Minnesota 25, Illinois 17 Postgame
blackdog
- Champaign
Not just that but he is patient enough and has vision to find holes. If he had a little more burst he would be an absolute stud.
the national
- the Front Range
That’s fair, and I agree. All this to be said, I give our defense a lot of credit. Speaking not on the flags, We held them to a FG on that like fumble in the first half. We held them to a FG on their last drive. They gave us a chance. We left a few Picks and sacks out there but they fought. I’m not sure what to say for the offense.
To win we need to get McCray going. The way he’s running is how I hoped Faegin would run this year. He gets up the field and gets his yards
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
We are a .500-ish team, which sadly is relatively tolerable given our many years at .333 or worse. It comes down to the close games, and we have won more than lost so far this year. I hope we win 2-3 of any close remaining games. 8-4 is great for us at this juncture of our program.
the national
- the Front Range
On the last drive when we scored. We were floundering and then he threw and hit Franklin, then Goda, and then Franklin - all first targets. He didn’t check down and delivered excellent passes. I’m curious if Lunney told him to gun sling and not think. It looked so different than other series.
Get to 8 and a winning record in conference play and any sane Illini fan should feel pretty good.
Losing games like today hurts more now than in the past because we actually have shots at winning more often than not.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
They're pretty good. Wouldn't want to get too bent out of shape about a bad performance by us today, we're just not that good and need to play above our ability level to beat good teams.
Our next three opponents are more at our level though.
MSU is at our level. Id argue on paper we have more than Rutgers, and certainly NW. Not that it guarantees a win
MSU is better than MINN
It’s easy to do that when you have several nfl players on your defense. We tried to do that last year and the teams in the conference adjusted and killed us with the te.
Valentine has 5 carries for 12 yards. I think he’s got a lot of potential but it’s obvious he’s not in there to pass block.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
That is absolutely categorically false. In 2022 it became so obvious we were dropping 8 on any 3rd and long it was almost comical.
When you have a defensive backfield littered with NFL players, trusting them to play coverage is smart though. This team may need a different strategy.
We also had Keith, Johnny, Seth, Avery and jacas on the d line
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
That is where I disagree. I think Illinois and Minnesota are about on the same level. Minnesota played a relatively clean game and we did not. This was as close to a coin flip game as possible, and we simply did not execute well enough (and Minnesota took advantage). It happens, but still disappointing, nonetheless. A perfect home record was very possible going into today. Still feel good about the last 3 games, but this loss should sting.
blackdog
- Champaign
Our defensive backfield is ok right now but the Dline cannot consistently get pressure with just 4 most of the time. Eye test it seems like they are effective when they blitz but it just doesn't happen very often. Everything seems too vanilla and there isn't enough talent to win that way consistently.
The difference in this game was the fumbles and the missed fg. Besides that it was pretty even.
Bye week came at a good time. Need to get healthy and reset the brains of these young men.
LA needs some rest he has been off for weeks and his throwing mechanics are off. This loss isn't of the defense. They performed admirable considering they had no rest and not help.
How we don't see where the game is going and Luke doesn't have it in the first and still have a lack of ability and dedication to the run
LA needs some rest he has been off for weeks and his throwing mechanics are off. This loss isn't of the defense. They performed admirable considering they had no rest and not help.
How we don't see where the game is going and Luke doesn't have it in the first and still have a lack of ability and dedication to the run
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Advanced stats very strongly disagree with both of these.
And we rightly pine for some of the DB's and DL we used to have, but you know what's an elephant in the room? We really haven't had a ton of talent at linebacker the entire time Bielema's been here.
or, average linemen, even.
Lunney has been collaborating with Shane Waldron.
blackdog
- Champaign
James Kreutz has some flashes and he had 9 tackles today despite playing with 1 hand but nobody else is really showing much at LB. It's a desperate need.