Interestingly, the East Balcony for this game appears to be a little more undersold than for Wisconsin last year. The Horseshoe is a little more oversold. Attendance may end up about the same, but that might not help for your optical sellout.
Pregame: Illinois vs Purdue, Saturday, October 12th, 2:30pm CT, FS1
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Throw the kitchen sink against the new qb. Early I would blitz him from different positions. If he is a good runner put a spy on him. I would think Pu would use max protection for him. Go Illini.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
The thing about blitzing is that even though it's a challenge and takes away time, it also simplifies the game. You have to get the ball out to one of your first reads and you're going to be looking at man coverage almost always against the blitz (adding a spy reduces the complexity the offense is facing even further). And it makes you vulnerable to both designed runs and the QB scrambling which this kid is capable of and will be looking to do. It plays into the hands of the limited tools Purdue has, imho.
Ryan Walters is a Power Five head coach based on the strength of dropping 8 into coverage being a riddle most college QB's can't solve.
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Browne started against NW last year. He only threw 16 passes, mostly to running backs. Purdue ran for 303 yards against NW, losing 23-15.
High school coordinator, backup qb. Be ready for massive doses of Mockabee and Love. 8 in the box, please.
High school coordinator, backup qb. Be ready for massive doses of Mockabee and Love. 8 in the box, please.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I'm curious what your historic stats look like for Friday/Saturday (i.e., "last minute") sales? While those are probably never that numerous, I would speculate that they actually vary pretty wildly from game to game depending on weather and game time. For example (with TOTALLY made up numbers), maybe only 200 extra people buy tickets on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning for an 11:00 am game in late November, but 800+ do the same for a 2:30 pm game in October with perfect weather.
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
It would have already been infuriating if we lost this one a couple of weeks ago. Now, after they promoted a high school coach to OC and lost their starting quarterback, this would be a soul-crushing, shut-the-program-down situation. There is absolutely no excuse.
Coach Kill is an awesome guy. And a hell of a coach. Will always cheer for his team except when they play the beloved.
I've been following him since SIU; the man just wins; it's pretty incredible.
Too bad we didn't get him to make a run here, that said, I think we finally have our guy for the first time since Mackovic.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I'm sure there's plenty of cope pretending PJ Fleck isn't incredibly obnoxious and itching for a better job the second it goes well enough, but you can be sure that deep in their hearts Minny fans know they had their Fry/Alvarez and his unfortunate health problems stole him away.
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
With Browne in they are going to be similar to Michigan with Orji at QB. Load up the box and make them pass, then on offense I'd air it out (a bit) to maximize our possessions.
Based on history, I'm nervous.
Based on what I've seen this year, I'm confident we will win fairly comfortably.
We have the right staff and players to finally get us to that next, 6-8 win every year level and grow from there. Our guys went into a crazy Penn State environment against a team with much, much more 'talent' and 'athletic ability' and had a chance to tie it up late in the fourth (and should have taken the lead going into halftime). They had opportunities to win that game despite getting pushed around and stuffed on the ground.
They will be up to the challenge tomorrow.
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
They will play like Northwestern 2019, I think we have to coaching staff for a different result tho, I hope. We need this game so badly, and I'll stop being nervous til after the final whistle blows, hopefully with a win.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Not only that, I will get a bit greedy ... if we don't come out and punch them in the mouth (i.e., this one isn't scary...), I will be very concerned. I know some might disagree and say "A win is a win" ... but I think a close game of any kind insinuates at least one of the following:
1. We are NOWHERE near as good as we hoped.
2. This team took Purdue lightly and didn't come prepared, even with an embarrassing losing streak and our former DC coaching against us and sitting at 1-4.
We need to win this game easily and go into the Michigan game confident, especially after having a bye week last week.
EDIT: I would struggle to find a more devastating loss for the trajectory of the Illini program in my lifetime, and I am not being hyperbolic.
- No single loss in 2023 caused THAT much devastation by itself.
- Sure, the 2022 loss to Purdue cost us a Big Ten West title, but that very Purdue team won the Big Ten West. They weren't terrible.
- The 2022 MSU loss was also a massive letdown, but we were still 7-2 and had the chance to clinch the division at home the very next week vs. a team (Purdue) that we should beat.
- Was anyone optimistic enough in 2021 to be truly "crushed" by a loss??
- We were bad enough from 2012-2020 that there was never enough pressure on a single game, IMO.
- 2009 was such a blur of bewildering letdown given our talent, but you really cannot put a ton of blame on one loss.
- 2008 had a lot of massive letdowns, but the fact is we were treading water simply for a 6-6 record ... being 5-1 with multiple winnable games left was never on the table.
- The 2007 loss at Iowa was rough sitting at 4-1, but it was a road game in a tough environment. Additionally, the crushing loss to Michigan at home the next week was still to a team that started the season in the top 5 and won the Citrus Bowl ... zero shame.
- Similarly to 2012-2020, 2003-2006 was just too awful to have a "devastating loss" in just one game, lol.
