Illinois by 22-23 points
I agree, this season will be a tall hurdle. Our 1's have some very good pieces, but our 2, 3, 4, etc huge drop of talent wise. It's all about a teams depth and we are not close! Let's go and hope to stay injury free.
I love how inherently contradictory these two statements are.
Here is my Saturday, my friend - need to go pick out a tie somewhere downtown for my groomsmen in the morning. Then, the fiancé and I are meeting our officiant (her best friend's husband) at Will's Northwoods Inn beer garden to discuss what he might say, and also to watch the Illini game. Will's is the best outdoor spot in the city if you ask me, and thankfully Wisconsin does not play so I can go there safely.
Hahaha, I got what he was saying ... but this made me LOL.
I think the fear is what playing Bielema Ball looks like without Lowe, Kramer, Carney, Gay, and the still wildly underappreciated Rod Perry in the trenches.
Ill take it over Lovie ball no matter who is on the roster.
The one redeeming factor of Lovie ball was a random game like vs. Wisconsin or at MSU when things were clicking and we would just randomly come up with miraculous takeaways on defense.
Absolutely did not overshadow all of the negatives, though...
At the end of last season the projection was something like Adams-Pihlstrom-Kreutz-Slaughter-Pearl with only a not-physically-ready Crisler and freshmen available as depth. Season over before it starts type stuff given the way we want to play.
You lucky dawg -- Will's is one of my favorite bars in the city.
LovieBall was predicated on taking the ball away and we did have some success doing so. Of course, we missed a lot of tackles as we attempted to dislodge the ball vs. securing the tackle.The one redeeming factor of Lovie ball was a random game like vs. Wisconsin or at MSU when things were clicking and we would just randomly come up with miraculous takeaways on defense.
What's kind of funny is I distinctly remember the original BTN (2007 football season) being all over us. Remember, we got the first ever The Journey season all to ourselves. Once our program fell off a cliff, so did our coverage.
Can't believe I never discovered it until recently (have lived here since August 2019). The only downside is that it's a Packers/Badgers bar, but I can't exactly blame them given the bar's theme, either. Absolutely amazing that the next door neighbor put up a statue of a literal Bear that is barely sticking its claw over into the beer garden.
I am banking that our OL is bigger than their D line and we will be able to control the game with the run. I think they will try to overplay the run where TDV can drop bubble screens or slants with one on one coverage with yards after reception. I hope our D will be tested some as it would be nice to get them mentally stronger before IU. I believe we will be pretty vanilla but our vanilla will be good enough.
Hoping lots of power running into some play action.
Anybody have any idea how good they are this year? It looks like they soundly beat a ranked Utah State team last year, and they generally seem to have a decent record year in year out.
They don't have a lot of returning production from last year.
That gave me an audible chuckle. It seems like Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2022 should be - The Transfer.
I agree. I hope CA is in shape to give us more reps this year. We need them from him. Coaches have been talking a few guys up, but until we see them it's hard to know. Can't wait for Saturday!
