lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Vegas had us with 5 wins on the season. We have 5 wins halfway through it. I’ll enjoy the win.
Illinois 50, Purdue 49 OT Postgame
Very little chatter about the real MVP of the season so far… but how big are Olano’s balls? Or “cojones”, he might prefer. He is HIM and BB needs to trust him to make a 25 yard extra point <eye roll>.
Oh, and if we don’t recover that fluke “onside kick” at the end of the half, we don’t even make it to OT. We. Got. Lucky.
Oh, and if we don’t recover that fluke “onside kick” at the end of the half, we don’t even make it to OT. We. Got. Lucky.
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Sorry. According to Wiki, Bronko has the largest NFL Championship ring ever recorded - only a 19 1/2.
Tbh, if we do have one I want it to come against UM or OU. The last 4 games are all winnable, but will require better play than what we saw in 2H yesterdayEvery team no matter how good(or bad) they may be will have a bad half of football throughout an entire season....just hoping that this was that bad half....and that there's not another one lurking out there over the next several games.
Gritty is talking about a segment of the fan base, these aren't his opinions.
Success probability drops under 10% from there. Seems like we traded 90% probability of one point for 90% probability of zero. Accept the single point and there would have been no OT.
aiwpfan
- Springfield, Il
That was the coldest I've ever been in the stadium.
But was he more than a yard into the end zone? And if so was that defender even in coverage? Looked like he was tied up with his original blocking assignment. Almost like they had the wrong jersey number. I’m no rules official, but I watched it three times and haven’t been able to crack the code.
You make your “luck” by being prepared.
aiwpfan
- Springfield, Il
That, among other things they were saying, drove me nuts.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
Purdue realized we had no way to stop their hybrid option running game and ran for 9 yards every play
William refrigerator Perry had a 25. Check the sources. Wiki is wrong pal
I am going to take the win and sprint to next week. I blame it on the uniforms. I'll be fine with never seeing them again. Awesome to see McCray go for 130 yards of rushing and receiving!
Wiki stinks. My quote was kind of tongue in cheek. Thanks.
Perhaps he was lined on the end and so was actually an eligible receiver?
Starting to get the feeling/drift that Walters may have crossed a line professionally that might be linked to the long gaps from firings and hirings on the defensive side of the ball at Illinois. Like maybe someone caught wind of who we were hiring and bad mouthed Brett personally to spike the hiring. Which is on them for listening to that Dbag, but is definitely not something that is done in the old boys club of coaching.
That in addition to the more run of the mill recruit stealing, sign stealing, gamesmanship that is more typical of master apprentice coaching rivalries.
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
Game notes
1. Reminder about how Illinois isn't a blue blood and the system is so delicate that it falls apart with one person removed. Xavier Scott out for the game and there were at least three big assignment errors in the second half that led to 100+ offensive yards.
2. The warning signs are staring to pile up for the defense. Another bad showing from the defensive line, struggling to contain a mobile QB and missed tackles. Linebackers getting exposed for a second game. Not as much of an issue shedding blocks but so many missed tackles. Secondary had serious secondary issues for the first time this year and don't need to be repeated.
3. Going off of the previous number, tackling issues are becoming rampant - defensive contributors with tackling grades below 40: Jacas, Kreutz, Briggs, and Barna. Not a great quartet with the team coming into town next week that is going to run the ball 30+ times.
4. Rosiek was much improved yesterday. Him, X, Miles Scott, Bailey, Edwards, and Coleman are the defensive foundation.
5. Kaleb Patterson is taking some much-needed steps forward. Last two games he's been targeted seven times and only allowed one catch. His run defense needs improvement but he might be the best coverage corner on the roster right now.
6. Luke Altmyer appreciation B1G QB rankings:
*4th in adjusted passing yards per attempt (10.1, was only 6.3 last year)
*1st in passing TDs (14, he had 13 all last year)
*5th in passing efficiency rating (167.7, was 131.9 last year)
*On pace for most Illinois QB passing yards since 2013 Scheelhaase
*Current pace numbers are 2,852 passing yards, 28 passing TDs, 2 INTs
*Last one, and biggest: Altmyer's current QB rating would be the highest in Illinois football history.
7. Hank Beatty - #1 punt returner in Big Ten. Averaging 16.6 yards per return.
8. Pat Bryant still on pace to shatter the Illinois WR TD record. He'll need to pick up the pace to get to 1k receiving yards.
9. Offensive line - Henderson started in place as a change up from the past starting five and he was okay. Crisler later got snaps and had one of his better games by PFF grades. Kreutz with three straight 80+ passing grade games. The good pass blocking - bad run blocking on the interior is still a problem and there aren't a lot of remaining solutions beyond starting Wigenton.
10. McCray was awesome. Averaged 2.8 yards after contact. Had his highest elusive rating score of the season. He more than made up for Feagin being out.
