Illinois vs Michigan, Saturday, October 19th, 2:30pm CT, CBS

#126      
FlotownIllini
fklein said:
We need to start thinking about Oregon the week after. That is the big game for us. We need to make sure everyone is healthy for that game. I hope the coaches and players are thinking about it.
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"The big game for us" in what way?

I can guarantee that BB and staff will do their very best to have the team as ready as possible to go into Eugene and give them a game, but scUM at home is objectively more winnable, by any conceivable metric.

No, this next game is monumentally important to how the rest of this season goes, IMHO, for numerous reasons. I am confident that players and staff alike are aware of this, and are preparing appropriately.
 
#127      
Illini2010-11
fklein said:
We need to start thinking about Oregon the week after. That is the big game for us. We need to make sure everyone is healthy for that game. I hope the coaches and players are thinking about it.
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Mad Ben Stiller GIF

Because clearly you are joking...right?
 
#129      
CheifKeith91
Not that we've had to to create offense, but have we even tried one trick play on offense this year? Or could we be saving those for these next two weeks??
 
#130      
ChiefGritty
FlotownIllini said:
scUM at home is objectively more winnable, by any conceivable metric.
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Not only that, but it's Michigan on the 100th anniversary of the legendary Red Grange game that is the most important moment in the history of the program.

Throwback leather helmets. 2:30 CBS game. A one-point spread.

This is a big friggin' deal.

It'll be cool if Oregon is #1 and all, but we're playing the ghosts of all that has come before on Saturday, this is epochal stuff.
 
#131      
lexwaldez
fklein said:
We need to start thinking about Oregon the week after. That is the big game for us. We need to make sure everyone is healthy for that game. I hope the coaches and players are thinking about it.
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I feel like the "Big game" for us is whatever game we're playing this week. We aren't anywhere close to good enough to look past our current opponent. I may have misunderstood what you were trying to say. Beating Mich at home to get to six wins is "a big game" to me.
 
#132      
Coop70
CheifKeith91 said:
Not that we've had to to create offense, but have we even tried one trick play on offense this year? Or could we be saving those for these next two weeks??
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I'm not too worried about trick plays, how many screen plays (wide receiver or tight end) have we utilized? When OL is continuing to collapse, it would be one way to take heat off Luke, and possibly slow down the rush.
 
#137      
illinibb76
I say we line up a tight end in the back field on pass plays. It would afford us better protection and the option to have him scrape block and kick out for a pass! It would definitely cause a linebacker to have to think twice before committing along with a DB in a zone read!
 
#138      
JKR
ChiefGritty said:
Not only that, but it's Michigan on the 100th anniversary of the legendary Red Grange game that is the most important moment in the history of the program.

Throwback leather helmets. 2:30 CBS game. A one-point spread.

This is a big friggin' deal.

It'll be cool if Oregon is #1 and all, but we're playing the ghosts of all that has come before on Saturday, this is epochal stuff.
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Extra credit for your adjective game.
 
#139      
TGB
ChiefGritty said:
Not only that, but it's Michigan on the 100th anniversary of the legendary Red Grange game that is the most important moment in the history of the program.

Throwback leather helmets. 2:30 CBS game. A one-point spread.

This is a big friggin' deal.

It'll be cool if Oregon is #1 and all, but we're playing the ghosts of all that has come before on Saturday, this is epochal stuff.
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Well, I've been going to games for 60 of those 100 years. Let's be real. For Purdue to score 46 points in the second half is such a let down. My wife mentioned about possibly leaving earl, and I've been to way to many games to think about that. That was a total embarrassing situation on network TV. How we are still ranked is beyond belief, and how do have a total collapse against one of the worst teams in our conference. I bet Michigan is licking their chops watching game film. How could Walters figure us out so easily, and we couldn't figure out how to make adjustments to stop the flood. Plus. It used to be fun reading the different post about games, recruiting and so on. Now, it's the same handful of posters going off on tangents, sometimes not even related to the football team. How many of our posters have season tickets are actually even go to the games?
 
#140      
aaeismacgychel
fklein said:
We need to start thinking about Oregon the week after. That is the big game for us. We need to make sure everyone is healthy for that game. I hope the coaches and players are thinking about it.
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Yeahhhhhhhh, about that... It's Michigan this week. Mucking Fichigan. There is no bigger game and no bigger opportunity than this one right in front of us that we play in Champaign in front of our sold out crowd. This is a game where if we win, fans will be talking about forever. You hold nothing back and focus on nothing else outside this game.

Now if you really want my honest assessment on Oregon, I really don't think anyone in our fanbase should think much at all of Oregon or what happens there. Not to be mean or pessimistic, but they're a major class above us. The only real chance we have in that game is if it's that one game in the middle of the season that Oregon sleepwalks through. Other than that we'll lose by more than 20 easy if not more. It's in Autzen and Oregon isn't afraid to run up the score. That is just a show up, say happy to be here, get pounded by touchdowns at will and go home. Most important thing about that game will be getting out of it healthy. I know fans will try to overanalyze or assess our team based on a result like that, but really it's just that Oregon is a national championship caliber team with NFL talent all over the field and we're a decent maybe even good college football team. We shouldn't lose any sleep on that one no matter what happens.
 
#141      
TX Illiniwek
fklein said:
We need to start thinking about Oregon the week after. That is the big game for us. We need to make sure everyone is healthy for that game. I hope the coaches and players are thinking about it.
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I don't know if this is sarcastic or not, but I didn't see the "/s" at the end so I'll say not. As a very long-time Illini fan, back to the early '70's, give me a win ANY DAY against scUM versus a win over a team that just joined the conference. This game, this week, is our biggest game of the year and any thoughts about Oregon need to be put to bed until this coming Sunday. We need 200% focus on this week's game. If, in two weeks, we are 6-2 with a win against scUM, I'll be ecstatic!!! But.....let's just go 1-0 this week!!!
 
#142      
fatt lacosse
and furthermore, a win clinches a bowl. this would be our shortest bowl break since 2011. versus preseason hopes and dreams, winning this game gets you right to the decades-long single-season goal of this program with five games left in the season.

this would be a tenure-defining win to build expectations like this and then actually come through when the lights are brightest.
 
#149      
RML
What do we think... If we somehow win the next two (5% chance?), does Altmeyer become a long-shot Heisman contender based on his numbers and performance in clutch time?
 
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