BERT
- Thread starter PURPLE Book Cat
- Start date
At least there are three RB's that looked good. I think Peters has, at least, either a fractured clavicle or an AC separation, based upon the mechanism of injury. Looks like the LB's will be busy. Friday will be a glimpse as to what to expect for the year from our Cats.
What do you mean by relevant? Winning more than 1 Big Ten game? Did you guys actually watch the game? Illinois is not a good team. Nebraska is worse.
corbi, I do not agree. I watched every play of the game, and I believe Illinois will be in most games this season, and might win 6 or 7. I say this regardless of whether Peters returns. Sitkowski was a high 3 star coming out of high school and had 26 offers, many from big time programs. Rutgers was truly awful when he was there, so we'll see.
Being competitive and not getting blown out is different than actually winning games. I agree they will be more competitive because they will make less boneheaded plays under Bielema. That will be good enough to beat teams who beat themselves like Nebraska who gave Illinois 16 points yesterday, but they don’t have the talent to beat good teams. I have not looked at their schedule but I think if Bielema wins 4-5 games with that team he should be given a raise.
Honestly just shaking my head at these types of comments. I must have been watching the game through a different lense.
The bulldozing drive to start the second half was extremely impressive and set up the deep shot they landed on the following possession. I still don’t think Sitkowski can be the QB of a winning team in the conference. Once teams can stop their run game, can he avoid mistakes? He would have looked a lot different had that pick stood and Nebraska had gone up by two scores.
When they haven't played anyone else, I have a hard time deciding if two teams are bad or closely matched and just making each other look bad (the heat didn't help either) .
I suspect you have a better eye for this than I do so hopefully the Cats can get two easy wins out of this pair.
To be fair to Sitkowski, he should look a little better given a couple of weeks practicing as the starter. I think the ref really screwed Illinois for the season by not calling Nebraska for unnecessary roughness earlier in the game. I think it was the first sack that was a bit of a body slam, but Peters survived that one.
It’s comical. Of course they will be 3-1 after OOC and they will be back according to people. I didn’t see one area they look better than average in. Martinez was horrendous and there were guys wide open on multiple plays that he either air mailed or didn’t see!
People complain about our WRs. Their WR group is DII caliber. At most they have 7-8 starters who would start at even one other Big Ten team. Talent wise, I think Illinois has the worst roster top to bottom in the Big Ten, including Nebraska.
Martinez badly missed on at least two ten yard throws to wide open receivers who had clear paths to the end zone. Nebraska was awful yesterday.
He looked good yesterday. The entire Illini team looked better than they have under Lovie, IMO, except for the blown coverage and failure to contain their QB. Granted, that's a low bar, but I like Bert as a coach and think he'll turn things around for Illinois.
Nebraska looked "meh" but continued to shoot themselves in the foot over and over again. I found myself rooting for Illinois against Nebraska. Nebraska is a weird program now with huge turnover.
Had this conversation with Illini son- there’s something to be said for letting teams beat themselves - worth 3 wins year
What are the 3-4 more possible? I suppose every game is possible but based on what you implied I assume you mean they have at least a 40-50% chance to win those games?
Virginia Maryland, Rutgers Purdue are good possibility. And UTSA and Charlotte for 2 pretty sure wins
What I see for Illinois is two sure losses against Maryland and Virginia, a highly likely loss to A rapidly improving Rutgers team and at best a toss up against a more talented Purdue team.
September will tell us a lot about Illinois. I'm gonna lean towards the skeptical side until I see more (especially those Virginia/Maryland/Purdue games).
Illinois blasted Nebraska last year in a 2 win season (other win was a 3 point win against Rutgers).
It's always hard to tell what a game between two programs that have been terrible for a half-decade (at least) means.
I think Bert can bring Illinois back to being a more regular bowl team. He's absolutely the right hire for that program. Knows the type of style he wants to build and it can fit a team that's less talented than the best teams in the division/conference.
Illinois blasted Nebraska last year in a 2 win season (other win was a 3 point win against Rutgers).
It's always hard to tell what a game between two programs that have been terrible for a half-decade (at least) means.
I think Bert can bring Illinois back to being a more regular bowl team. He's absolutely the right hire for that program. Knows the type of style he wants to build and it can fit a team that's less talented than the best teams in the division/conference.
Corbi, I hope you're right. I think Bulimia is a fat toad, and I can't stand Illinois. I also feel like he'll jump ship if he has any modicum of success and is offered more to go elsewhere. That said, he is a successful coach. Heck, even his performance at Arkansas would be welcome down at Rantoul. I'm not throwing roses at his feet, but there is enough mediocrity in their schedule that, with decent coaching and an experienced, albeit less talented team...Wait - that's how everyone describes us every year.
Finally, I remain sick of the interview at the top of the page with this guy Brandon Jacobs, and can someone get him some hydrocortisone for behind his ear?
You could be right, but you’re much harsher and more pessimistic toward them than the average poster here, let alone the average person. No reason Illinois shouldn’t have making a bowl as a realistic goal this year, even if it’s not achieved.
Also, I don’t see BB leaving. As I said on the Iowa board:
1. Bert has already bolted for (what he perceived to be) greener pastures once, and it did not work out too well for him.
