Pregame: Illinois vs Kansas, Saturday, September 7th, 6:00pm CT, FS1

Little more about Kansas and our 2024 expectations if anyone is interested...

Lots of optimism and anxiety as you've probably noticed. First time since '09 we've been ranked preseason (and that year we missed a bowl, fired our coach, and kicked off 12 years of futility.)

We have a lot of seniors and a favorable schedule, so there's a lot of pressure to do something this season. Most fans would say our goal is to make the Big 12 title game and be in the mix for a CFP slot.

Jalon Daniels has yet to play a full season. He played some as a true freshman in 2020. Lost the starting battle in '21 (Leipold's first) and was supposed to redshirt. Due to injuries he started @ Texas and led us to a shock victory. We had lost 56 straight road conference games at that point and hadn't beaten a D1A team in like 3 seasons. It would be like if you guys lost all your games for 2 years before beating OSU on the road with a 3rd string QB as a 45 point underdog. Long story short, they pulled the redshirt to get momentum for for the next season (didn't win any more games but looked ok.)

2022 - Started 5-0, hosted Game Day (first time ever) against TCU, and Jalon got hurt on a dirty hit. Ended up 6-6 and making our first bowl game in 14 years.

2023 - Started 4-0, Jalon gets back spasms the morning of the Texas game, but Bean played a lot better as backup and we finished 9-4. If not for Bean's injury and a couple plays, could easily have been 10-3 or 11-2.

2024 - Almost the whole team is back (lost Booker to the Bears, Puni to the 49ers, Bean to the Colts practice squad, and a couple of decent transfers.) Should be favored in all but 1-2 games, but it's not like we're loaded with 4 star athletes and projected NFL guys, so we need to bring it every week. Should be a fun game on Saturday.

Battle89 said:

too soon

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.if one out of 6 easy plays went our way, we win that one.

My advice to you and your team. You better start feeding your little 250 pound defensive ends spaghetti and pizza for the next two days because they won’t have a chance against 320 pound offensive tackle maulers that they have to go against. Good luck trying to stop the run.


my prediction:

Kansas has a worse college football record than Illinois. At least we go to a January 1 bowl every 10 years. Were they better in 2023 - yes. But we were better in 2022 (8-5). A win at Michigan puts us in the conf championship game.


January 1 bowl 3X since 1947 -- once every 25 years
14 bowls or one every 5 years


Illini played on January 1 7X in same period - once every 11 years
Went to 20 bowls or once every 4 years

Fly Illini Fly! said:

.if one out of 6 easy plays went our way, we win that one.

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and then add in if Johnny doesn't have that play vs wiscy and if we don't have back to back 2 muffed punts vs nw. honestly, if we had one muff and not 2, we still probably would've been good vs nw.

that's how close to 8 wins.

last yr's team wasn't really that bad on paper.. just had a ton of choke moments and undisciplined, at least the latter part of the season. The first part the o-line play really hurt us.

of course some will say "well, u were so close to having 2 wins or 3 wins" talking about toledo and minn, and some of the others. well, if u remember, somebody (i think jacas - might be wrong) had just an abysmal late hit on qb penalty on the 3rd and 11 on like toledo's last play on last drive in a 5 pt game which led to fresh set of downs and td the exact next play.

and then that minn game, u see the iw fumble.

not necessarily to make excuses for lack of results, just the truth sometimes. and it's not excuses at all - just frustrating how undisciplined we are in close games.

gotta clean this up.

PleaseMakeABowlGame said:

last yr's team wasn't really that bad on paper.. just had a ton of choke moments and undisciplined, at least the latter part of the season. The first part the o-line play really hurt us.

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i think Taz's antics took a year off my life by himself

the D seemed less chirpy last game. im really hopeful weve morphed into a solidly coached team this year

Fighter of the Nightman said:

I think there are two main reasons for optimism:

1. A sold out home crowd for a night game vs. a ranked opponent simply HAS to play a role if we have a chance. If the crowd isn’t into it, just forget this point … but I think a lot are a bit excited that we will finely have a full crowd again, and we are hoping that can give us an advantage we didn’t have last year.

