Washington 42, Illinois 25 Postgame

msphdillini said:

Bret Bielema's current annual salary is $7.7 million, while Ron Zook's (as an example) salary during his last coaching position at Illinois was $1.5 million in 2009.
When you spend 3-5X on the program, you need to expect signifcantly better results.
Getting to a bowl game or 8 win season is not what we need to expect with this kind of spending.

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This board has taught me that this is just not a rational way of thinking.

I was so hyped from last year that I was thinking anything less than a playoff berth this year was a failure. But that's because I am an Illini - the "catch lightning in a bottle" thinker. Like this is our one chance and we can't squander it.

But honestly? If you told me five years ago we could string together multiple 8, 9, 10 win seasons? I'd have sold my soul to make it a reality.

You get to the playoffs by having those seasons. Pay the man. It'll happen. (Provided we get a new DC/real defense obviously).

CDRUSN said:

Bret has to have a coming to prayer meeting with Henry, and tell him in plain language he is now competing for his job, and anything less than a solid defensive performance in any of our remaining games will call for a new DC when this season ends. No more excuses for running a defense that only rarely pressures the quarterback, reacts quickly, takes good tackling angles, wraps up ball carriers, plays tight pass coverage, sheds blocks, maintains their gaps, contains the edge and forces plays inside, gets off the field on third down, or even demonstrates an average football IQ. What we have seen from the defense all season is not acceptable. There have been some occasional solid plays, but sloppy haphazard play with little sense of purpose or urgency is more the rule now than the exception. Our defense has officially hit rock bottom, and that starts with the DC.

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Too late. The Illini defense is what we thought they were...disasterous. I feel bad for the players.....I'm certain they're giving it their all.

TheodoreRex said:

College football playoffs on the line- 2 weeks to prepare- and that's the product? Most of the wrath should be on Henry, but this also falls directly on Bret. Embarrassing loss.

Someone convince me this Washington team isn't even with USC team we beat?

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I think it's time to question our talent, especially on defense. We are extremely slow and just not overly talented when talking about playing against really good athletes.

63 to Indiana, 34 to OSU, 42 to Washington.....I'm leaving USC out of it because we miraculously won.

Buddy Ryan isn't worth a damn with Singletary, Dent, McMichael, Hampton, Marshall, Frazier, etc with the Bears and the likes of Reggie White with Philly.

You have to have the horses and we just don't. You can't scheme your way around sub par talent. To be clear, his game plan wasn't great, but when you're D Line is getting their a$$es kicked in the trenches, your LB's are slow and can't wrap up and your corners aren't good enough to press/go man up.....you got problems.

Btw.....Did Jacas make the trip today? If so, he should have stayed on the plane.

Don’t get me wrong I’m disappointed in not making the CFP but if we can win the last 4 games, it will still be a successful season….Just not the season we had hoped for. However, I will say this if we go into next season with AH than it will be a huge mistake. Bret will not let that happen though.

Second place is 1st loser said:

i was at that point after the first half vs Duke. The fears from that game became real and here we are. People can say what they want about Henry(he was awful today), but what people don't want to be true is admitting the talent isn't there at any level of the defense. That's not fixed with simply changing coordinators. That's what's hard to digest and accept.

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It could be if they are better recruiters. Henry has been here since BB was hired. He's had plenty of time to add talented players and apparently hasn't done it. Coaches don't only coach, they have to recruit. Time for someone else to give it a shot.

Typical Illini fans. Our unlikely 10 wins last season has now become the floor in your eyes. I think I said 9-3 before the season, and that's still super obtainable. Anything 8+ is better helps cement that we are at least a real program and it's not just a fluke.

Henry had Leonhard looking over this shoulder all last season, and now he's on his own and struggling. Bret will correct and get it fixed.

It's great to have expectations, but they have to be realistic. Yelling at a donkey because it doesn't win the Kentucky Derby is just insanity. We aren't there yet.

Illini in Italy said:

No, actually, we aren’t who you thought we were . . . we’re a good team, much better than average Illinois team . . . but not a great team.

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Well said.

Everybody counting on 8 or 9 wins is just trying to make themselves feel better. The reality is, if the defense doesn't improve in dramatic fashion - like, next week - we will be lucky to get to 6. Not even kidding; it's really bad and has regressed badly since week 2.

Folks, we are 5-3 with 1 good win against Duke who gave us the ball 4 times during the game. I will grant you that the offense is good. But with this defense, there are no guaranteed wins in the next 4 games. None. Counting on 8 wins like it's just gonna obviously happen is delusional.

