You could've just ended it with "we could all be Jets fans." No further explanation was necessary.
Pregame: Illinois vs Penn State, Saturday, September 16th, 11:00am CT, FOX
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We had only approx 40 yards rushing in the first half . . . before falling into the deep hole.
Did you happen to forget about a guy named newton?
It absolutely is a positive. He's by far the most exciting play by play guy in the business and could make watching paint dry entertaining. Incredible commentator, and well loved by just about everyone. To each their own, I guess.
That is a positive? I have to hit mute on almost all his calls. Good news is that I will sync Illini radio to television.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
based on his play on the field so far this season , no I don’t think he’s shown it .
BZuppke
- Plainfield
Prepare to be surprised Saturday you doom and gloomers. Anyone who thought we’d ‘smoke’ Kansas has an unrealistic impression about Kansas. They are a very good team and will make noise in the Big XII. Toledo will most likely win the MAC.
PSU is good but how good? They scored 63 on Delaware? Wow. They play a much more traditional offense and do not have an experienced QB.
We’ll see how things go Saturday but the defensive line’s talent didn’t disappear. The law firm will still be playing on sundays next year.
Saturday is on the coaching staff to have them prepared to play. If we don’t get in an early hole, cut down on mistakes and penalties, it will be an interesting game.
PSU is good but how good? They scored 63 on Delaware? Wow. They play a much more traditional offense and do not have an experienced QB.
We’ll see how things go Saturday but the defensive line’s talent didn’t disappear. The law firm will still be playing on sundays next year.
Saturday is on the coaching staff to have them prepared to play. If we don’t get in an early hole, cut down on mistakes and penalties, it will be an interesting game.
I'll continue smoking my copium and say we faced two qbs who present horrendous match ups for us. Fix some of the stupid penalties, simplify the defensive scheme and who knows what happens when we get in to the B10 slugfest.
Still worried about the o-line though...
Still worried about the o-line though...
My guess is a Penn State win 28 to 13. They have more overall talent than the Illinois, have played smarter and have been more prepared than Illinois. Plus their coaching staff has been with the team for 9 years instead of 3. I believe in Coach B and his group, but if we switched it and Penn State staff was there on only year 3 of rebuilding vs a successful 10 year stint by the Illinois staff, I would pick the Illini to win. I just hope we don't get injuries to key players. If Newton, Altmeyer or Williams go down with a major injury, our year is sunk.
Cut the penalties and cutesy play calling and even that Kansas game is close. Keep contain on the QB and things get very interesting very quickly.
The problem is I don’t think all of that is just fixable in an 8 day timespan. The silver lining here is that if you lose by 40 to PSU you aren’t much more behind the eight ball.
I’d like to see a cleaner game. Obviously I’d take a win over anything, but cleaning up some fundamental things would do a lot to quell my consents about this team.
I hope we win. It'd be so frustrating to have all the momentum from last year then lose it this year
Cut the penalties out of both games and Toledo likely turns into a small blowout in our favor and Kansas becomes a tight game and probably a tossup with the outcome dependent on who gets the ball when relative to the time on the clock. Tbh with how many people on here were misguided and convinced we'd smoke Kansas, I'm not so sure a close win vs Kansas would stop many of the posters in here from giving up on the whole season as they seemingly have.
I wanted to clarify my previous comment. Yes I was delusional in thinking we’d smoke Kansas. When I stated that I wouldn’t get sucked in again, I meant that in reference to the PSU game. I still believe we’ll win 6-7 games and I haven’t given up on the season. I’ll be in the horseshoe on Saturday. I’ll just be doing my best to just enjoy the game instead of being obsessed with winning.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
What's frustrating is it is the approval of the CASUAL fan - and perhaps even the "lapsed" fan (i.e., someone who might "like the Illini" but has stopped following our football program over the last several years - that we need onboard to truly build on last year. And starting 1-2 right before the weather turns colder might just keep some fans who are on the fence away from Memorial Stadium, and improved attendance is something we desperately need as a program, IMO.
