It was very doable throughout the morning last time. It’s a big space. Plan on it.
Pregame: Illinois vs Ohio State, Saturday, October 11th, 11:00am CT, FOX
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Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
FWIW, this was Grange Grove for a random Homecoming game vs. Wisconsin in a year that we sucked ... I think someone might have been playing at the stage that was interesting, so a decent gauge for the Big Noon setup:
And these are some overhead shots of more generic home games in the last few years where crowds have picked up, some scenes more full than others:
And these are the only photos I can find from when Big Noon was here for the USC game:
The TL;DR is that with it being a perfect day and even more hyped game, I am sure the south side of Grange Grove will be packed early in the day. However, the north end should have enough room to walk around with a family, and it's worth remembering that the stage packs up and moves inside the stadium at like 10:00 am or something!
blackdog
- Champaign
There was a lot of energy but nothing wild or crazy that you couldn't bring a kid too. There were plenty of people even by the stage area that had kids on shoulders.
Washington kept OSU to 24 points, which is definitely better than 40 the 42 allowed by Minnesota. And they only forced OSU to punt once, and only turned OSU over once. Minnesota forced OSU to punt twice, but gave up a ton more points. One thing Washington did that Minnesota did not, which helped keep OSU's score down is they limited the number of opportunities OSU had to score by limiting possessions. Minnesota had tons of 3-and-outs. Washington did not. They had some good sustained drives. Another difference was that Minnesota gave up big plays, and allowed OSU to score fast. Washington didn't. In fact, Washington did not give up a single 20+ yard play. Minnesota gave up plays of 29, 31, 33, 44, 48, 49 yards.
So to have any chance to win this game, we need to do what Washington did, which is sustain drives on offense, and avoid big chunk plays resulting in quick scores on defense. We don't necessarily need the home run play on offense - just keep the drive alive. We don't necessarily need sacks or turnovers on defense - bend not break is fine. Then we have to do the one all-important thing Washington did not do, which is make sure to cap off those drives with points.
The area around the Fox setup was pretty packed last week, but the rest of Grange Grove wasn't too bad. As Fighter said they moved inside at 10:00 and a lot of people cleared out after that. Keep in mind they do have stuff for young kids in GG; bounce houses, face painting, they can try on Illini helmets and pads, makes for some good photos.
Don't disagree but the Grange race is pretty clever to be fair. The thing about traditions is they take time.... just gotta keep people invested in the team by winning a solid majority of our games.
It’s been growing on me. Occasionally the challenger wins, despite Red’s handicap.
Personally, the little gopher video always makes my day.
Do they have a different Red Grange this year? The kid this year doesn't look as tall and lanky as the one from last year. He's still fast though!
BZuppke
- Plainfield
There’s a cool story from one of our former band directors who was a Michigan grad from the 1960s. The UM band was coming to Champaign for the game and the director was telling the kids ‘now you’re going to see one of the great traditions in college football at halftime when the Chief comes out’. One band member raised his hand and asked: ‘is it like dotting the I?’ The band director responded ‘Son. This is no gimmick!’
. Beat the buckeyes! Claim the turtle!!Dan
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No I agree I like the race it's just funny his favorite tradition is something that we started a few years ago.
blackdog
- Champaign
Its always been a student who plays Red Grange, I believe they pick someone from the club track and field team.
This is the key. I think the idea in general was cool. Maybe when it was used more as a sort of beginning of a hype up or something. On a big 3rd and 1? No.
Lot of things we could do like a 3rd quarter jump around type tradition - why not REO Speedwagon? Would also be nice to have a real 3rd down defense song the band is blasting like Georgia does with Dies Irae. Don’t think it would be hard to start something new that connects to our history and given that the NCAA gutted some of our best traditions, now would be a good time to start new ones.
I have performed the Three-in-One dozens of times since the 80s as a MI and Alumni Band member. I've watched it from the stands even more times since graduating. It saddens me to say this, but without The Chief, IMO it is nothing special.
I know it’s such a little thing but I’m so happy they are giving out towels for this game. Anything to enhance the environment and an easy way to get the crowd more involved is a positive in my book..
Update to an old tradition... why not have 'Red Grange' do the Chief dance?
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
That is a valid opinion, but I think the more relevant question is do we have anything as special, let alone more special?? I think the sad answer is no! As I also said, we have made the bewildering decision to not get within 100 yards of the Memorial Stadium/"Fighting Illini" military connection since the Chief was retired, and the result has been a predictably "soulless" feel to our sports brand. It's not difficult at all to imagine a "can't miss" pregame ceremony of sorts where veterans and current military are honored every halftime at Memorial Stadium through a really cool and reverent ceremony that involves something like a firing of rifles at the end or something. Thank God that "Illini" and especially "Fighting Illini" are just objectively badass names, as they help this not be too bad!
