whitesoxfan99

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 19, 2012 -> 09:00 PM) Well, their backup QB is better than ours. Their backup QB looks better than their starter right now.

QUOTE (He_Gawn @ Nov 18, 2012 -> 04:35 PM) Losing KBD is a big blow to UI and Purdue. Both were on him for a long time. Shocked everyone by going to OSU. That hurts but Groce has been in on KBD for a shorter period of time than basically every other staff that was recruiting him. Michigan and Purdue were on him the longest and he wasn't the priority he should have been under Weber.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Nov 18, 2012 -> 04:11 PM) They took advantage of the non-running game of the Cowboys, called 3 straight timeouts with the Cowboys on their own 3 yard line, then on the punt return got a gift horsecollar call on a missed-call, and then an easy toss to the endzone gave them the lead. Well the Cowboys just got lucky that the refs made a terrible call by calling a pass incomplete when Austin fumbled.

It is early and they are facing crappy teams, but I had forgotten it what it was like to actually see Illinois score points.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Nov 9, 2012 -> 01:24 PM) Phil can barely walk - I'd say no. This is interesting, though. Who the f*** will they hire as coach? Someone who doesn't want to run the Princeton offense, I'm sure! Stan Van Gundy? LOLOLOL DWIGHT NO Hmmm - I bet it's Bryan Shaw. The offense wasn't the problem. Their problem, that will not go away with a new coach, is that they are going to be a mediocre defensive team at best with that roster. Kobe is too old to defend on a nightly basis at this point and can't really stay in front of quicker players without giving a lot of space, Nash is horrendous defensively, Gasol can't stay in front of anyone and Artest hasn't kept a single SF in front of him that he has faced this year. And it isn't like they have any good plus defenders on the bench (or good players off the bench for that matter).

Oregon might have the greatest offense ever. 53 pts a game and I don't think their starters have even played in a 4th quarter yet this year.

Obvious hold by Notre Dame on that run.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 3, 2012 -> 06:00 PM) ND fans really can say with a straight face the refs haven't been their 4th quarter MVP this year? He is a joke. This is the same guy that complained that Dez Bryant's catch didn't count when his hand was out of bounds.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Nov 3, 2012 -> 05:56 PM) ND just got screwed out of a timeout. REFS HELPING OUT PITT ONCE AGAIN!!!! CONSPIRACY!!! Or you can actually learn the rules. The clock doesn't stop on an out of bounds unless there are less than 2 minutes left.

Wow, that PI call was even worse on replay. Absolute joke.

And Notre Dame scores a TD because of a terrible pass interference call against Pitt.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Nov 3, 2012 -> 04:39 PM) Hopefully some deep pocketed booster steps up and pays yet another buy-out. Monken should have been the guy last year, and should be now. Would be fine with me but Beckman will be here for three years unless they go winless next year in all likelihood. Hopefully for the next hire they actually hire a head coach who is intellectual and has had success coaching their side of the ball. I'm sick of f***ing meathead football guys.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Nov 3, 2012 -> 04:22 PM) You can keep blaming Zook's last few recruiting classes for how bad this team is, but no one is buying it. There is still a little talent on this team. NFL talent, even. In the very least, we can all agree they should at least be competitive against the worst Big Ten just about ever. At least competitive enough for one half. They aren't. Just awful. We now have to fight to avoid what Indiana is/was. I've said many times that Beckman looks terrible but there isn't talent on this team, at least on offense. We couldn't score last year and we lost our only good offensive linemen and our only legitimate skill position player and replaced them with bad players. On defense we lost the guy who was by far the best player on defense and our best defensive back and replaced them with Staples who is terrible and a true freshman. Buchanan, Spence, Brown and Hawthorne are guys with some NFL ability but Brown has been banged up this year and when he isn't on the field we are playing two true freshmen at LB. The safety play is terrible, Staples is terrible and Williams and Green are just guys. The coaching on the defensive side of the ball has been awful but there isn't a coach in the country who can get that offense to score points. And frankly, I've said in this thread that I would be fine with Beckman getting fired because I don't think he has what it takes between the ears to be a really good coach.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Nov 3, 2012 -> 04:02 PM) I know it wasn't going to be close. I posted on the last page how tOSU looked like an easy play at -27.5. Beckman just looks like a terrible coach. He does look brutal but the talent level is also a major problem. We are without a doubt the least talented offense in the Big 10 and our talent on defense after the top few guys is dreadful. I thought the top 4 or 5 guys on the defense would be enough to make us solid on that end but it just hasn't happened. Our pass rush really misses Mercilus because the other guys haven't stepped up and his replacement Justin Staples is a terrible football player. We also replaced Tavon Wilson who was our best DB with a true freshman and replaced Ian Thomas with a true freshman. Then you throw in that Brown has been banged up this year which leads to Svetina playing (who has no business being in a Big 10 game) along with our terrible safeties and you have major talent deficiencies.

