Illinois State

[Western_101]

I remember a time when people in Peoria and also Chicago suburbs would almost universally react with the same statement to a question "where'd you go to school?" 

"Western"

"Oh, Western is really good at football". 

Obviously there are levels of broken hearts. I can't think of anyone that has given more of their time to this board than ST_Lawson.

I have some very negative and non constructive thoughts about everything that encompasses this university. 

Why do a break down on such a broken program?

If Western can muster a win it will be a Miracle. Oh yeah, I forgot, Go Western.

[Western_101]

I graduated in '97 for reference, I'm 48 years old.

[ST_Lawson]

I remember a time when people in Peoria and also Chicago suburbs would almost universally react with the same statement to a question "where'd you go to school?" 

"Western"

"Oh, Western is really good at football". 

Obviously there are levels of broken hearts. I can't think of anyone that has given more of their time to this board than ST_Lawson.

I have some very negative and non constructive thoughts about everything that encompasses this university. 

Why do a break down on such a broken program?

If Western can muster a win it will be a Miracle. Oh yeah, I forgot, Go Western.



 

Idk if I'd call it a "miracle"...Illinois State was roughly "middle of the pack" last year in the MVFC.
They went 6-5 overall, 4-4 in the conference. Lost to Wisconsin, SIU, NDSU, YSU, and SDSU; beat Valpo, EIU, UNI, USD, INSU, and us in OT. This year they opened the season by beating Dayton 41-0 (Dayton was halfway decent for a pioneer league team last year). The MVFC Defensive Player of the Year, LB Zeke Vandenburgh, is now a Miami Dolphin. They had one other player on the All-Conference first or second team last year (OL Drew Bones, who was also a senior).
Are we favored?...no...the only game we're currently favored in is against Lindenwood next weekend...but we're in the range of "it wouldn't be that big of a shock" if we pulled off a win (as opposed to when we play NDSU). Seems like WIU has always played ILSU pretty close, regardless of records or rankings.

Part of the reason why I haven't been able to post my usual rundowns is because things have been really busy for my family and at work lately, plus I don't really feel like I know most of our team. We've had so much turnover the last couple of years and while we had some decent drives in the first half of last week's game, it's really hard to judge how good we are when we've only played an FBS team. Will we be able to continue doing those types of drives all game when we're up against an FCS team that doesn't have the depth of a FBS team? Or are we just a "first-half team"?

Idk...I'm just hoping that we'll have a large crowd from the MEGA Reunion, everything else going on in town this weekend, first home game, and fairly decent weather (Weather Underground says a high of 80 and sunny), as well as the familiar opponent. Hopefully that crowd will help push us to one of our (probably few) wins this season. I'd like to get at least one or two on WIU's MVFC "Farewell Tour".

I'll miss our every-other-year trips to Normal...it's a fairly easy drive, I'm familiar with the town and campus and a few of the fans over there...so hopefully we can work out a semi-regular OOC series against them in the future.
 
 

[ST_Lawson]

According to a couple of fairly solid sources, we've scheduled games with ILSU for '24 and '25 already, which is excellent. I assume H&H, but I haven't heard for sure.
 

[letsgonecks]

This is a winnable game. 

Last week was tough.  We didn't tackle well last week, got pushed around up front on defense and on offense in the second half.  We also had a lot going against us and these shouldn't be excuses and really good teams overcome these issues, but real:  First game vs their second, FCS vs FBS, long distance travel vs home, 3000 feet of extra elevation we're not used to, and probably the biggest being most of the guys have never played a real game together.

Gets a lot more comfortable in game 2.  This is a must win in my books and think we have a real shot.

Side notes.  ISU already has our game notes out and nothing has changed on the 2 deep.  We also listed Hartman started at guard and Clements started at DT last week and unless I missed something, that is not factual.  Who handles this info, who checks this info, do these people not actually watch or follow the game.  Ok, that really doesn't matter for our wins and losses, but we really lack taking pride in a lot of areas.  I'm sure its a student who gives zero f's and no one else is stepping up, but saddens me.

Also, I wish we would stop running a 3-4.  It's been ok for us once in the last 20 years and that was because we had Khalen Saunders.  We get destroyed up the middle and rarely see the fruits of have 2 OLB's getting pressure off the edge on passing downs (Swenson 17' - 18' and large part because of Saunders inside) .  Go a bit bigger with 4 up front on early downs and have 3 backers ready to pickup pieces.  Maybe we see the same out comes, but just hate the 3-4 unless you have a major disrupter inside and force on the edge.

[sealhall74]

I dont know if it a must win, but it definitely is a must not be embarrassed.
Just like the last game, I am looking for some movement on the ground.
Preferrably north and south, not jet sweep east and west.
Get the butts (including mine) in the seats before kickoff and make some noise.
It can be done.
 

[dogwhisper]

I’d call it a win if we can stay within 20 points, only good for one close win/loss at Hanson a year maybe this is it

[GV Dad]

Also, I wish we would stop running a 3-4.  It's been ok for us once in the last 20 years and that was because we had Khalen Saunders.  We get destroyed up the middle and rarely see the fruits of have 2 OLB's getting pressure off the edge on passing downs (Swenson 17' - 18' and large part because of Saunders inside) .  Go a bit bigger with 4 up front on early downs and have 3 backers ready to pickup pieces.  Maybe we see the same out comes, but just hate the 3-4 unless you have a major disrupter inside and force on the edge.

 

Completely agree  ^^^  !   I have always hated the 3-4.  

[GV Dad]

I like our chances tomorrow.  Not calling for a W just yet, but I saw some very promising things last week.  

1) I know we had a lot of missed tackles.  But our scheme had players in the right place, they just didn't finish.  That happens sometimes when you are playing a level up.  Opposing players are bigger, stronger faster; and in most cases better rested due to the depth 85 scholarships creates.  I can't remember many receivers getting behind our Defense which was a big issue ever since we had Fitz playing CF for us.  Pun intended  
 
2) Morrisey showed me alot of toughness and athleticism.  I loved his ability to check down when needed.  I didn't see many passes that seemed forced or predetermined.  He missed a wide open Jack Whyte for a TD, but he also had 2 defenders in his face and barely was able to get the pass off.  

3) O Line had their moments, where they showed improvement.  In my opinion, OL has been our main area of concern since the 2017 season.  This was Elliott's downfall, the inability, for whatever reason, to recruit, develop and retain offensive lineman.  Hopefully, our new OL Coach can keep developing these kids and they improve with each game.  

4) The most important thing from last week, we cashed a $360,000 and left Las Cruces relatively heathy.  

Hopefully a good crowd, SR day, and playing our biggest rival will turn into a good outcome!  

[leatherneckcountry]

I'm not going to make excuses because the 2nd half was pretty terrible but something that i don't think can be over looked was that was our 1st game while that was there 2nd. No matter how much you practice nothing beats in game experience.