I'm not trying to knock our beloved Illini, by the way ... everyone here, alum or not, bleeds orange and blue. We love the team and school, and we will never apologize for that! However, there is objective value in having other people think our brand is cool. Even people who hate the Cubs often have great things to say about their trips to Wrigley ... Memorial Stadium could and SHOULD enjoy at least a fraction of that reputation, given how unique and historic it is. We need something that promotes that a lot better, whether it's the Three-in-One or something else (assuming, almost certainly correctly, that a return of the Chief is just simply impossible). The sad truth is that we have the tools (i.e., the stadium and its backstory, plus now a good program!!), and yet it often seems people feel our gameday experience lacks "vibe." That is our fault.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Back to the game, lol. I know some folks love their rankings and predictive analytics and whatnot, but sometimes there is real value in looking at things from more of a subjective or "gut" perspective. So, with that in mind, I put forth two questions:
1) For our game in Bloomington, if we played like we did vs. USC and Indiana played like it did vs. Iowa ... what's the result?
2) If we can have an improved version of our performance vs. USC on Saturday and OSU has a bit of an off game ... what sort of chance do we have?
I think these two questions help me (A) not have blind faith but also (B) make the somewhat reasonable assumption that the Indiana loss was sort of a fluke and shouldn't cause us to be too pessimistic going forward.
1) Regarding that first point, let's remember that those goal line fumbles (one of which wasn't a fumble...) made a huge difference in the outcome of the USC game. If Feagin doesn't fumble, a 14-10 Illini lead at halftime is very likely 21-7, which then becomes 24-7 early in the third quarter. The second fumble (which was legit) flipped the scrip from it being 38-25 Illini with just 3 minutes to go (and 45-22 without the first fumble!!) to the nail biter we saw. All this is to say, I really felt we played well vs. USC (especially considering what a good offense they have), and I think we were simply the better team that day. I think if we were healthy and brought that kind of effort to Bloomington, Indiana never gets on the roll that they do (and we correspondingly never collapse), and that game is much closer. Do we win?? That's a huge stretch, as you can't just take Indiana's impressive performance away from them.
2) For the second point, I'll keep it a little simpler.
---> Illini play like they did vs. Purdue and OSU plays its "usual," and we get blown out.
---> Illini play like they did vs. USC and OSU plays its "usual," and a close game early gets away from us late for a multi-score loss.
---> Illini play like they did vs. USC and OSU has a bit of an off game, and it's a close game for most of it, with OSU's talent and superior defense putting us away late.
---> Illini play better than they did vs. USC and OSU has a bit of an off game, and we truly have a chance late ... but it will take some luck.
In other words, our odds on paper are not great. However, I do think Bret is right and has reason for optimism in recognizing that we have not put it all together for any one game yet this year ... why not Saturday??
1) For our game in Bloomington, if we played like we did vs. USC and Indiana played like it did vs. Iowa ... what's the result?
2) If we can have an improved version of our performance vs. USC on Saturday and OSU has a bit of an off game ... what sort of chance do we have?
I think these two questions help me (A) not have blind faith but also (B) make the somewhat reasonable assumption that the Indiana loss was sort of a fluke and shouldn't cause us to be too pessimistic going forward.
1) Regarding that first point, let's remember that those goal line fumbles (one of which wasn't a fumble...) made a huge difference in the outcome of the USC game. If Feagin doesn't fumble, a 14-10 Illini lead at halftime is very likely 21-7, which then becomes 24-7 early in the third quarter. The second fumble (which was legit) flipped the scrip from it being 38-25 Illini with just 3 minutes to go (and 45-22 without the first fumble!!) to the nail biter we saw. All this is to say, I really felt we played well vs. USC (especially considering what a good offense they have), and I think we were simply the better team that day. I think if we were healthy and brought that kind of effort to Bloomington, Indiana never gets on the roll that they do (and we correspondingly never collapse), and that game is much closer. Do we win?? That's a huge stretch, as you can't just take Indiana's impressive performance away from them.
2) For the second point, I'll keep it a little simpler.
---> Illini play like they did vs. Purdue and OSU plays its "usual," and we get blown out.
---> Illini play like they did vs. USC and OSU plays its "usual," and a close game early gets away from us late for a multi-score loss.
---> Illini play like they did vs. USC and OSU has a bit of an off game, and it's a close game for most of it, with OSU's talent and superior defense putting us away late.
---> Illini play better than they did vs. USC and OSU has a bit of an off game, and we truly have a chance late ... but it will take some luck.
In other words, our odds on paper are not great. However, I do think Bret is right and has reason for optimism in recognizing that we have not put it all together for any one game yet this year ... why not Saturday??
I have a good idea for someone going to the Kickoff show. They're encouraging signs, so why not take one that says something along the lines of "Thanks, Dan. Illinois Loyalty FTW!"
It'll show appreciation and drive more fans to this site.
It'll show appreciation and drive more fans to this site.
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