Purdue 13, Illinois 9 Postgame

#201      
In talking about the decision later, BB seemed to be focussing on our chances of winning being pretty good with pinning them deep. And they were! But the point is that our chances were EVEN BETTER if we went for it (even though no one realized that until a couple years ago.)
Yeah, I'm a little worried that his thinking on this doesn't seem to have kept up with the times. The silver lining to having this happen two weeks in a row, with spectacularly bad results, is it really should make BB think a little harder about how he approaches this situation. If he makes the same call and punts the next time he's faced with this situation, I'm afraid it's a sign he's stubborn and probably not very adaptable. On the basketball side, BU was faced with the data and changed his approach. It worked out. Hopefully something similar happens here.
 
#203      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
When asked in the presser about punting instead of going for it on 4th down BB said punt 100 out of 100 times.....seems to me that means he's not going for it........now he did fudge and say it was a 4th and 2 and maybe if it had been 4th and 1........maybe ??????

Not to decisive there BB....
 
#204      

DeonThomas

South Carolina
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And BTW, Herm was hired by ASU at the same time Lovie was hired here. He's off to a 3-1 start this season, and doing a superb job! Aggressive, firey coach.
 
#205      

DeonThomas

South Carolina
No criticism of BB from me. He had the lead, he has the best punter in NCAA FBS, his opponent was playing their backup QB who looked scattered on prior possession, and his defense was playing well. Pinning Purdue deep, and expecting one more stop, was understandable to me. We all saw how it played out, but I’m not criticizing the punt decision there.
As a frustrated fan who had seen the same situation a week earlier, I think I probably would have preferred that we go for it rather than punt.

However, I agree with you Maine. Very nicely summarized! It's certainly different when you're the coach.
 
#206      
As a frustrated fan who had seen the same situation a week earlier, I think I probably would have preferred that we go for it rather than punt.

However, I agree with you Maine. Very nicely summarized! It's certainly different when you're the coach.
I can't agree at all on his decision. If you want to build up confidence, you play to win. Their D was tired. You have worked all season, summer, and spring on your guys feeling that they can ram a ball down a team's throat. Your fg kicker has made a number of fg's from this distance. You know that this late in a game that your team's D is also tired. You have watched teams come back down the field to win games, at the end, all of your life. BB played scared. Two weeks in a row! That is two straight weeks that he has shown his team that he has no heart! No matter who the coach is, that was gutless!!
 
#207      
Maybe BB is playing a long game: he's setting us up for running a fake punt against Northwestern, when it's fourth and short in Northwestern territory, late in the fourth quarter, and we're up a score. (If I recall right, Hayes is a perfect two for two on converting fake punts). 🙃
fify
 
#209      
I wish we had gone for the first down but that’s just the fan in me. We punted and if our defense had held Coach B would be touted as a genius on here. Same is true with any other call. If a play in a crucial situation doesn’t work our OC isn’t fit for the job. If it works it was a great call. Winning is important to all of us but we must remember we are in a rebuild not a reload. I don’t agree with everything but I am 100% behind what our coaches are trying to develop. Bashing coaches only makes the process more difficult.
 
#210      
I wish we had gone for the first down but that’s just the fan in me. We punted and if our defense had held Coach B would be touted as a genius on here. Same is true with any other call. If a play in a crucial situation doesn’t work our OC isn’t fit for the job. If it works it was a great call. Winning is important to all of us but we must remember we are in a rebuild not a reload. I don’t agree with everything but I am 100% behind what our coaches are trying to develop. Bashing coaches only makes the process more difficult.
The only folks who would have said burning a timeout and punting from the opponents’ 34 yard line in that situation was “genius” would be brain dead. Please understand this is not Monday morning QB-ing. No successful coach in 2021 burns a timeout and then punts from the opponents’ 34 in that situation. I fully believe he’ll learn from that despite the bravado in his press conference and again I think Bielema is going to do a great job here, but he has made poor strategic decisions two weeks in a row.
 
#211      

Go Nats 88 Illini

Fairfax, VA
If he was going to punt it 100 out of 100 times, why the indecision and timeout ?Clearly adding 5 yards would not have been a problem for Hayes, and by most accounts would be a good idea. It rarely works, but how many times do we see a team line up on a fourth and less than 5 (especially fourth and 1 or 2 on the + side of the field) to try to pull someone offsides. I've seen it work once or twice, but usually it ends up with a 5 yard penalty, gives the punter a little more room to play with, and everyone moves on. To me, taking the timeout signaled he was thinking about it; no reason to do so otherwise. The timeout did not matter in the end I believe, but no reason to use it there based on what he says.
 
#214      
I am a huge Illinois and Ole Miss football fan. Life long Illini fan, but I had a daughter and a daughter-in-law go to Ole Miss. As you know, Lane Kiffin is the coach at Ole Miss and he would have gone for it on the 4th and 2 play, no doubt in my mind. Kiffin has talked about the percentages of going for it on 4th down and in enemy territory. Kiffin said the statistics show you should for it in lieu of a field goal attempt. I don't know where he gets his info, but it's out there somewhere? Someone should give these statistics to BB immediately.
 
