Do you realize how bad it is if a 52-24 loss is a bounce back?
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Yes, only a "bounce back" from the stand point of having some scoring. Not a bounce back in the sense of "the season is fine, we're going bowling!"
 
#50      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Unfortunately, I think last week's results (for both teams) are the types of losses that really energize a Wisconsin team to come out angry and really demoralize a team like ours to come out depressed. I fear we lose this one by around the same score as Purdue but - as sad as this is - not even as close as that loss was for a while.

I would oh so love to be wrong, but that PU loss really deflated me as a fan. Does it not just enrage anyone else that there are millions of sports fans all across the country who get legitimately excited for college football season ... FOR AN ACTUAL REASON?! :(
 
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