2. We optimists are banking on continued improvement and (more importantly) consistency since our trip to Lawrence. While KU just flat-out remains a good team, I’m optimistic that the Illini team that won in College Park and should have won in Iowa City could have at least given KU a game last year.

If both of those are not true, then yeah … there’s a reason we are underdogs. However, the optimism is coming (IMO) from a belief/hope that those two factors bring us close enough to have a fighting chance. And that’s all you can ask for vs. a ranked opponent!

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With kickoff time and weather this is about as perfect tailgate conditions as you could ask for. That means we will ve greased up and ready to be loud! The beer helps break through some of that old reluctance to make noise.

And to add to the similarity, If my memory is correct, we had a huge contingent of Illini fans wanting LL to be our hire. Seems those choices are working out for both schools to date.

KUFan2000 said:

Good luck to the Illini in your season (from a KU alum in Chicago).

Stopped by your board to get up to speed on everyone's thoughts. Seems like both fan bases are optimistic. We have more than our fair share of Twitter burners run by overzealous students so please take everything they say with a grain of salt.

I expect a good KU turnout but nowhere near 10k or whatever people are saying. We had a good showing at the United Center for the Elite 8 in '22 (probably 12-15k KU fans) but I wouldn't use that as a barometer for obvious reasons. I think 6-7k would be a good showing for us on Saturday.

Let me know if anyone has any lunch reco's for downtown Champaign. Our group is coming down early and making a day of it.

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I love Downtown Champaign and would personally recommend it over Campustown (with that said, the campus has many pretty areas like the Quad, and it’s worth a visit … strictly talking bars/restaurants here). Downtown has more dinner options than lunch (Nando Milano for Italian is as good as anything I’ve had in Chicago!), but there are still multiple cool places.

Big Grove is very good, and Seven Saints has a broad bar food menu. I personally love Watson’s, but it’s very centered around chicken. People speak highly of Farren’s, but I’ve never eaten there. They don’t have food, but at this time of the year, a beer in the beer garden of Blind Pig is a must, and I highly recommend:


It’s in a small area of Downtown that’s blocked off to traffic, and it’s my one must-stop when we are in Champaign.

Fly Illini Fly! said:

.if one out of 6 easy plays went our way, we win that one.

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Is that you, Lasagna?

KUFan2000 said:

Little more about Kansas and our 2024 expectations if anyone is interested...

Lots of optimism and anxiety as you've probably noticed. First time since '09 we've been ranked preseason (and that year we missed a bowl, fired our coach, and kicked off 12 years of futility.)

We have a lot of seniors and a favorable schedule, so there's a lot of pressure to do something this season. Most fans would say our goal is to make the Big 12 title game and be in the mix for a CFP slot.

Jalon Daniels has yet to play a full season. He played some as a true freshman in 2020. Lost the starting battle in '21 (Leipold's first) and was supposed to redshirt. Due to injuries he started @ Texas and led us to a shock victory. We had lost 56 straight road conference games at that point and hadn't beaten a D1A team in like 3 seasons. It would be like if you guys lost all your games for 2 years before beating OSU on the road with a 3rd string QB as a 45 point underdog. Long story short, they pulled the redshirt to get momentum for for the next season (didn't win any more games but looked ok.)

2022 - Started 5-0, hosted Game Day (first time ever) against TCU, and Jalon got hurt on a dirty hit. Ended up 6-6 and making our first bowl game in 14 years.

2023 - Started 4-0, Jalon gets back spasms the morning of the Texas game, but Bean played a lot better as backup and we finished 9-4. If not for Bean's injury and a couple plays, could easily have been 10-3 or 11-2.