I am not jumping ship. But you are not going to win games when the defense plays 4 quarters and can not get off the field.

Second place is 1st loser said:

Btw.....Did Jacas make the trip today? If so, he should have stayed on the plane.

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This defensive scheme would neutralize Micah Parsons. If you rush three and play soft zone, no pass rusher on the planet can be effective. The other team will just run 8 yard hitches and short seam routes all day.

BalloonsTheElephant said:

Typical Illini fans. Our unlikely 10 wins last season has now become the floor in your eyes. I think I said 9-3 before the season, and that's still super obtainable. Anything 8+ is better helps cement that we are at least a real program and it's not just a fluke.

Henry had Leonhard looking over this shoulder all last season, and now he's on his own and struggling. Bret will correct and get it fixed.

It's great to have expectations, but they have to be realistic. Yelling at a donkey because it doesn't win the Kentucky Derby is just insanity. We aren't there yet.

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I vote this to be the post of the day.

Chuck Nuggets said:

"If I have to get more involved [defensively], I will."

Bret, Illinois is giving up an average of 40 points in 5 B10 games. You needed to get "more involved" a lonnnnnnnng time ago.

I'm no expert, but it might be time, Hoss.

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"If I have to get involved....."???? If Bret?? IF????

If you don't get involved Bret, it's felony coaching malpractice. No reasonable football minded coaches or fans watched our defense today and thought..."hmmm....just needed to make a couple more plays". Every aspect of that defensive performance was . The game plan, the execution, the fundamentals...all of it.

You get a pass with Indinia and perhaps one half @Duke. That's it. We are at game 9 and we can't TACKLE!! Our D line cannot shed a block! Zero pressure on their QB!
He could have hosted a prime time awards show back there today. And not have a time limit for award winners speeches!!

So much national hype all year. Never bought into the hype, maybe bc of me being a long standing Illini fan but the lines never really impressed me or came together. No real rush or pressure on the qb, no real push off the offensive line to get the running game going…all yr. Should never have lost like we did vs Indiana, Ohio state..we beat ourselves. Today, winnable game for sure. Unacceptable with the D after a bye. Seriously need to look at another direction for D coordinator.
Given this , we have a chance to run table, get a good bowl game and finish 9-3 which is better than what I had anticipated… I’ll take this and hope for a continued step forward. And knowing basketball is just a few weeks away. Go Illini.

I've been thinking about this way too much, but I'm a diehard fan that over-analyzes everything lol.

Here's my two cents:
I've coached girls basketball for a quite a few years- obviously nothing like football. BUT- one thing that is universal in sports is mindset-especially confidence.
My first two years, my girls were not very talented and had very little confidence. I could've tried to mask that- play conservative, run a slow offense, play some sort of gimmicky zone defense and just hope to keep games close. But that would've made my girls tentative and honestly-just expose their weaknesses even more because they'd just play timid. Instead, I emphasized physicality, aggressiveness, we get every lose ball, we get every 50-50 rebound, we play our tails off defensively-every play- the best you can give. We still weren't awesome, but no joke, every coach complimented our girls for how hard they played- we got better every game, and girls grew in their confidence.

Henry is trying to mask our inexperience and lack of talent in the secondary- he's doing that to keep them from getting exposed. They play to "not give up the explosive" and that makes the guys play timid-focused on not making a major mistake and really just focused on trying to tackle (though terribly).
Instead of keeping us from being exposed to big plays- we have eliminated our best player in Jacas, pretty much made our d-line obsolete- and instead put all the pressure on the secondary who may not give up 25 yards, but consistently give up junk plays of 8-15 yards. Washington's defense isn't any better than ours- but they pull the trigger-as walters used to stay. They play with unbelievable physicality, toughness, and swagger (even though they aren't that good).

We are doing the OPPOSITE of what we should do with less secondary talent- we need to be overly aggressive, blitz often, put our d-line in a position to use their strengths, and if we give up some explosive plays, big whoop- gosh, worst that could happen is we give up 45 points... wait, that's already happening. At the very least, it would put our players in better positions, as it might take some pressure off the secondary. And it sure as heck is more likely to give them confidence. Aggression breads confidence and swag- we currently have 0 swag on defense.

Oh, also, can we recruit Kylan to play for our football team-he's a straight dog. Ps: The fact Werner is essentially calling for a change with Henry says something. He's about as fair in the business as there is- and I respect his opinion tremendously.

Rant over- go beat Rutgers.

