Thank you...
Pregame: Illinois vs Rutgers, Saturday, November 1st, 11:00am CT, NBC
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maybe I'm deranged, but if we can replicate Iowa's success, I will be ecstatic
Very clear he wasn’t ready and it doesn’t sound like he has a clear game plan to get the defense back on track, I expect him gone after the season.
Replicating Iowa's success means being competitive in our losses.
Look at how Iowa handled Indiana, heck look at how Michigan State handled Indiana!
Go watch the Maryland vs. Washington game from early October too. You're telling me we can't even be as competitive as MSU and MD against similar teams??
For the last time, if we hadn't been embarrassed in these two losses, the fan perspective would be much different right now.
I and many others would be ecstatic with 8-4 and competitive losses much like the 2022 season. Regardless of record, why have we regressed from there?
I watched Jacas for much of the game and could not believe that Henry didn’t even try to exploit him against Washington’s 2nd string LT and 3rd string TEs. Looked like he was instructed to simply contain.
To me, it’s not THAT we lost to Indiana, OSU and Washington, it’s the WAY we lost — with the defense getting gashed and looking completely not competitive. Three close, competitive losses still would have been a bummer, but aggravating in a much different way.
Bret preaches “smart/tough/dependable.” The defensive side of the ball hasn’t been that. Big problem.
Bret preaches “smart/tough/dependable.” The defensive side of the ball hasn’t been that. Big problem.
We talk about recruiting and the portal quite a bit, but it seems we don't discuss returning/current player development as much as we should. Probably not suited to be its own thread, but I think it needs to be brought up because I'm just not seeing enough player development across the roster, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, to take the team to a higher winning level. It's disappointing given how many players we had coming back and now, 8 games in, so many of them seemed to have not taken another step in their development. Thoughts?
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
1981 to 1990 (which encompasses all but 2 of the Mike White & John Mackavic years) we had 68 wins, for an average of 6.8/season. That was the era of the 11-game regular season and potentially a bowl invitation.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Is your comment intended to encompass the entirety of Bret's tenure in Champaign, or just the 8 games played so far this season?
If the former, I think your comment is inaccurate. If the latter, I tend to agree with your assertion --- but the 4-1/2 seasons trump the last 8 games. I think he's earned the benefit of the doubt.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Laughing that we claimed that decade belonged to us, while averaging (less than) 7-4 seasons. Yet similar results today (8-4 Iowa-ish) some find lacking.
That’s exactly how I see it. Jacas has gone from a possible late 1 early 2 to a 4th rounder.
PizzaHutParkingLot
- Vodice, Croatia
I think you can simultaneously be happy with the growth of the program & upset about how the season has gone
(For the record, I’m cool with being new Iowa & being in the running for the CFB Playoff every 2-3 years)
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I think it may be as simple as Midwest teams flying across the country to the West Coast don't often play that well. The same goes for our new conference members flying east. There are obvious exceptions like Oregon and Ohio State, which are power houses. Washington has had some trouble traveling these past two years. Look at USC, who I think is pretty good, got shoved around by the Illini and Notre Dame. I wasn't optimistic at all about Illinois winning last Saturday, I figured it would probably be by at least 10 points.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I didn't really think they got "gashed" by OSU, and I thought they matched their physicality, which was good. I'm with you that Indiana and Washington were very poor performances, which is stating the obvious.
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
You say we should win every game you score 33 points in. That's what we have done this year, no?
Wins (all greater than 33)
52-3 Western
45-19 Duke
38-0 W Michigan
34-32 USC
43-27 Purdue
Losses (all much less than 33)
10-63 IU
16-34 OSU
25-42 UW
Serious Late
- Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
Iowa lost 2 games to sub-.500 teams last year. We haven't lost to a team with a below .500 record in over 750 days.
We haven't lost a game as a favorite since the '23 season. We have won 5 games as underdogs in that time frame. That's incredible.
It is so awesome that we are in a spot some folks are griping about us relative to Iowa, or getting mad that we aren't better than the one team that has gone nuclear the last 2 years. What an awesome place we are in that those are the complaints vs. what we all have dealt with most of our lives.
Doing this like75% of the time at least gives you a CHANCE. Make them beat you, don't fall back and take it as a given.
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
It’s the Bend and Break defense, a twist on the Bend but Don’t Break defense.
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
No, I want a championship. 8 wins a year wont cut it. If that is then bar, then we have a different idea on what the bar should be. I want to compete for the playoffs every year. We can do that but it will take Bret to change his philosophy of ball control slow running plays offense. We need a dynamic OC who will open the playbook and put pressure on the opposing D. A high energy DC who will rush more than 3 and who will play at bump and run defense in which we occasionally blitz. Henry is completely scared and play us a weak zone that a good HS team could figure out. We need a complete staff overhaul except for Stepp. Everyone else is expendable.
And your way of thinking is the old way and why Illinois will be in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit Tony The Tiger Sun bowl , or The Las Vegas Bowl in Bielema’s 5th year while Cignetti is in year 2 with a bunch of James Madison players in the Playoffs competing for a National Championship. I love Cignetti because he’s shaking things up and eliminating the we’re just happy with mediocrity. We are just happy with getting to a bowl game Illinois fans . I guess that’s why Indiana locked him down with a 93 million dollar contract. If you think Cignetti and Indiana are going anywhere then you’re greatly mistaken. You don’t go 19-2 in two years with a dumpster fire garbage irrelevant program like Indiana and disappear. Cignetti and Indiana are going to be thorn in the side of Purdue and Illinois especially. I respect Cignetti because Finally a coach that’s coaching and not crying about we can’t compete with Ohio State,Oregon Penn State, Michigan because we’re Indiana or Illinois
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
In the current 12-team CFP environment, Ferentz's Hawkeyes would have made the playoff in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, and 2015. They also would have possibly been in the CFP in 2019 (better team but not in B1G championship) and 2021 (worse team but in B1G championship.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Well apparently I liked this, so you still have my support!For anyone saying “we aren’t meeting expectations!”, here were the expectations coming into this season:
2025 Season Predictions Thread
Western Illinois at Duke Western Michigan at Indiana USC at Purdue Ohio State at Washington Rutgers Maryland at Wisconsin Northwesternwww.illinoisloyalty.com
A whole lot of 9-3 and 8-4s in those predictions, both of which are still on the table.
As disappointed as I am in the loss, we’ve done exactly as I (and many others) predicted so far this season:
View attachment 44496
https://www.illinoisloyalty.com/post/2025-season-predictions-thread.39342/post-2285642
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I’m on board with this. I’ve spent the week talking Illini fans off the ledge.
At the same time, the defense clearly isn’t meeting expectations and changes likely need to be made on that side of the ball at the end of the season.
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