Also, it is laughable how little depth we have on defense. Zook's recruiting was as bad as any team in the country between 2010 and 2012. With Brown's injury we are now playing 2 true freshmen at LB (both recruited by Beckman) one of whom has no business being on the field, we have no talent on the defensive line other than the 3 SRs who have all underachieved this year, every safety in the program is terrible and we are forced to play freshmen in the nickel and dime packages because Zook didn't recruit a good CB after the 2009 class.

I'm honestly having a tough time figuring out if we have a single player on the offense other than maybe the RBs that would start for another Big 10 team. Scheelhaase is the worst QB in the conference, the WRs except for Millines are MAC level receivers and Millines can't stay healthy and the offensive line is horrendous. Young and Ferguson would see the field for other teams but neither is a difference maker.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Nov 3, 2012 -> 03:50 PM) Yeah, real close so far. This was never going to be close. You have a team that looks incredibly poorly coached that also has no talent. Thanks Ron Guenther for not firing Zook when you should have in 2009.

James Harden is a stud. What an awful trade by OKC.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 2, 2012 -> 10:19 AM) The big 12 has gotten f***ed even when they DO have a title game. No reason Kstate should not be in the title game if they win out. What the hell are you talking about? The Big 12 has never gotten f***ed when it comes to getting a team in the title game. I'm not sure you can point to a single season where the Big 12 didn't get a team into the title game that deserved it.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 1, 2012 -> 05:09 PM) ILL just has this effect on OSU where its always close and surprising. OSU also blows against "spread-like" offensive teams. If the Bucks can run the ball with ease then it will be a blowout but I still think they wont cover. I personally think it will be a close game. Yeah, but most of those spread teams either have a dynamic runner at QB, a QB that can throw the ball or wide receivers that don't suck. Illinois has none of that. There is a reason that Illinois hasn't been able to score against a real defense the last two seasons.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Oct 30, 2012 -> 03:31 PM) Ha this is in the catch all thread, my comment was: Obi-Wan: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened. I'm not bothered by this at all. Even if future movies are crap they won't ruin my enjoyment of the original trilogy and I actually really liked Episode III. Episode I has issues with Jar-Jar and the kid but that movie is fun otherwise. The only one in the series I don't really care for is Episode II. But the Star Wars expanded universe is awesome and if those can be brought to screen with good directors and creative teams I want to see them. And hell, Episodes VII-IX without Lucas could be awesome, give him some story input but leave the writing and directing to others.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 30, 2012 -> 03:24 PM) This could be absolutely amazing with the write creative team in place with the amount of stories that can be brought to the big screen from the Star Wars universe. Obviously there is the possibility of oversaturation but Disney's acquisition of Marvel has gone well so far.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 27, 2012 -> 11:16 PM) And Beckman has turned around a program before mostly with a dominating offense. Right now he has zero offensive difference makers, and no, Sheelhouse or whatever isn't one of those. Give him some time. The problem is that he isn't an offensive coach and the guy who ran that offense at Toledo is now Toledo's head coach. There isn't a coach in the world that could make Illinois' offense good so I give him a pass on that end. But the defense went from being a top 20 unit last year to a disaster this year. Mercilus was a stud and losing him hurts but that unit returned 7 starters and Williams is a better player than Trulon Henry so losing Henry hasn't really hurt. There is simply no excuse for the defense to be as bad as its been. The key now is holding on to what is a decent first recruiting class and hoping Aaron Bailey is the real deal. If he isn't Beckman won't last long at Illinois.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 28, 2012 -> 12:01 AM) Ron Zook was the first coach in almost 20 years to take Illinois to back-to-back bowl games, but he wasn't good enough and now we get this. And f*** Oklahoma, now we have to deal with all this bulls*** for longer Are you really arguing Zook should have been retained? We finished 10th in the Big 10 last year, lost 6 straight games without being able to score and Zook recruited literally one player from 2010 through 2012 that looks like a high level Big 10 football player. Hell, Mason Monheim is the only freshman or sophomore in the program who looks like he is worth a damn. This team should be better and Beckman's coaching has been lousy but we were heading for the bottom again with the incredible lack of talent Zook was bringing in. Pocic is the only offensive linemen with any talent and he is pretty limited athletically, the RBs are ok but not game changers and really no different than what every other team has, the WRs other than Millines are absolute garbage (and Millines is always hurt) and the QBs are arguably the worst in the Big 10.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Oct 27, 2012 -> 11:52 PM) In my opinion it shows you how weak the AL was this year, that's why I wanted Sox to get in and play the Yankees so bad. IMHO. It shows nothing. The AL was better than the national league this year despite the fact that the Giants are likely going to win the world series. There are no dominant teams in baseball right now and when you have a short series anything is possible.