I'm in the just win crowd for this one. It is very rare for a team to lose by over 30pts in conference play and not have a bounceback game no matter how poor of a season they've had thus far. It's also fairly common for a team playing a bad opponent the week before a huge season defining game to come out lackluster if at all and sleepwalk through the first half. While I sincerely hope that doesn't happen, at this point, all I care about is we get out of this one with a win and everyone stays healthy. Would I love to see us win by 20? Sure. But I will gladly accept winning by 2 even if it's ugly. Just win. That's all.
As for Card not playing, he's a really good quarterback so expecting a freshman to come in and go all Mertz on us seems unlikely and we should expect falloff. What does worry me though is if Purdue knowing Card isn't out there changes their offense to primarily a run game and we have difficulty stopping it. That could possibly make for a tighter game than if Card was out there and they're throwing every down. As such,
I've got:
Illinois: 31
Purdue: 20
Just win.
As for Card not playing, he's a really good quarterback so expecting a freshman to come in and go all Mertz on us seems unlikely and we should expect falloff. What does worry me though is if Purdue knowing Card isn't out there changes their offense to primarily a run game and we have difficulty stopping it. That could possibly make for a tighter game than if Card was out there and they're throwing every down. As such,
I've got:
Illinois: 31
Purdue: 20
Just win.
