Illinois vs. SJSU & Stony Brook

[Flowers4Heisman]

I'm glad we won but I'm wondering on the scale of oven-fresh softness, how does Illinois stack up against SJSU and Stony Brook?

Yes, we are better now; we've turned the corner on the plays being called. But I'm wondering if a team like Illinois can block our punting, what sort of team we have right now? I wouldn't say that we are anywhere near where things were when we won against South Carolina.

Who would win these matchups?

Illinois vs. SJSU

Illinois vs. Stony Brook

 

[Boomer]

Our special teams are worse, but our defense is better than when we won against South Carolina.  Illinois beats both SJSU and Stony Brook.

[Apis Bull]

30 minutes ago, Boomer said:

Our special teams are worse, but our defense is better than when we won against South Carolina.  Illinois beats both SJSU and Stony Brook.

And our offense seems to have started clicking

[TromBull12]

We also played our 3rd game after a hurricane, limited practice/ short week, and on a weeknight.  All of that and we still put up 47 on a division 1 opponent who had none of those excuses. 

The special teams things, as much as it sucked,  and as memorable as it was, only happened once and was a non issue later in the same game. 

We're going to beast from here on out as long as everyone stays  healthy and mentally focused. But this leads me to wonder if Alabama fans are so tired of winning that they only get excited when they play Clemson or Florida State? 

I wonder if they question their own legitimacy after their unimpressive victory over a nobody this past week.

I personally believe good teams even when uninspired by their opponent, find ways to Win. That's the true measure of a great team. 

[JTrue]

2 hours ago, Flowers4Heisman said:

I'm glad we won but I'm wondering on the scale of oven-fresh softness, how does Illinois stack up against SJSU and Stony Brook?

Yes, we are better now; we've turned the corner on the plays being called. But I'm wondering if a team like Illinois can block our punting, what sort of team we have right now? I wouldn't say that we are anywhere near where things were when we won against South Carolina.

Who would win these matchups?

Illinois vs. SJSU

Illinois vs. Stony Brook

 

Illinois beats both of them, but that's because SJSU has a chance of being the worst team in the FBS and Stony Brook is up to about #39 in the FCS. We didn't look great against Illinois, but we looked infinitely better than the previous two games. I'm sure some of it was rust, but it can't all be chalked up to that. We've got to do better on special teams and with penalties. While we did have a limited practice schedule, it wasn't nearly as limited as people think. Directly from the mother of a starter on the offense who I was talking to last week, they were practicing on campus even while it was still closed to faculty and students. 

[MMW]

2 hours ago, Flowers4Heisman said:

I wouldn't say that we are anywhere near where things were when we won against South Carolina.

 

I think the defense is much better.  I think the offense is in the process of clicking but probably needs some more time to learn the nuances of Gilbert's offense.  Losing Mack and Adams was a blow.

Special teams issues have to be be fixable.  It is not like our kickers suck, it is just blocking assignments.  That being said, that needs to get corrected ASAP.  Teams are going to go all out now trying to block kicks and punts.

[Triple B]

3 hours ago, Flowers4Heisman said:

 But I'm wondering if a team like Illinois can block our punting, what sort of team we have right now?

Illinois didn't block any punts. They blocked our first 2 kick attempts. We then ran off 7 successful ones. 

[Mpjohns3]

4 hours ago, MMW said:

I think the defense is much better.  I think the offense is in the process of clicking but probably needs some more time to learn the nuances of Gilbert's offense.  Losing Mack and Adams was a blow.

Special teams issues have to be be fixable.  It is not like our kickers suck, it is just blocking assignments.  That being said, that needs to get corrected ASAP.  Teams are going to go all out now trying to block kicks and punts.

Don't worry, we gave up those blocks intentionally to set up the fakes once we get to conference play. Strong playing the long con.

[Triple B]

Just now, Mpjohns3 said:

Don't worry, we gave up those blocks intentionally to set up the fakes once we get to conference play. Strong playing the long con.

I lllllllllike it!