PasstheDamnBallGuy

I don't think he is gonna be bringing in future NFL hall of famers to Illinois. He had some really stacked teams at wisconsin and still didn't quite ever reach into the top of CFB with the real elite teams. I think he can make Illinois a solid tough defensive team but will need a good OC and some luck in recruiting to be a real threat in the west.

What about Nouili? I haven't heard anything about him since joining

They ran that like backside toss play with him lead blocking a few times and he looked good in space for a true freshman his size.

Adding on to Ruud point, the ILB play this season was some of the best we have seen in years.

I think Ruud is too important in locking down in state recruiting. I'm not sure how any assistant on defense can go after this year. Every unit saw improvement imo. I agree though we need to find a way to get a dedicated special teams coach.

If nothing else someone can turn that into a pretty sweet gif. I thought it was hilarious but I doubt Frost will feel the same. At least not publicly

I saw it also. Pretty sure it's NPG. They held the camera on him for a while

I'm more of a Dr pepper fan but I gotta try that

Woof

I think Hunt being an irredeemable pos was a pretty big loss that people don't mention as much. Which I get. I don't blame people for wanting to forget he was ever here, but iirc he was set to get a lot of targets last season and it was after fall camp so he probably took a lot of the first team reps that someone else could have used.

Yeah I remember even last year hearing Benning talk about that on their morning show. I don't listen super frequently so it may have happened and I missed it but they talked about having Ahman on to talk about it since it was a similar transition for him. I just don't know what the trade off is in going away from long term plans and playing systems you don't know as well vs getting reps for your team going forward in the style you want to run. And then it becomes how all the other pieces fit in and if you can teach the rest of the team that system in an offseason.

Yeah it sux none of those younger players can seem to stay healthy this year because it would be nice to see what they have. I think Wandale could be a feature back and this offense would probably look a lot better but it's a waste of a weapon and I'm not sure he could take a whole season of that. I think that's the same issue with the QB run game. It works extremely well but Martinez is already pretty banged up and we know what it looks like when he is out.

I can't for the life of me imagine why fans would hope their coach figures it out and turns the program around. I'll have to take some time and think on this one.

Genuine question because I'm not sure but how would you rate Mills vision and ability to get the most out of runs? Like from what I can tell it's obviously on the blocking also but he just doesn't seem to be able to find the right lane and if he does he doesn't have the speed or decisiveness to explode through. He has some nice tough runs where he can break tackles or fight for extra yards but it just looks to me like a better back could make more hay even with our current blocking level. Wandale is obviously a special player but when he runs with the same blocking he breaks off bigger plays.

Actual holding is called on our opponents and we win the game

@ZRod I remember they ran the double slant I want to say 2nd drive of NW game. 3rd and medium good pass by Martinez would have been a 1st and dropped by Liewer. I think maybe the problem the coaching staff got themselves into was that they thought the better underclassmen WRs werent ready. Now QBs only have good timing with the original starting WRs who just arent good enough. Now you either roll with WRs that just wont get it done or start putting in WRs that are better but have a hard time on timing plays like that, and hope the QB can get chemistry on the fly. Just my theory though.

I heard somewhere but didnt confirm that this was the 3rd game this year where Iowa was warned about the clapping btw

Isn't Gunnerson having injury issues also. I would have definitely pegged him as someone who could earn a few snaps as a true freshman.

Clearly all those other teams just have more dynamic defensive lines. They probably all had 3 players leave and make active NFL rosters in one year.

Too add to this I think it would also do a lot of people on here some good to go look at Rutgers top 3 WRs.

Gotta stay on brand. No denying that was a hell of a play though

I won't disagree with that. It def feels like a lifetime ago

https://streamable.com/s1utkl

Hmm maybe its just a Texas football attitude then. I was in school and only really hanging out with people going into coaching or training at that time also.