@@lewtown Here’s what I was thinking…. Illinois beats Michigan in the regular season, OSU in the conference title game, and somehow they’d miss out of the college playoffs. I could see that happening
Lovie smith was the person Illinois needed at the time. They didn’t expect great things, but they needed an adult in charge who was generally a good person, would command respect, and improve the image of the program after the whole tim Beckham fiasco. That’s what they wanted, and smith did all of that. He laid the foundation for what is going on now
@@lordrayden3045 100 percent it will happen unless everyone rally behind them like cinci last year. I see a 2 loss LSU making it before Illinois because of SEC bias. Of Illinois Wis the big 10 imo they should make it regardless mbecaise the beast either Michigan or osu
@@lewtown I’m nit predicting Illinois could pull that off, I can see the. Losing to Purdue after thst Indiana fiasco. However if they did, I’m sire OSU would make it in instead because “reasons”
Illinois has tremendously underrated facilities and a state loaded with power 5 talent. If they can keep the top Chicagoland area talent away from notre dame, Michigan. Wisconsin, and Iowa they can build a perennial top 15 program easily.
Illinois will be good for a while. Most coaches come into the Ill and focus on Chicago. BB has focused in on the entire state and that’s all you need. The state is loaded with talent.
My dad is pushing 50 and has been a huge Illini fan his entire life. I am 25 years old and naturally took my dad’s favorite teams as my favorite teams. So as an Illini fan my whole life I have had so high highs and some low lows. The wheels could fall off at any moment because thats just what I have gotten used to. That being said it has been an insane amount of fun watching them this year and I hope Bret continues this going forward. I will always cherish what they have done up to this point in the season and I have gone to several games and had an insane amount of fun. Winning out would be a dream come true. I can’t see that happening but If they do I will have died a happy man
Only thing I'd disagree with you on is the wheels falling off. That thought crept into my mind last year for a bit but I sensed something about Bielema's influence on the team that made it feel a little more sound.
Bielema's first year was already a massive success. That team was pretty unlucky, both in terms of game script but also injuries. If a few more plays go right and Peters isn't hurt (I know he was always made of glass, but at least if he didn't go down game 1) they would have been 7-5 I'm confident. I also believe that team was better than any group Lovie put together, even the 2019 team. But really while Bielema has done well, the real story is Ryan Walters the DC he brought in from Mizzou. Walters turned what was seriously a bottom 10 defense into an average defense overnight, and with a full offseason, transformed those same guys into a juggernaut top 10 unit. That is some truly unbelievable turnaround, especially given the kind of recruiting talent the Illini have compared to their B10 peers.
Tony Petersen, last year's OC, cost at least 3 games. He had good running concepts, but a dreadful passing design. Bielema manned up and canned him and brought in Barry Lunney. Lunney has really got it together and the offense and defense play seriously good complimentary football. The defense gets quick stops and the offense stays on the field forever. They clearly could have racked up more points if needed, but have owned most games going into the 4th quarter. Unlike some programs, they don't feel the need to try to run up the scores against soundly beaten teams. Illinois is a hard-nosed, classy, and sound fundamental team. With 2 home wins against MSU and Purdue, Illinois could go into the Michigan away game 9-1 and the Big Ten West locked up with 2 games to go. Bielema and his crack coaching staff are doing a great job of player development.
Michigan fan here. I'll be checking out the Illini for the rest of the season. If we beat OSU, we will be playing Illinois twice this year! Glad you are having a good season. Our games against Illinois and OSU look to be the toughest games left on our schedule. You seem to be built a lot like Michigan, so it will be a good matchup. #GoBlue
@@thetimelesshistoryofhip-ho1013 Illinois is definitely on the radar. We take it game by game. First Rutgers. We remember struggling with them last year. No game can be overlooked, because the goal is to be undefeated going into OSU. My son plays D3 football and his best friend got beat out by JJ for the QB job at Michigan. They are all in the same class. Good luck to you for the rest of the season! # GoBlue
feels like illinois is a much smaller threat after getting beat by msu. can never look past a team but they were definitely exposed a bit saturday. go blue
@@DB-xp9px It feels that way, but I do think MSU has been better in the past few games. Probably the biggest issue for Michigan is that they need to be ranked when we play them and where are they now? I don't even know. We need more ranked teams on our resume. I feel confident about the OSU game, but if we lose that in a close game, we are going to need the ranked wins to make a case for the playoffs. I feel like we will win that game though. I just have a feeling. #GoBlue
@@thetimelesshistoryofhip-ho1013 we have a way of playing down to our competition, especially in the 1st 1/2 so yea, i wouldn't be surprised if illinois is able to make a game of it.