There is absolutely a realistic scenario where Toledo is good, Kansas is good and PSU is elite, and our 1-2 start doesn't prohibit us from an 8-win season! However, I think if we get blown out Saturday, a lot of people will sort of doom this season to a "step back," even if we string together some wins in the Big Ten West. Most die-hards will see the significance of back-to-back bowl seasons, but they're already onboard; we need to continue to build our brand with lapsed alumni and instate fans who don't want to invest unless it appears "for real." And I think to not lose ground here, we have to at least come out fired up and give PSU a game - win or lose. Playing Penn State to the wire in front of a raucous crowd (and the game will NEED to be somewhat close if the crowd is to be a factor!) is not a bad look, even if we lose. But a blowout might sink momentum for this season.
Needless to say, a win totally flips the script!
Yeah, I don't think we should go full sky is falling yet or get overly dramatic, but I do think in many ways this is a make or break season for us. While I think a 1-2 start isn't necessarily devastating, I do think we really need to be battling for the Western Division title this year to start getting more buy in from the casuals. 6 wins isn't going to do it, and even 7 might not despite 7 meaning the first back to back seasons with winning regular season records in 33years! 8 wins in a historically bad West is the bar we need to clear in my opinion.
And the reason I say that is not only will fans not see this season as a step back if we hit at least 8 wins, but next year's schedule is likely going to be beyond brutal, where even getting to 6 wins will be tough. This year is a golden opportunity for us, and I just hope we can figure things out to take advantage of it.
The computers are fading us hard right now. Early predictive models suggesting PSU by 19.5 and to stay away from the O/U. A 5pt difference from the line is pretty gigantic. Hopefully this is a case of Vegas knows something...
I’m not in sky is falling stage just yet either.
KU returned almost all of their offensive production from last year, has a dynamic pre-season POY at quarterback. That’s as close to a well oiled machine as you’re going to see at this point in the CFB season. And their offense is built around misdirection to stress defenses, particularly defenses that are still coming together as a group, which we are. Throw in the fact that it was our first road game and I’m not surprised we struggled.
The offense has me optimistic. We were able to run the ball at KU. Altmeyer looks like the real deal and I think has only made one real mistake with his arm which is actually kind of an amazing given his experience. And at a minimum he’s mobile enough to keep defenses honest. We should continue to improve in the passing game and actually be able to keep defenses pretty off balance ourselves operating out of an RPO. We just need right tackle to not be terrible.
I think the defense will look better and the offense will continue to improve. I still think we get to 6-7 wins, maybe 8 if things click right.
KU returned almost all of their offensive production from last year, has a dynamic pre-season POY at quarterback. That’s as close to a well oiled machine as you’re going to see at this point in the CFB season. And their offense is built around misdirection to stress defenses, particularly defenses that are still coming together as a group, which we are. Throw in the fact that it was our first road game and I’m not surprised we struggled.
The offense has me optimistic. We were able to run the ball at KU. Altmeyer looks like the real deal and I think has only made one real mistake with his arm which is actually kind of an amazing given his experience. And at a minimum he’s mobile enough to keep defenses honest. We should continue to improve in the passing game and actually be able to keep defenses pretty off balance ourselves operating out of an RPO. We just need right tackle to not be terrible.
I think the defense will look better and the offense will continue to improve. I still think we get to 6-7 wins, maybe 8 if things click right.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Attended the KU game in-person, and it was extremely difficult to sit through. U-G-L-Y. As for this week, I'm buying into the philosophy that "you're never truly as bad as your worst loss." Predicting the boisterous home crowd will spurr us on to a much better performance. And BB will tighten up the sloppiness.
27 PSU
17 ILL
(Note: I'm 2-0 in predicting W/L; 1-1 in predicting against the spread.)
27 PSU
17 ILL
(Note: I'm 2-0 in predicting W/L; 1-1 in predicting against the spread.)
As someone who has been a longtime Illini fan, I have grown more curious of whether or not a lot of our problems are really just a practice issue. When you hear the coaches talk and you always hear the "hype" of how great we look in practice...football or basketball, maybe our defense plays just like it did the first half against Kansas at practice so our offense "looks sharp". Obviously that works the same way, maybe the defense has looked great at practice because our O line sucks and they are not improving because our D line seems to be going at about 70% . I guess my point is maybe we are not better because the offense/defense team(s) don't have enough talent on both sides to make each other better. They get away with not having to go 100% and it translates onto the field. I am hoping basketball this year will be better just because of that reason....better practice competition which should lead to harder effort which we hope continues onto the court.
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