Illinois Football Thread

[TL1961]

NW playing with a QB that has almost zero chance to complete a pass, and Illinois allowing them to run at will.

Followed by a 34 yard TD pass to a guy we somehow couldn't keep up with.

Illinois is missing some guys, but the D Line isn't, and they are terrible! Can't stop anything or anyone.

Offensively, Robinson shows no sign of being a college QB.

 

[TL1961]

Absolutely horrible performance.

Couldn't stop the run against a team that can't throw even in good weather. Knew it was coming and didn't come close to stopping it. When the opponent routinely goes for it on 4th and 2 or more, you know you're stinking it up.

Offense was nonexistent. (Thanks again to the asshole cheapshot MF'er for giving Peters a concussion on a late hit that "wasn't late or targeting" ) You can't go 3 1/2 quarters with Robinson playing as he did before thinking about a change.

 

[JimJohnson]

Illinois has zero depth. When injuries happen, especially to key positions and impact players, kiss it goodbye.

 

[Parade_Rain]

NW playing with a QB that has almost zero chance to complete a pass, and Illinois allowing them to run at will.

Followed by a 34 yard TD pass to a guy we somehow couldn't keep up with.

Illinois is missing some guys, but the D Line isn't, and they are terrible! Can't stop anything or anyone.

Offensively, Robinson shows no sign of being a college QB.

It’s unfathomable the OC kept trotting him out there the whole game and then brought Williams in at a crazy time to do that. Williams isn’t physically ready for the B1G. Needs another off-season with Lou. Taylor should have been the guy after the first possession in the 2nd half and run a bunch of option. That OL has went backwards since last season and outside of losing Algretti, they lost Butkus as the OL coach. Maybe he was better than a certain person here gives him credit for. Either way, that OL coach isn’t getting it done.

 

[ytsejam]

Oskie Bow Wow!
Woof!

 

[TL1961]

With Mizzou firing their coach, a Trinity Catholic OL de-committed. Jalen St. John. He's a 3 star, but that's pretty much all Illinois recruits, and tehy have no OG committed yet. May be a possibility, but Illinois has very few scholarships open.

 

[FirstTimer]

Interesting regular season for Illinois. Started out terrible, had some big wins, then tank at the end. The overall 6 wins is about where most of us here put them prior to the season even if the pathway to it was...odd...but hey, it counts.

The bowl game is what it is, but next year will be very interesting when you start having to deal with the attrition from Lovie's first class and a lack of depth.

 

[Urblock]

Bowl Game Day. Enjoy

 

[JimJohnson]

Go Lovie!

 

[FirstTimer]

LOL.

Seems I was right about Lovie.

Eat shit, Parade.

 

[FirstTimer]

Lovie is a great hire and I was not a huge fan of Lovie in Chicago. I will be very surprised if IL doesn't become a regular bowl attendee in a few years.

EL OH EL

 

[FirstTimer]

Got great season tix and a decent tailgating lot. Looking forward to the improvement this program will see over the next few years.

Good investment

 

[FirstTimer]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Some names for Illinois: Army&#39;s Jeff Monken, Buffalo&#39;s Lance Leipold, former Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema, Kent&#39;s Sean Lewis, Iowa State OC Tom Manning, Ball State&#39;s Mike Neu, Wisconsin DC Jim Leonhard and Cincinnati DC Marcus Freeman.</p>&mdash; Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) <a href="

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1338170969043709955

">December 13, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[FirstTimer]

The usual suspects here. Leipold. Monken.

Interesting to see Freeman on there as he's expected as a replacement if Lea bolts ND for Vandy

Clark Lea would be a great hire to0. Should get a look. Elston from ND. Clawson at Wake?

Lot of good names out there and good choices. I think I'd like Bielema the least.

 

[Omeletpants]

Told you he was a mediocre coach.

Only human that can nap while standing on the sideline

Lovie Smith out at Illinois after five seasons

Lovie Smith is out as Illinois' head football coach after five seasons, the school announced Sunday.

www.espn.com

 

[TL1961]

While the team clearly needs a major upgrade defensively, I hope they don't hire a DC as HC.

Hire an offensive mind who hires a good DC.

It seems to me defensive coordinators turned head coach want to win games 10-7, and are too conservative offensively. No thanks.

No, I don't mean there are no exceptions, and don't need them pointed out.

 

[Raskolnikov]

I thought he would have been a better recruiter, to have Northwestern pass you up is intolerable with a school of 60,000 and moderate qualifications necessary. You should have every piece of the puzzle you could want.
How can a black former NFL coach known for defense not recruit an LSU/Alabama type defense?
I just would have expected him and Herm Edwards could have done better so I guess I don't understand the dynamics of college football or what attracts top parents/players to a program.

If I was a 5 star athlete parent and I saw Herm Edwards was coaching a team...it would take Nick Saban to change my course. You could have had Arizona weather and Herm Edwards mentoring your child. How do they not recruit a top 5 defense in all the land?

 

[FirstTimer]

Lovie Smith out as Illinois head coach

The former Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach went 17-39 in five seasons with Illinois.

theathletic.com

What went wrong for Smith?
Matt Fortuna, college football writer: This could be boiled down to one word: recruiting. Illinois turned heads when it hired Smith back in March of 2016 because Smith had been out of college since 1995. Recruiting ended up being his greatest downfall. He did a nice job of stabilizing what was a terrible situation when he took the job and he brought respectability to the place as a familiar name who handles himself well and got Illinois bowling. But too often he relied on the portal and made little inroads locally, culminating in a 2020 class that did not have a single in-state player.

I called this CHALK.

Illinois Football Thread

I'd like to see Lovie go into the living room of a top rated WR or QB and honestly say that he has a track record of great offenses. As opposed to, say...Tim Beckman and Bill Cubit.

www.chicitysports.com

Illinois Football Thread

You don't get the raging optimism because you don't understand UIUC. Everyone from the OSU boards to B&B are praising this move, yet here you are. I dunno, I spent 13 years growing up in IL, most of my friends went there, and my brother got his undergrad, Masters, and PhD from there. I think...

www.chicitysports.com

Illinois Football Thread

You don't get the raging optimism because you don't understand UIUC. Everyone from the OSU boards to B&B are praising this move, yet here you are. I dunno, I spent 13 years growing up in IL, most of my friends went there, and my brother got his undergrad, Masters, and PhD from there. I think...

www.chicitysports.com

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Not Bears related, idiot

 

[Raskolnikov]

Lovie Smith is Bears related to me. Its Bears history.

I would have liked to see Lovie Smith get a chance with an SEC defense, I think that would have been a great match. We need more black coaches and he would be great in the SEC with speed and depth in his advantage.

Miss.St., Miss, Florida St., Texas A&M, LSU

Would be like great fucking places to give Lovie Smith a last glory run as a DC only. I think he could have the talent/recruiting stream he needs and the dynamic speed athletes that benefit his style in deep rotations.

If I was an Athletic Department President, really his failures can be ignored as the vast inequality in college football, and situations not matching his style. Throw a couple failures out and give him a chance with a super program known for defensive recruiting stream and I think you will be rewarded with a fine pairing and a fine mentor for your men.

He might need some help tweaking his stuff to modern concepts...and you need to provide a carefully chosen supplemental hire who fits with Lovie in a mutually beneficial arrangement to overhaul and tweak his stuff.

But if you could give Lovie a speed advantage I believe he could run his stuff still.