2. He’s from Illinois and stated he grew up an Illini fan. That in and of itself isn’t enough to keep a coach sometimes, but it compliments #1.
3. Illinois’ AD (and his donors, most importantly) has recently shown a willingness to dish out the big bucks for head coaches. Not saying this is the only consideration, but if Bert has Illinois good enough other coaches come calling, Illinois will dig DEEP in the pocket books to keep him around.
4. There are enough advantages and resources at Illinois to be consistently competitive yet there is significantly less pressure to meet unreasonable expectations. I honestly think the days of a coach leaving an Illinois/Maryland/Rutgers (i.e., a program with good potential but a lack of recent success) for a Nebraska might be over. Why go to the “better job” where they’ll expect the world and fire you when you can’t deliver?
I’m not saying Illinois is some top tier job, but I think given Bert’s age, hometown connections, humbling experience at Arkansas, preference for the Big Ten and Illinois’ combination of awful recent history/pretty good resources … he’ll be around for a while. Besides, I highly doubt he ever gets Illinois to the level he’d need to for the no-brainer jobs like ‘Bama or Texas to come sniffing, anyway.
Biased fan take, I admit, but hardly outlandish. BB isn’t some rising star, he’s a pretty old coach who grew up and has family nearby…
For the record l, my son goes to Illinois now so for his sake i’d Like them to be somewhat successful. I also think Bielema is a good coach and he will get it straightened eventually but it will take time. My views on Illinois are based solely on my perception of their talent relative to their opponents. This is not a very talented roster. Some good players but not enough to field a quality first string. The two deep is even worse and the bad news for them is that their best talent is graduating this year. Lovie did a horrible job recruiting and the cupboard is really bare. It will take multiple years for Bielema to get this going.
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Williams was a 5 star recruit as an athlete. Most of the blue blood programs were recruiting him to play either WR or DB. Williams is the most highly rated WR recruit on either team.
Ok and? Watch him play and tell me if that rating was justified. Nice little player but would struggle to start at WR right now for many other teams in the Big Ten. Besides one player doesn’t make a football team.
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I don't know how good he will be and neither do you. It was his first game at a new position. I don't think anyone can make a judgement about his career at WR based on a single game. There are many players that look meh as freshman and make a huge jump their second year. He is essentially a freshman at his position.
I don't think Illinois is very good but I think they will likely win 4-5 games. The Vegas over/under for wins for Illinois is 3.5 so 4 wins would not be surprising based on that line. I do think Illinois will be decent (7 wins+) in about 3 years. They will be really bad next year.
He is small and not exceptionally fast for his size, though very shifty. It is not going to be a pleasant experience for him the first time a DL or LB lines him up with a full head of steam on a tunnel screen.
Ok so we are in agreement. Williams is not a good player now but may be good WR down the road. Regardless, Illinois is not a good team now and will struggle to win another big ten game. Four wins would be a decent result. We also agree Illinois will suck even worse next year and may have A brighter future down the road with bielema at the helm.
You have an incredible amount of animosity towards the Illinois football program to the point of irrationality. Our fan base consensus is a 5-6 win team this year, a couple of rough years unless we can kill it in the portal, and then a stable 6-8 win program with the occasional 10 win season.
Your take on Williams is dumb. He set the single game rushing record for an Illinois QB last season, is very shifty and has demonstrated the ability to make tacklers miss. He doesn't have blazing Rondale Moore speed, but he has deceptive football speed. He'll get 10-15 touches a game, via pass receptions, wildcats, bubble screens and jet sweeps. "Williams is not a good player now...." is a ridiculous take.
I can only surmise that the chip you have on your shoulder about Illinois reflects your deep-seated fear that we are going to improve, and the Wildcats aren't going to continue to have their way with us. There is no reason that Illinois cannot eventually challenge in the West under Bielema's coaching.
Do you mean to say that he (we) don't like the Illini, our rival, and want them to do poorly? That would be unprecedented in college football. /s
I can only speak for myself, not Corbi. OF COURSE I don't want you to improve, I want us to beat you every year for the rest of my life. In fact, I prefer that you lose nearly every game. I did get a bit of schadenfreude from watching Frost/Nebraska get beaten, but I basically prefer that you lose every B1G game except Michigan. Further, I feel Bert is a legit coach, so of course am concerned that he will make your program relevant again.
If you don't feel the same way about us, we aren't doing this right.
Turn arounds can happen three times faster now because of the portal... if you bring in the right guys. Big if.
Oh look, another Illinois fan coming to an NU board and expressing shock that there is little support or regard for Illinois among NU fans! Keep in mind, as I said earlier, I actually have somewhat of an interest in seeing Illinois do better as my youngest son is now an undergraduate at Gies. Having said that, I am not going to sugarcoat things. Last weekend’s game against Nebraska says a lot more about Nebraska than it does about Illinois. Lovie left the cupboard bare and what I saw on the field last week was probably no more than 10 players in your first string that could start at any other Big Ten school. Hard to win many games with that. If Bielema wins more than 4 games this year with this roster he should renegotiate his contract. Bielema is a douche but I’ve always maintained he is a good coach and he will make Illinois much more competitive in time. He’ll need at least three recruiting classes to do so and in the interim you guys will continue to lead the country in transfers. Just my 2 cents, like it or not.
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