2024 - Almost the whole team is back (lost Booker to the Bears, Puni to the 49ers, Bean to the Colts practice squad, and a couple of decent transfers.) Should be favored in all but 1-2 games, but it's not like we're loaded with 4 star athletes and projected NFL guys, so we need to bring it every week. Should be a fun game on Saturday.

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I worked at the University of Nebraska at Omaha when Lance Leipold was an assistant coach under Pat Behrns. I worked with Lance a lot, because he was the recruiting coordinator and I was director of admissions. I always thought very highly of him, and I'm really happy to see him get his shot with a P4 program. You all landed a good one with him.

Dan said:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1831893519361044833

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Terrific breakdown!

He's def. got that NFL safety feel to him. Just hope he can stay healthy...

KUFan2000 said:

Good luck to the Illini in your season (from a KU alum in Chicago)...

Let me know if anyone has any lunch reco's for downtown Champaign. Our group is coming down early and making a day of it.

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I mean, there's great options "downtown" (see FOTN post), but I'm stopping at Old Orchard Lanes for the pizza special and cheap beer.
And don't miss Custard Cup for a treat.

KUFan2000 said:

Let me know if anyone has any lunch reco's for downtown Champaign. Our group is coming down early and making a day of it.

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My usual recommendation for "real" adults is anywhere in downtown Champaign (as FOTN mentioned) and Legends or Murphy's for on-campus. I prefer Murphy's for food (Dublin Burger might be my favorite burger in Champaign), but I prefer Legends for drinks. Obviously, there are the typical campus bars as well in Kams, Red Lion, and Joe's, but that'll be mainly students so it may not be your vibe (hence my "real" adults comment lol). Joe's is also the only one of those 3 that has food though, so Kams and Lion aren't really lunch options. Campustown itself beyond Legend's and Murphy's is a bit sparse as far as unique, local restaurants beyond the Asian places. A lot of typical fast food chains that appeal heavily to a post-bar or post-party crowd. If you move away from campus or downtown, you'll start getting into your typical fast casual, sit-down chains (Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Portillos etc). All well and good, but I'd recommend staying on campus or going downtown.

Lincster27 said:

I worked at the University of Nebraska at Omaha when Lance Leipold was an assistant coach under Pat Behrns. I worked with Lance a lot, because he was the recruiting coordinator and I was director of admissions. I always thought very highly of him, and I'm really happy to see him get his shot with a P4 program. You all landed a good one with him.

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That would be Sir Lance A Lot...

I do think that the national consensus has underestimated us. The offense might be really solid, and if the defense is really exceeding expectations (understanding that we were playing EIU...), then this really should be more of a field goal spread than a touchdown spread. I think it's probably not likely that we win, but I think there's a really good chance we surprise the country and show that we are a middle tier team in the B1G than a bottom tier.

I think this will be a big moment in Bret's tenure here. Bigger than the 9OT win over a overranked Penn State team. This is a sell out crowd vs a similarly built opponent, under the lights.

A loss doesn't break us but if we aren't competitive I would start to officially worry. If we can't get up for this game, what games would we get up for???

Ander1345 said:

I think this will be a big moment in Bret's tenure here. Bigger than the 9OT win over a overranked Penn State team. This is a sell out crowd vs a similarly built opponent, under the lights.

A loss doesn't break us but if we aren't competitive I would start to officially worry. If we can't get up for this game, what games would we get up for???

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Agreed. We have had too many of these games over the last 30 years where we came out and laid an egg. Need to show we are ready for these types of games as a program - win or lose. But hopefully a win!

so......

will brooks be playing?

Ander1345 said:

I think this will be a big moment in Bret's tenure here. Bigger than the 9OT win over a overranked Penn State team. This is a sell out crowd vs a similarly built opponent, under the lights.

A loss doesn't break us but if we aren't competitive I would start to officially worry. If we can't get up for this game, what games would we get up for???

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I could not agree more! As far as perception and momentum of the program goes, winning a HOME game vs. a ranked opponent EARLY in the season is just so important for us at this stage of the Bielema Era.