- 2002 was a VERY frustrating season coming off of a Sugar Bowl appearance, but 5 of our 7 losses came before October 4th, lol ... we actually finished the season shockingly strong!
- 2001 is the first season I can really remember, and no loss was a real gut punch, IMO. Did it suck to lose to Michigan? I imagine, sure. However, we ran the table after that and won the Big Ten.
TL;DR
Losing to Purdue on Saturday would be the kind of crushing disappointment that actually makes all of the heartache I have experienced as a relatively young (32) Illini fan seem like child's play ... DO NOT LOSE THIS GAME.
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
My money is on Purdue coming out with their hair on fire and playing with anger and frustration and taking an early lead.
Then there's a moment where that sugar high fades a bit and us, the better team, punches back.
If we are actually a good team the dam breaks, the roof caves in, and we run away from them in the second half (exactly what Nebraska and Wisconsin did)
If we're a fraud propped up by luck and game sequencing (no one would care if we beat Kansas now) that has the bottom-of-the-conference talent the rankings say we do, there will be another swing back toward them and the battle will begin.
And if we're a fraud the season-long implications get scary fast.
This game terrifies me.
Then there's a moment where that sugar high fades a bit and us, the better team, punches back.
If we are actually a good team the dam breaks, the roof caves in, and we run away from them in the second half (exactly what Nebraska and Wisconsin did)
If we're a fraud propped up by luck and game sequencing (no one would care if we beat Kansas now) that has the bottom-of-the-conference talent the rankings say we do, there will be another swing back toward them and the battle will begin.
And if we're a fraud the season-long implications get scary fast.
This game terrifies me.
Perfect example. Wacky and fun season, but that team proved what it was that day.
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
We are much better and I think much better coached than that 2019 team, who probably should've won just 4 games, they lost to Eastern Michigan at home.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I have fond memories of that crazy 4-game winning streak that ended with a pretty hard-fought loss in Iowa City, but you're right ... that team showed its true colors outside of those four weeks, haha. Losing to Eastern Michigan at home and letting Northwestern dog walk us at home to end the season was probably that squad's true identity. I mean, taking a (somewhat unfairly) pessimistic look at that winning streak...
1. Needed a LOT of lucky breaks to pull off one of the biggest upsets in college football history vs. #6 Wisconsin. I remember some crazy stat about UW's awful clock management, too, where they left an insane number of seconds on the clock for like four straight drives that allowed us to squeak out that win, haha.
2. Beat a Purdue team that was 2-5 at the time.
3. Beat a Rutgers team at home that would finish 2-10.
4. Needed one of the most ridiculous miracle comebacks I have ever seen to beat a 4-4 MSU team by 3 points.
Again ... not trying to take away from how fun the ride was at times. However, anyone who believed that was a ray of hope for Lovie as head coach (admittedly, I probably convinced myself there was hope!) was mistaken, haha.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
The craziest thing about the Illini win vs Wisconsin was that the -30 spread was more points than what Wisconsin scored the entire game. Wisconsin really controlled the game but shot themselves in the foot multiple times. I remember thinking 30 point spread was insane at the time, as I strongly felt that Wisconsin would be looking forward to the game in Columbus the next week. Never actually thought Illinois would win though. That mirage win gave the false sense of the program turning in the right direction, when it was really Wisconsin's blunder.
Moral of story: Do not take anyone lightly and look forward to the next week. Pound Purdue tomorrow!
did he play for Gil Thorpe ?
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
2019 Northwestern is a good comp for a potential game script. Also could see a 2022 Nebraska offense where Haarberg worked as a battery ram.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2023-10-06-illinois.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2023-10-06-illinois.html
This was a good call.
I was at that NW game sitting by, I think, the goofiest guy ever. He had all Notre Dame gear on, and it was just me and him sitting in the freezing rain with basically nobody around. It was gross out there and there was no hope for a passing game. He started by saying he cheers for Notre Dame since NW never gives them anything. Ended the day muttering to himself “I think we’ve finally got a quarterback.” Like, in disbelief that Andrew Marty was gonna save NW lol
But yes, this game terrifies me too. Pre-season I picked this as a letdown game that feels about as heartbreakingly Illinois as possible. We’re looking forward to Michigan and we think this’ll be a win. Ryan Walters just wipes the floor with us and is *just as smug as he can be*, pumping his fists at interceptions and sacks, acting like he’s the reason we were ever any good. And we just have to … live with it. We doubt for a full seven days if we actually mean anything.
…
Then we beat Michigan, and we end 8-4, and it feels good.
…
But tomorrow hurts. I’ve seen this too much. I know how Memorial Stadium gets at the slightest whiff of the carriage inevitably turning back into the pumpkin. Illinois thinks they’re good right now. We all think this is trending in the right direction. BUT. This is the kind of nervous energy that turns into a full-on breakdown immediately if we let them get up/bust a few big plays early.
I am nervous. I want a win badly, and I do expect one, but it tells a lot that finding out Hudson Card isn’t playing scared me for the unknown. “What if this redshirt freshman Mertz’s us” is what I thought too. I’m nervous as heck.
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