The criticism and concerns for Henry are justified. After a display like that though, every defensive coach/the entire D staff deserves their fair share too.

Welp...Illinois will have the same record as LSU by the time most you see this (5-3). That's...kinda good?

tell it like it is said:

Agree, but you also need some big time players.

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Yep. We lack some horses tbh on both sides of the ball. Moreso on defense.

In all honesty last year was a 9 win season that was close to a 7 win season. Nebraska ot and Rutgers was a borderline miracle win. So we overachieved.

This year some things have caught up with us. X being out really hurts as he was one of the horses on d. And the d has not progressed even when he was healthy.

Bret’s comments postgame seen to imply that a change will be coming on the d side of the ball. If the program wants to take the next step we need to go out and pay big boy money for a dc. No more promote from within like we always seem to do.

Illini in Italy said:

No, actually, we aren’t who you thought we were . . . we’re a good team, much better than average Illinois team . . . but not a great team.

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Oh come on, let’s not act like this isn’t surprising. Many people probably predicted a 5-3 record at this point … few probably predicted a defense that’s objectively embarrassing and unable to stop anyone!

The “how” IS important.

My junior year, we went 2-10. God bless Bret Bielema, amazing to feel like we can win any given weekend. Learn from this and finish the season strong. Can't wait to cheer on the Illini against Northwestern at the end of the season.

illinifan31 said:

My junior year, we went 2-10. God bless Bret Bielema, amazing to feel like we can win any given weekend. Learn from this and finish the season strong. Can't wait to cheer on the Illini against Northwestern at the end of the season.

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This is the thing to remember. On balance Bret is doing a hell of a job for Illinois. Yes he is paid well but to really fix it consistently takes time. And a few missteps along the way. He’s not a dummy and will do what is needed to get it fixed. We need more talent and likely a new defensive voice.

There’s a reason I don’t go in the game/postgame threads.

You people saying the state of the football program is unacceptable are either approximately 12 years old or maniacs, and I don’t want to be around either.

Second place is 1st loser said:

i was at that point after the first half vs Duke. The fears from that game became real and here we are. People can say what they want about Henry(he was awful today), but what people don't want to be true is admitting the talent isn't there at any level of the defense. That's not fixed with simply changing coordinators. That's what's hard to digest and accept.

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This wash game was like the Duke game….except all of wash fumbles/ int chances did not become turnovers. 3 chances and none were recovered?

Side note, I think USC watched too much Indiana tape and thought they would roll over the Illini. Almost worked out for them anyways.

BalloonsTheElephant said:

Typical Illini fans. Our unlikely 10 wins last season has now become the floor in your eyes. I think I said 9-3 before the season, and that's still super obtainable. Anything 8+ is better helps cement that we are at least a real program and it's not just a fluke.

Henry had Leonhard looking over this shoulder all last season, and now he's on his own and struggling. Bret will correct and get it fixed.

It's great to have expectations, but they have to be realistic. Yelling at a donkey because it doesn't win the Kentucky Derby is just insanity. We aren't there yet.

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The floor of 10 wins was not the sentiment of the majority of fans. There were many on here that saw 8-9 wins as a good year to build on the results from last year. I remember pegging this team as an 8-9 win team in the preseason and hoping to be surprised with an outside chance to the CFP.

However, the issue that most of us have is how outmatched we have been in the big games this year (lose by 53 to IU, lose by 18 to OSU, and now by 17 to Washington where the defense only got one stop!).

As to your last statement, currently many of us are disappointed at the donkey not because it did not win, but rather because it failed to leave the post.

Sentiments can change if the Illini handle business in November, but it is justifiable to be completely disappointed in what we saw today coming out of the first bye. I am content with the 5-3 start, but overly disappointed how we got there.

mattcoldagelli said:

There’s a reason I don’t go in the game/postgame threads.

You people saying the state of the football program is unacceptable are either approximately 12 years old or maniacs, and I don’t want to be around either.

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So are you pulling a Patick Swazy on us or is this really you?

mattcoldagelli said:

There’s a reason I don’t go in the game/postgame threads.

You people saying the state of the football program is unacceptable are either approximately 12 years old or maniacs, and I don’t want to be around either.

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Who is saying the state of the program is unacceptable? The state of the defense maybe, but I don't see anybody saying the program is not lightyears ahead of where it was before BB got here. It's ok as a fan to be disappointed in what we have seen on the field from this defense in the biggest games of the year. There is still time to have a fantastic season, but the defense has to be competent.