#215      
I am a huge Illinois and Ole Miss football fan. Life long Illini fan, but I had a daughter and a daughter-in-law go to Ole Miss. As you know, Lane Kiffin is the coach at Ole Miss and he would have gone for it on the 4th and 2 play, no doubt in my mind. Kiffin has talked about the percentages of going for it on 4th down and in enemy territory. Kiffin said the statistics show you should for it in lieu of a field goal attempt. I don't know where he gets his info, but it's out there somewhere? Someone should give these statistics to BB immediately.
BB also comes from a pretty conservative defense first lineage which has a lot to do with how he approaches these decisions. Maybe if we get a real up and coming OC they may have the way and power to so that, but not now
 
#216      
BB also comes from a pretty conservative defense first lineage which has a lot to do with how he approaches these decisions. Maybe if we get a real up and coming OC they may have the way and power to so that, but not now
I would take Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. His play calling is full throttle and changes with what the defense gives him. His next job will be as a head coach though.
 
#217      
BB also comes from a pretty conservative defense first lineage which has a lot to do with how he approaches these decisions. Maybe if we get a real up and coming OC they may have the way and power to so that, but not now
Almost exactly why I don't like former Defensive Coordinators as Head Coaches. Especially those that lack the ability to make an adjustment in their offensive philosophy.
 
#218      
Almost exactly why I don't like former Defensive Coordinators as Head Coaches. Especially those that lack the ability to make an adjustment in their offensive philosophy.
This is why it's important for defensive minded coaches to hire very competent offensive coordinators and let them have full autonomy and vice versa for offensive minded coaches. Unfortunately that's not what is happening here.
 
#219      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
BB also comes from a pretty conservative defense first lineage which has a lot to do with how he approaches these decisions.
It's like saying someone's offense-first lineage leads them toward going for two in incorrect, unjustifiable situations.

It is not a question of style, it is not a question of mentality. These are utterly black and white objective decisions and two weeks in a row we've gotten them wrong. Incredibly frustrating for an administration so centrally and publicly premised on above all else not beating ourselves.
 
#220      
It's like saying someone's offense-first lineage leads them toward going for two in incorrect, unjustifiable situations.

It is not a question of style, it is not a question of mentality. These are utterly black and white objective decisions and two weeks in a row we've gotten them wrong. Incredibly frustrating for an administration so centrally and publicly premised on above all else not beating ourselves.
Meet the new phrase, same as the old phrase.
We are Illinois football, and we cannot be trusted.
 
#221      
I’m going to drop a hot take: we are headed in the right direction.

Defense looks much improved even in 3 weeks. McCray looks like the real deal. Just needs some conditioning to be able to carry it 30 times a game. In the mean time, once we get Brown back we should be able to run the ball pretty effectively. The last couple weeks have felt like the excruciating losses early in the BU tenure. But if you squint, you can see what it looks like.

That being said, Purdue was moving the ball late, and we made one big play in the end zone and got kind of lucky with another INT. I think you live or die going for it, and it was a bad decision. Absolutely fair to criticize BB on that.

But I’m seeing alot of progress already. It may take another 2-3 years but think we are building something solid, Wisky looks like they are teetering. Iowa is solid but they are what they are. Same with NW. Fleck may be turning back into a pumpkin, and the Huskers are a mess. The door is open in the west.
I agree with your take, but still the last drives for the last 2 games are inexcusable. Peters is just not able to get it done and the playcalling is awful. I will be patient but do wish those last drives looked like we knew how to play football.
 
#222      
McCray had 24 carries in this game. Coming in he had 20 carries in his career and he is a true freshman. I don't really know how many more you reasonably could expected him to have.

It really seems we have found a gem and I hope he will be a feature back going forward. I'm also hopeful he can get better in the pass game and as a blocker because some our other backs tend to get blown up blocking bigger players.
Impressed with McCray so far. Good combination of power and above average speed. Need to remember that he is just a freshman without the full benefit of college level strength training and coaching of running skills to diminish impact of hits and avoid contact whenever possible. Don't want to see him thrown into the fire before he is prepared. Doing so could lead to catastophic injury. Let's be patient.
 
#223      
I wish we had gone for the first down but that’s just the fan in me. We punted and if our defense had held Coach B would be touted as a genius on here. Same is true with any other call. If a play in a crucial situation doesn’t work our OC isn’t fit for the job. If it works it was a great call. Winning is important to all of us but we must remember we are in a rebuild not a reload. I don’t agree with everything but I am 100% behind what our coaches are trying to develop. Bashing coaches only makes the process more difficult.
No one is happy with our record so far. I'm certainly not. That said, we have to be all in on this coach. The current team is what it is. Recruits are watching and listening. They are the ones who can lead us out of this hole we have dug. Do we want to torpedo our own program? Just my two cents.
 
#224      

danielb927

Orange Krush Class of 2013
Rochester, MN
Last week, Bielema made an absolutely horrible decision.
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This week he made a decision that was SIGNIFICANTLY worse.

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And he not only made the wrong decision, he made the worst decision each time. Meathead.

Just curious, where'd you find the calculator for these predictions? I found a similar one for NFL teams, but nothing for college...