@@TheSpiritualNoob our fate is in our hands. just need to keep getting Ws and to handle osu. i'm confident we'll be in if we keep playing near the top of our ability. so great to have michigan "back" given how shaky the last 15 years have been.
Looking at Brett Bielema's first 3 assistant coaching jobs, Iowa (HC: Hayden Fry), Kansas State (HC: Bill Snyder, who was also a Hayden Fry assistant), and Wisconsin (HC: Barry Alvarez) there's no surprise that he focuses on instate recruiting, as that's what his 3 big name HC's were notorious for doing. As a Wildcat fan I'm happy to see him doing good, and doing what I know he can do, and plus I'm also happy because Illinois has always been a lower tier favorite of mine behind Kansas State who's my #1.
Would be great to see Illinois and Ohio state in the big 10 title game. One of most forgotten rivalries in college football is IL and OSU but it’s been so 1 sided lately that it never gets any attention
Man PLEASE do a rise and fall on Brennan Armstrong, the lefty who was a superstar last year at UVA and was being compared to steve young. Second only to Kenny Pickett in passing stats and his mobility along with his big arm were something crazy to watch last season. Had more than a handful of games where had had nearly 500 total yards of offense and at least 4 tuds.
Coach B's approach to football is very controversial. I mean building large, powerful offensive and defensive lines with a focus on running the ball and controlling time of possession. Who wants complementary football? In all seriousness... you know who wasn't surprised by Illinois success and called it ahead of time? Those boys on Big 10 Network, The Final Drive. They visited the programs in the conference and they said to not be surprised if Illinois made some noise this year calling the Illini as well run a program as any they'd seen. Our staff is fantastical.
Wisconsin and Illinois are two programs who have been known for doing that. Illinois before Bielema always ran the ball and controlled possession to win
As being a life long Illinois fan, growing up in Champaign area. It’s amazing being where we are. Michigan state game sucked. But if you told me we would be 7-2 right now I would never believe you. With basketball and football on the rise it’s the best feeling ever
I'd like to see a deep analysis on Clemson. It could be titled "Are they legit or not?" Some say Clemson's still an ACC juggernaut. Others say they're overrated/not impressive.
Bret Bielema is a great coach. It's really hard to win in the SEC , and he had some solid seasons with the Razorbacks... Glad he got a second chance to be a head coach of another power 5 program
Another greal Illinois team was the '84 squad. The Big Ten tried a round-robin schedule for three years, where each team played every other team. The only time a team went 9-0 against all the other Big Ten teams was that '84 team.
I'm being very selfish here, but I'm and Illini grad, a lifelong fan and have lived in Florida for the last 30 years. Every year 2 teams from the Big 10 play less than an hour's drive from my house on New Year's Day. Since I've been here the Illini either win the Big 10 and play in the Rose Bowl, or barely get to 6 wins and play in the What The Heck Bowl. So, I want them to lose to Michigan and Ohio State and play in Orlando or Tampa. Or beat them both and win the national championship. So, we'll see. Go Illini!!!
So my dad did his undergrad at Illinois and grad degree at Wisconsin. I'm currently a student at Wisconsin and my dad came to town for the Illinois game and it was my first time going to a game with him and seeing our team have a grand total of 2 rushing yards was awful all we could talk about was how bad Chryst was. Next day he's fired
I became an illinois fan when they sucked last year because I felt potential in their team, i’m glad it paid off. This is my 2nd real year following college football.
"I need to find a good time to post this so that the video doesn't IMMEDIATELY age horribly. Oh! Illini is playing MSU this week, that'll be perfect..." -Scott Fisher, probably.
As a Kansas state fan I have always like Illinois football because they remind me of Kansas state a little bit, always underrated and always finds a way to fuck up one teams season a year.
