UTSA 37, Illinois 30 Postgame

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#101      
blackdog
For people harping on the Oline I do want to point out they gave up 0 sacks on 42 pass attempts. There were some pressures sure but Sitowski generally had time and pretty good pocket to throw from. The run blocking was a mess but gotta give them credit for the pass protection.
 
#102      
Illini-Rule
We didn't get this program where it is in one season and to think after two wins last year that we would turn this around in one year is hopeful but not realistic. And I have to admit I was drinking the koolaid to start the season. We are who we were last year. Yes our coaching is better and players are older, but everyone else's players are older and better too. I think we just need to have some patience with BB for couple of years and trust he is the man for the job.
 
#105      
IlliniKrush
This was week 2 of a new offense and defense. There is naturally going to be growing pains. I just want to continue to see improvements week to week. The problem is the way our schedule sets up as we get better the teams get tougher.
 
#106      
Joel Goodson
Ramrod2010 said:
I do believe that UTSA might be the toughest team out of the first six this year so I'm not moving on just yet.

Still, it's disappointing to look that outclassed in the trenches. Ohio State does that, sure naturally. Wisconsin, yeah makes sense. But given the experience there shouldn't be many teams that just move us out of the way like what's happened the first two games.
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And certainly not a CUSA team (with all due respect to UTSA, they're good).
 
#107      
Pittsfield
WeWillWhen said:
Defense gave up 500 yards/37 points, our OL couldn’t generate a consistent running game … at home … to a CUSA team … and people are pointing fingers at our backup QB? Bruh.
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I think early on in the game UTSA could see that Art wasn't going to be able to beat them, so they sold out on stopping the run. They had no fear of Art whatsoever he couldn't hit short throws and as the broadcasters kept pointing out he's not trusting his eyes, if the first option wasn't open or if other receiver wasn't wide open he was not good at all
 
#108      
ChiefGritty
blackdog said:
For people harping on the Oline I do want to point out they gave up 0 sacks on 42 pass attempts. There were some pressures sure but Sitowski generally had time and pretty good pocket to throw from. The run blocking was a mess but gotta give them credit for the pass protection.
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Yeah that was true against Nebby too, much better in pass pro than in the run game.
 
#109      
ChiefGritty
Illini-Rule said:
everyone else's players are older and better too.
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I think this is a really key point.

Over the next three years the Bielema project will either succeed for fail. And that period is going to be a totally unprecedented one in college football history in terms of roster construction and roster balance. Not just for us, for the whole sport. It's an unfamiliar landscape.

It's hard to guess the exact implications of that on a move-to-move basis. The coaches themselves can't be totally sure.

Just something to keep in the back of our minds. All of that said there's nothing more to it than just putting the work in and getting better every day.
 
#110      
TheChief4Life
blackdog said:
For people harping on the Oline I do want to point out they gave up 0 sacks on 42 pass attempts. There were some pressures sure but Sitowski generally had time and pretty good pocket to throw from. The run blocking was a mess but gotta give them credit for the pass protection.
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ChiefGritty said:
Yeah that was true against Nebby too, much better in pass pro than in the run game.
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Both great points.

In fact, in the Nebraska game, the play in which Peters got injured and the play right before it (both sacks) were due to Peters taking WAY to long to make a read/decision.

On a side note, I’m with the people that think last nights game isn’t as bad as just saying “we lost to a C-USA team”. UTSA was predicted to be something special this year. Now we have to hope they are to soften this blow.

I think the sting comes from the fact we really could have won last night. We were there until the end, and this was after we blew some real chances at gaining momentum throughout the game. It’d be much more fun to say we beat the “special team from C-USA”.

I said it in a post last night that I left Memorial Stadium after last night’s loss in a completely different mood than I have after any of Lovie’s losses. There’s still a different feel about this team and this program. I like it. I like what I feel about the direction. I just hope I’m not disappointed about my early optimism in a couple years.
 
#111      
ChiefGritty
TheChief4Life said:
I said it in a post last night that I left Memorial Stadium after last night’s loss in a completely different mood than I have after any of Lovie’s losses. There’s still a different feel about this team and this program. I like it. I like what I feel about the direction. I just hope I’m not disappointed about my early optimism in a couple years.
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It is an unavoidable reality that the moments and decisions that will determine if Bielema is a success or failure here overwhelmingly haven't happened yet. We cannot know a fact that does not yet exist.

One thing I would say though, I suspect people here would be happier if the outcomes of the two games were reversed, and that's just irrational, don't let yourself buy into a notion that we somehow slipped last night, it was very much the same football team delivering the same kind of performance in both games.
 
#112      
TheChief4Life
ChiefGritty said:
One thing I would say though, I suspect people here would be happier if the outcomes of the two games were reversed, and that's just irrational, don't let yourself buy into a notion that we somehow slipped last night, it was very much the same football team delivering the same kind of performance in both games.
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Agreed. In many ways, the last two games show us just as much about the programs we played as they did our own program.
 
#113      
TheChief4Life
ChiefGritty said:
It is an unavoidable reality that the moments and decisions that will determine if Bielema is a success or failure here overwhelmingly haven't happened yet. We cannot know a fact that does not yet exist.
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Sorry for the double post, just thought of one more thing. The one thing he has already done is put an emphasis on in-state relationships and recruiting. It may not reap the rewards, but that kind of intentional targeting is certain to strengthen that aspect of our program that had deteriorated over them last 5 years.
 
