Scouting U of I for 9/12 game

sealhall74 · Sun Sep 06, 2015 3:43 pm

Anxious to see if we crack the top 25 polls week. Massey moved us up 7 slots to number 6 just ahead of CCU.

Sun Sep 06, 2015 5:24 pm

sealhall74 wrote:Anxious to see if we crack the top 25 polls week. Massey moved us up 7 slots to number 6 just ahead of CCU.

My guess is we probably swap with Eastern, end up being right ~25-26 in most polls. Massey usually has a fairly strong MVFC bias though, so I'm not sure how much I trust them...although it is fun to look at.

lovethenecks · Sun Sep 06, 2015 8:38 pm

Based on what I saw last week from both teams, and knowing that a Bill Cubit offense can put up a lot of points. I am predicting a 45-13 loss this Saturday. The kicking game better pick it up or they will block 2-3 punts. Come out of this game with no major injuries and it will be a success. Tougher playing these FBS teams in game 2-4 as they get to scout you. Based on a 3-4 win season we will be right on track after this game.

W1U · Sun Sep 06, 2015 8:58 pm

I wasn't that concerned about this game until I saw what Illinois did last week. I would expect a loss in the 38-6 range given that most key players for the Illini should be out in the 3rd. As others have mentioned, special teams really need to improve to avoid big trouble this week.

I really do think the defense will play tough and look better than Kent State. However, I just don't see many points being scored for Western.

Sun Sep 06, 2015 9:36 pm

I think I'm kinda on the same page with most of you. I think a win is a rather unlikely (although not unwelcome) outcome. Illinois was able to come out and completely shut down Kent State while putting up some huge yardage. I agree that I think the score will be closer...I feel like our defense (at least how they played this first week) is better than Kent State's, although if we don't come out firing on all cylinders offensively (or have some huge return yards from Lenoir again), we're unlikely to get many points on our side of the board.

My semi-optimistic prediction...our defense comes out strong and we end up trading drives that end in a punt or occasionally a FG. First half is pretty low scoring, with Illinois ahead by maybe a TD. Second half, depth gets to us and Illinois pulls away. We maybe get a TD later in the game, but something in the neighborhood of 36-9 seems about right to me. We walk away with no injuries, some extra $ in our pockets, and a bit more "big stadium" experience. It seems like that's often been my predictions for our FBS games lately, although it seems like we've been playing a lot of P5 conference teams lately too...and those are a lot harder to take down than the bottom half of the MAC. Illinois hasn't been great lately, but they're still a Big 10 team, and as we've seen, a bad Big 10 team is still A LOT better than a Kent State or Eastern Michigan.

HoosierNeck · Mon Sep 07, 2015 6:49 am

A few thoughts on the game:
-I think Illinois is a better team with Cubit then Beckman as Coach (if Beckman were coaching, my prediction would be more competitive)
-Illinois was dominant and appears to have a good player or unit on both sides of the ball (my concern is they are big on both lines)
-I think the key to this game is our line play (on offense we need to get a good push to run and give Norvell time to throw-easier said then done; defensively, we need to get a pash rush from our D-Line and not have to rely on blitzing)
-My prediction:
IL-41
WIU-17

Hoping to see lots of purple on Saturday. I'm excited to make my first trip to Memorial Stadium; I couldn't make the trip in '07, as I was covering a high school game that day.

Any word if the band will be there?

WIU0812 · Mon Sep 07, 2015 7:03 am

This will probably go Illini way but don't give them to much credit Kent State sucks and Illini just happened to suck a little less. They should end season wil a losing record. Most likely missing playoffs due to missing staters and coaching changes. That being said I say we lose 35 to 14

Mon Sep 07, 2015 7:34 am

HoosierNeck wrote:Any word if the band will be there?

Unfortunately no, the band is not traveling to any away games this year. Budget cuts, no travel money.

Western_101 · Mon Sep 07, 2015 10:22 am

http://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forums/s ... hp?t=22610

Interesting thread over at Illinois Loyalty.

sealhall74 · Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:59 pm

HoosierNeck wrote:A few thoughts on the game:
-I think Illinois is a better team with Cubit then Beckman as Coach (if Beckman were coaching, my prediction would be more competitive)
-Illinois was dominant and appears to have a good player or unit on both sides of the ball (my concern is they are big on both lines)
-I think the key to this game is our line play (on offense we need to get a good push to run and give Norvell time to throw-easier said then done; defensively, we need to get a pash rush from our D-Line and not have to rely on blitzing)
-My prediction:
IL-41
WIU-17

Hoping to see lots of purple on Saturday. I'm excited to make my first trip to Memorial Stadium; I couldn't make the trip in '07, as I was covering a high school game that day.

Any word if the band will be there?

Good point about the "push" from O-line. I did not see much push in spring game or the EIU game. That piece of the puzzle has me more worried at this point than who the RB(s) are going to be.