I'm not surprised with Brett Bielema doing that...he didn't succeed at Arkansas like he wanted but that is probably the toughest conference in America. I always thought he would've been a good choice at Nebraska, they're style of play over the years suits him. He would still be at Wisconsin if he hadn't left.
In football when a tackler grabs one leg and does the alligator twist, which usually ends in a injury, it should be a automatic disqualification like intentional targeting. You can tackle one leg without twisting very easily and bring the runner down.
I think he just covered the last 22 years?!?! Because he said only 5 bowls in 25 years. I know in the 80’s and 90’s they were good to middle of the road team. Not this blip on the schedule. The mike Thomas AD era was very very hard for illini fans. Watching their basketball team lose university of illinois Chicago was the worst thing to watch. IMO they should’ve kept zook. He made the rose bowl and Texas bowl in back to back seasons. They said that hadn’t happened in like 50 years. Then they bring in crap for the next 10 years. Oh well I’ll enjoy it for now.
@@bbradley280 Yes actually in early 80s they were good('83 Rose Bowl team is still only team to ever beat every other conference school in 1 season) until probation from Mike White recruiting violations & got very good under John Mackovic in late '80s before he bolted to Texas. Then in early 90s had some outstanding defensive talent & should have done better but unfortunately Lou Tepper made a big mistake. And it sounds even worse in today's day&age- he treated the QB position like any other on the roster. Yes. If he would've stuck w/Johnny Johnson full time & tried to build him up publicly to the media & fan base, just that little bit of effort maybe gets them a Big 10 title ('95 Northwestern wins it & Illini had superior defensive talent while Northwestern's QB was Steve Schnur- ultimate game manager type who had backing of Gary Barnett & staff. Johnson again was a way better athlete & could've been a good college QB in right situation). When you watch film of that team defensively from early '90s they're impressive-talent&they played hard. Hustled, gang tackled & knocked the shit out of ppl. After Tepper there was a litany of coaches- Ron Turner, Tim Beckman, etc- but I agree with you 100%. They really should have kept Ron Zook. He could recruit with the best in the nation (very important because east-central Illinois isn't the most attractive area in the country let's just say)& if he had enough rope from administration to build program to a big time threat, it's unlikely he would have left for 'greener pastures' like other Illini football/hoops coaches(Mackovic, Bill Self,etc). Bielema could very well be the answer because he's from the state(won't be itching to go 'home')& after Arkansas flameout he should understand how fickle university's that aspire to/think they're big time football programs are with the head coaching position. Illinois will always be a basketball school but that doesn't preclude them from being the top or close to the top program in the West division. Everyone is focused & rightly so on the success of the team this football season but- remember u heard it here 1st- the basketball team (#23 preseason rank, what a joke) is going to be dynamite this year & Igor believes has a legit shot at Final4. Take care & have a good day
@@bbradley280 I don't think many people think of how much Mike Thomas screwed over ALL of Illinois athletics in his time here. Any success he had was built off of Ron Guenther's hires. The only thing he was good at was fundraising, and you don't have to be an athletic director to do that job.
@@MustacheDLuffy zook took them to the Texas bowl and Kraft fight hunger. ‘10 and ‘11. Granted zook got fired halfway through 2011 because mike Thomas is a knob and zook went on like a 6 game losing streak
Having grown up in Illinois it would be great to see an Illinois team that is consistently good. However it seems like the only thing the administration in Champaign is concerned with this how many foreign, Asian, engineering students they can pack the place with.
Good timing Scotty. They went into this past Saturday as 17 pt favorites at home and lost to my TERRIBLE Michigan State Spartans. Ooof. They hadn't played anyone man. Super DUPER overrated. Bud Light Brett got too fat to jump around.
3:55 It wasn't "very controversial." Some people simply thought he wasn't a great hire because he didn't have a good record at Arkansas. There was nothing "controversial" about it.
Can you do a school in California? Like San Jose State or Cal Poly? I love seeing these smaller schools get some views. Maybe even do some juco schools? Ventura College.
The Illini were cheated out of these close games, I thought they could go to the big ten championship game, but shot themselves in the foot in the Michigan state game.