- 2021 was a gimme, and nearly making a bowl (how on Earth did we manage to not get to 6 wins that year, haha...) was a huge improvement, especially when you consider that we got two top 25 wins on the road. A very impressive debut for Bret, given the recent history of this program and where Lovie left us.
- 2022 was a smashing success, even with a subpar finish to the season. To take a 2-win team and get them into the top 25 and a New Year's Day Bowl in your second year is just straight-up impressive. At that point, BB had hit a homerun here, IMO.
- 2023 was our chance to prove it was not a fluke, even after losing all of that talent to the NFL and our DC to a head coaching job. I would argue last year's Big Noon Kickoff game vs. Penn State was an equally huge opportunity to make a statement for the program, but there are a few big differences that make this year's a bit different:

1. We have a sold out crowd compared to the under 50k we had vs. PSU last year. It will be essential to not re-teach all of these fans the same lesson that you cannot count on Illini football to not let you down when it looks like there is once again some hope.
2. You could reasonably make excuses for bumps in the road last year due to all of the changes in the offseason, as mentioned above. However, we showed real improvement throughout the year, and this is the year to prove that things have stabilized.
3. Our psyche as fans is in a much more optimistic and exciting place than when PSU came to town last year (evidenced by the sellout!). FCS opponent or not, coming off of a dominant shutout win just has folks feeling better than returning home from a butt whoopin' in Lawrence.
4. Revenge aspect. Whereas we had won on PSU's home field the last time we faced them, Kansas embarrassed us on national TV in our last matchup. We now have them coming into our house thinking they can do that again. This simply has to be about pride.

Win or lose, we can still make a bowl. However, I think for the overall "health" of this program, we have to put up a SERIOUS fight on Saturday night and look like a competent and competitive program that can play with anyone. Losing a hard-fought game allows us all to maintain hope that we can win enough Big Ten games to go bowling and maybe even upset Michigan depending on how overrated Michigan is or how underrated Kansas is. However, a win sends a loud and clear message that this program is continuing to take steps forward. And that vague notion is what keeps fans' enthusiasm up. We went 2-10 in 2006, but we still had big crowds ready to go in 2007 (well before we had beaten PSU or Wisconsin) because there was HOPE. We had a lot of talent, and we played almost everyone close the year before. Fans simply need hope, and so do recruits. Winning vs. KU gives our fans a LOT of hope that things have finally changed for Illini football!

PleaseMakeABowlGame said:

so......

will brooks be playing?

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He's available

FloridaMan said:

Agreed. We have had too many of these games over the last 30 years where we came out and laid an egg. Need to show we are ready for these types of games as a program - win or lose. But hopefully a win!

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I was born in 1991, so the first season I remember at all was 2002, and the first season I remember really following every game was 2006. Just looking back ... these were some particularly painful missed opportunities to take huge steps forward as a program, ranging from barely missing out on a huge goal (e.g., losing to Michigan at home in 2007 and costing us a Big Ten Championship) to pivotal moments that caused us to slide back into cellar dweller status. Limiting it to home games (with one exception in St. Louis), since those are the true "lay an egg" games in front of our own fans.

2007: L 27-17 vs. #24 Michigan. We had just entered the top 25 only to lose a stinker 10-6 game at unranked Iowa the week before. We hosted Michigan in primetime on ABC, and we needed this win badly. While the win at #1 OSU ended up making up for this one and a trip to the Rose Bowl makes any season a smashing success, this one REALLY stung at the time, and looking back it could have allowed us to hang a Big Ten Championship banner.

2008: L 27-20 vs. Minnesota. This is the day the Rose Bowl momentum went on life support, IMO. We fell out of the top 25 after a loss at #12 Penn State, but then we turned around and won 45-20 vs. Michigan in the Big House. We stood at 3-2 with a string of winnable games in front of us. Losing to Minnesota dropped us to 3-3, and we wouldn't win back-to-back games for over a calendar year...