11. Lunney needs to find a way to have more play designs under center. I don't have a ready stat for it but it feels like their run success rate out of the pistol and under center are miles apart. Michigan is a tough game to try to mix in more under center because of their pass rush so not sure it's something you see next week but it needs to be run more going forward. The team can't keep expecting Altmyer to bail out all of these 2nd and 8/9 yards scenarios.
1. Reminder about how Illinois isn't a blue blood and the system is so delicate that it falls apart with one person removed. Xavier Scott out for the game and there were at least three big assignment errors in the second half that led to 100+ offensive yards.
2. The warning signs are staring to pile up for the defense. Another bad showing from the defensive line, struggling to contain a mobile QB and missed tackles. Linebackers getting exposed for a second game. Not as much of an issue shedding blocks but so many missed tackles. Secondary had serious secondary issues for the first time this year and don't need to be repeated.
3. Going off of the previous number, tackling issues are becoming rampant - defensive contributors with tackling grades below 40: Jacas, Kreutz, Briggs, and Barna. Not a great quartet with the team coming into town next week that is going to run the ball 30+ times.
4. Rosiek was much improved yesterday. Him, X, Miles Scott, Bailey, Edwards, and Coleman are the defensive foundation.
5. Kaleb Patterson is taking some much-needed steps forward. Last two games he's been targeted seven times and only allowed one catch. His run defense needs improvement but he might be the best coverage corner on the roster right now.
6. Luke Altmyer appreciation B1G QB rankings:
*4th in adjusted passing yards per attempt (10.1, was only 6.3 last year)
*1st in passing TDs (14, he had 13 all last year)
*5th in passing efficiency rating (167.7, was 131.9 last year)
*On pace for most Illinois QB passing yards since 2013 Scheelhaase
*Current pace numbers are 2,852 passing yards, 28 passing TDs, 2 INTs
*Last one, and biggest: Altmyer's current QB rating would be the highest in Illinois football history.
7. Hank Beatty - #1 punt returner in Big Ten. Averaging 16.6 yards per return.
8. Pat Bryant still on pace to shatter the Illinois WR TD record. He'll need to pick up the pace to get to 1k receiving yards.
9. Offensive line - Henderson started in place as a change up from the past starting five and he was okay. Crisler later got snaps and had one of his better games by PFF grades. Kreutz with three straight 80+ passing grade games. The good pass blocking - bad run blocking on the interior is still a problem and there aren't a lot of remaining solutions beyond starting Wigenton.
10. McCray was awesome. Averaged 2.8 yards after contact. Had his highest elusive rating score of the season. He more than made up for Feagin being out.
11. Lunney needs to find a way to have more play designs under center. I don't have a ready stat for it but it feels like their run success rate out of the pistol and under center are miles apart. Michigan is a tough game to try to mix in more under center because of their pass rush so not sure it's something you see next week but it needs to be run more going forward. The team can't keep expecting Altmyer to bail out all of these 2nd and 8/9 yards scenarios.
I understand both of your points; however, Bielema who I think all would agree is an extremely smart coach especially in game management and strategy thought it was a good decision to try to go up 14 rather than 13. I guessing most (but not all to your point) coaches go for two there even after the penalty.
To your points, if we get another 15 yard penalty to the 32 yard line do we still go for two? I agree at some point you probably just kick it but I think Bielema feels confident that we can convert there greater than 10% of the time. I think it might be more 20-25% of the time against Purdue.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
It was a plus decision at the 2 yard line and a minus decision at the 18.
It's an unusual scenario (and even more unusual for it to matter the way it did), but there's not really any doubt about the math.
That doesn't make Bielema a bad strategist in general, we all make mistakes.
I would argue it was less about the odds of making it vs the value of a 14 point lead vs a 13 point lead combined with the time remaining. Clearly a full, two touchdown lead in that position with 5:15 remaining is more valuable.
The wrinkle in the math was Walters electing to go for two on their penultimate TD in regulation. Completing that skewed the original scenario. But at the time, Bielema made the right call.
Never heard of this "iron law". Been a football fan for 38 years now.... I with Bluemountain. We played a QB we had no film on, along with Walters who knows all the soft spots in our D. Henry is a good coach.
Has to be a very small portion, perhaps Grittys discord?
OrangeBlue98
- Des Moines, IA
This is where I’m coming from. If this is our “WTF?” game this season, then we’re winning at least 8 games.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
The way that Purdue was defending, Illini could easily get 18 yards, or more likely a defensive pi. Purdue was all over receivers on virtually every play.
I personally will not sweat over that decision. The difference between 12 and 13 points was negligible at the time, but a huge difference for 14 points. So much had to go the way it did for the Illini to trail by 3 with less than a minute left. Hindsight, sure kick extra point; at the time I was agreeable to decision. Illini were getting 15+ yard passing plays consistently. You could play hindsight on many play calls after the fact. I have more issues with the defensive play and lack of covering the lowest percentage onside kick that we saw, which allowed for this to even become a talking point.