#114      
gibb52
BB has his work cut out for him, that's for sure. Lovie's recruits, including 40 very veteran players with 4-5 yrs of CFB experience got schooled repeatedly by a directional school with several players that were head and shoulders better athletes than anybody we had on the field.

We will see how this year plays out. 4-8 looks more likely than 6-6. BB and staff have to recruit their way out of this.
 
#115      
purcy51
TheChief4Life said:
Both great points.

In fact, in the Nebraska game, the play in which Peters got injured and the play right before it (both sacks) were due to Peters taking WAY to long to make a read/decision.

On a side note, I’m with the people that think last nights game isn’t as bad as just saying “we lost to a C-USA team”. UTSA was predicted to be something special this year. Now we have to hope they are to soften this blow.

I think the sting comes from the fact we really could have won last night. We were there until the end, and this was after we blew some real chances at gaining momentum throughout the game. It’d be much more fun to say we beat the “special team from C-USA”.

I said it in a post last night that I left Memorial Stadium after last night’s loss in a completely different mood than I have after any of Lovie’s losses. There’s still a different feel about this team and this program. I like it. I like what I feel about the direction. I just hope I’m not disappointed about my early optimism in a couple years.
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I concur. This was a game.we wouldn't have had a chance to win last year. I think the fact that we had a shot at the end makes this loss hurt a little more.
The overall feel of the program is different this year. The coaches are night & day better. More confident, seem to be better teachers and leaders. The best a coach can do is put his team in a position to win, and I've seen that this far. That is what I'm excited about.
 
#116      
Deep
Pittsfield said:
I think early on in the game UTSA could see that Art wasn't going to be able to beat them, so they sold out on stopping the run. They had no fear of Art whatsoever he couldn't hit short throws and as the broadcasters kept pointing out he's not trusting his eyes, if the first option wasn't open or if other receiver wasn't wide open he was not good at all
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There were open guys all night long. In college you have to have a guy at QB that poses some threat of running the ball unless you are a stud pocket qb.

A dual threat qb would have carved up UTSA last night.
 
#118      
illinoistradition
Deep said:
There were open guys all night long. In college you have to have a guy at QB that poses some threat of running the ball unless you are a stud pocket qb.

A dual threat qb would have carved up UTSA last night.
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Sitkowski showed he can run a little bit. What I didn’t like was that not one time did they have him keep it on what could/should have been a zone read play. UTSA could sell out each time because we weren’t keeping them honest. Their offense did it the right way, and it showed in how successful they were.
 
#119      
altgeld88
Always look on the bright side of life. Our helmet decals may be improperly applied but at least we're not "Indinia." Lolz:

Indiana's Jersey Miscue Caps Blowout Season-Opening Loss
www.si.com

Indiana's Jersey Miscue Caps Blowout Season-Opening Loss

The No. 17 Hoosiers had a bad day in their 34-6 loss to No. 18 Iowa. Indiana's equipment manager had an even worse time.
www.si.com www.si.com

1630860102960.png
 
#120      
DocMorgan
ChiefGritty said:
Could be, but they could also just be a plucky 8-4 type team. They're better than Nebraska either way.

It wasn't pretty in the trenches on either side of the ball tonight. Physically dominated at home.

It ain't depth when you've got 100-odd scholarship guys and 40 seniors.
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At the game last night. Sat in section 125 in the 17th row. It was very apparent from that view that both sides of our line were getting dominated.
 
#121      
Pittsfield
We got beat by a very good team, before this game everybody had them playing in national time game against Georgia. We played a team that's a mirror image of us except they are 3 deep in all the important positions. UTSA deserves the respect they earned. It could be worse we could be Washington Huskies fans.
After all that I would loved to see what would have happened if Joseph hadn't had that very bad miscue on special teams before half. It was set up perfect having a drive to end the half and a drive to start the half could of been a game changer
 
#122      
skyIdub
Pittsfield said:
We got beat by a very good team, before this game everybody had them playing in national time game against Georgia. We played a team that's a mirror image of us except they are 3 deep in all the important positions. UTSA deserves the respect they earned. It could be worse we could be Washington Huskies fans.
After all that I would loved to see what would have happened if Joseph hadn't had that very bad miscue on special teams before half. It was set up perfect having a drive to end the half and a drive to start the half could of been a game changer
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93a642306c8514a49749bdd557c4b46a.gif
 
#123      
Illini92and96
Pittsfield said:
We got beat by a very good team, before this game everybody had them playing in national time game against Georgia. We played a team that's a mirror image of us except they are 3 deep in all the important positions. UTSA deserves the respect they earned. It could be worse we could be Washington Huskies fans.
After all that I would loved to see what would have happened if Joseph hadn't had that very bad miscue on special teams before half. It was set up perfect having a drive to end the half and a drive to start the half could of been a game changer
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You are crazy. People did not have them losing to Georgia in the national championship. It was Georgia Tech ya goofball! 😀
 
#124      
Central IL Illini
We are who we probably originally thought we were. After the Nebraska win, I think expectations got a little out of whack. This UTSA team is pretty good, that's why they were only 4 point dogs on a night road game against a B10 team. Factoring in the homefield points, the oddsmakers basically thought these teams were pretty equal talent wise. Most over under season win totals had us around 3-4 wins, and I think that is still pretty likely where we end up.
 
#125      
CheifKeith91
Peterson called a crap game on offense. That’s why we lost imo. Maybe our playbook’s limited because player’s looked like they were lost half the time. I expect this gets cleaned up soon, and we still go bowling!
 
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