2009: L 37-9 vs. Missouri (St. Louis, MO). Mizzou lost a lot from a great 2008 team and entered the season unranked. After a disappointing 2008 season, we returned a ton of talent, and I remember that optimism was high. We got demolished yet again in St. Louis, and I think this was the moment we officially began the "Late Zook Era."

2011: L 7-17 vs. Ohio State. We entered this game 6-0 and ranked #16 and played an unranked, post-sanctions OSU team that was 3-3. It was a "Stripeout Game," and we let OSU manhandle us on national television to begin our 6-game losing streak and Ron Zook's eventual firing. I felt like we retained a certain level of respect during the 2009-2011 period as that program that had a ton of talent and you had to look out for, even if Ron Zook's coaching might shoot us in the foot. The 6-game losing streak to close out 2011 officially sent us into the Beckman Era and a return to joke status.

2014: L 38-27 vs. Purdue. This seems like an odd pick, but I distinctly remember thinking we HAD to win this game vs. a comparable program at home. It was Beckman's third season, and we had to show some progress sitting at 3-2. Win this one and we are 4-2 with theoretically winnable Big Ten home games on the schedule. We would end up bowling that year, but we would be killed by Louisiana Tech in our bowl, and the years that followed would be even worse.

2016: L 48-23 vs. North Carolina. Lovie's first season and our most recent sellout. In an eerily similar situation to this year, we demolished a small school at home in week one, and we welcomed another Power Five opponent to a sold out Memorial Stadium at night. Even if we would have lost, we needed to show that we could put up a fight. We'd proceed to lose 34-10 to Western Michigan the following week and set the tone for the Lovie Era, IMO.

2021: L 20-14 vs. Rutgers. The stakes were lower here, but we had just knocked off #7 Penn State on the road in Bret's first season to move our record to 3-5 after starting off 1-4. After such a huge win on the road and bowl eligibility in sight, you HAVE to beat Rutgers at home. While I love what BB has done with the program, bowling in that first year might have made a crucial incremental difference for our 2022 team ... who knows?

2022: L 23-15 vs. Michigan State. 7-1, ranked #16 and riding high. A win clinches the Big Ten West. Playing in front of our biggest crowd in several years. Faceplant vs. a bad MSU team.

2022: L 31-24 vs. Purdue. Still in the top 25, still 7-2 and still with a chance to win a trip to Indy. Another faceplant. What a tragic twist to such a memorable and great 2022 season!

2023: L 30-13 vs. #7 Penn State. We traveled down from Chicago for this one, and I was so excited. Even with the bummer that was the KU loss the previous week, we still felt some buzz for this one! A Big Noon Kickoff matchup vs. a top 10 team? We wouldn't have even gotten that timeslot without our 2022 season ... this was a chance to show the college football world that we were here to stay, at LEAST as a competitive program that could lose a close one. 5 interceptions later, and we were getting smoked.

2023: L 25-21 vs. Wisconsin. Every loss before this still left some hope, especially after we beat Maryland on the road. However, with BB's former employer coming to our house on Homecoming and a legitimate chance to still win the Big Ten West and rectify last year's tragic miss on that front? We blew a huge second half lead in front of yet another huge home crowd. While we scored a nice win at Minnesota the next week, we officially left no room for error after this loss, and it would prove crucial when close losses to Iowa and Northwestern at the end of the year kept us out of a bowl.

I see us in a similar situation as in 2009 right now. Last year was our 2008 where we sort of "blew it" with the momentum we had from the previous season. However, we still have a chance to maintain a certain "high floor" that has been newly established. To me personally as a fan, winning this game breaks our 30-year pattern of a good season followed by a letdown followed by an official slide back into the cellar followed by starting over. We have seen it too many times. Winning here shows that we didn't ride some Chase Brown and Crew high for as long as we could, and now we are same ole Illinois.