Please don't put ANY former U of I coach in the same breath as Tim Beckman. Lovie Smith at the very least put a professional mature atmosphere in place. It was difficult to follow Beckman, he trashed Illinois recruiting which despite what you might think was not that bad under Zook. Beating Wisconsin at home and the Michigan State Spartans on the Road, set up a bowl bid. It wasn't enough to turn things around and I really don't think it was worth investing more in Lovie, but give him some credit for his accomplishments. Bielema early on benefitted a lot from the core players Lovie had recruited. Isiah Williams is back for his Senior year.
Yes they look better this year, but let's keep things in the proper perspective. They just lost to a very awful 3-5 Michigan State team. Their OOC schedule was very weak and the Big Ten west division is an absolute dumpster fire. Point being, outside of the Michigan game, their schedule overall this season has been weak and so they haven't really been tested yet.
Must be nice, Boston College completely fell off the rails. I’m sure you’ll be doing the fall of a promising coach Jeff Hafley and QB Phil Jurkovec. Sure BC was not Alabama or Ohio State but they were a competitive and respectable program. Now we are coasting to a 2-10 record.
Ummm......yeah......We were down 2 scores in the 3rd (16-7), wind at our backs and we're gonna air it out, right? Nope. Barry dials up a run for no gain, a wide-receiver screen (Oh God, not those again!) for no gain and then when everybody and their mother expects a shot downfield (because we have a 3rd and 10 and we have to!), incomplete pass as we beg for a PI call. Yuck, Barry, yuck.
I read most of the comments and all I can say is let's be at least honest. They are a good bigten west team. Whoever they playing the title game a 14 to 28 point lost easily. Just remember last bigten team eho beat them. And there strengh of schedule is Terrible. But at least they beat Ohio state like most teams have. Whoever they plsy that so called running offense will be mediocre to average at best against a good team. On defense so called no. 1 in the nation reminds me of the great Wisconsin defense until they plsy a good offense. Still thing the coach is a hypocrite after leaving Arkansas in a shambles. Not going to talk shout the playoffs because that's laughable
This is a bad take. The teams they play against are bad because they lost to Illinois. They have the leading rusher in the nation but he’ll be bad against good teams 🤡
Won against a solid Minnesota team. Not a huge win by any means but they controlled that game pretty well the whole way. Gotta give credit where it's due.
The illini sure choked against MS,to a team that basically stunk all year and as usual the illini choked, i don't see them winning many more games. If they are so good why did they choke against Michigan State, I've been illini fan for decades and this team is no Ohio or Michigan these two teams with their drafting and dominate's in the big 10 will always be the top-tier teams because your a young kid that has options to go to one these three schools where you going to go that is either Michigan or Ohio,surely not the illini who have basically stunk for decades and doesn't have any talent and at best maybe bring on players that couldn't play in Michigan or Ohio state so the sub-tier player that amounts to nothing. How many players from the illini football ever go to the NFL not many because the illini doesn't bring in talented players and they will always be a bottom feader in the big ten football. All you have to do is look at the past 3 decades have been miserable for a illini football.
Hire the right coach and... see Tulane. BTW Illini - beat the traitors USC and UCLA. Incidentally, if it gets below 60 degrees, sprinkles a bit, or is windy, they will fold quickly.
While it’s nice to have a fresh face in Illinois, this season is still the worst Big Ten in recent history. Winner of Ohio State and Michigan is guaranteed the Big Ten title as it’s clear that it’s the return of the 1970s Big Ten when it was the Big 2 vs. the Little 8. The only chance of Illinois ever winning a Big Ten championship is when Bielema fully gets his guys together, and if the Big Ten bans the East and West division when they then will be playing against better competition which will make them be more prepared against the big boys on a big stage in the Big Ten championship game.
@@gill2069 Why not? Unless they can create a pacific and a central division they likely won’t change it. Someone will have to travel to LA in the big 10 every year.
They have not faced a Top 50 S&P offense yet. When they come up against a Purdue or Michigan, I don’t expect that defense to hold up as well. Benefit to them so far is playing weak Offenses
Thats fair, but I think they've passed the eye test. They play lots of man coverage on D and have locked up a fair number of decent receivers. Even if the opposing team's qb's arent great at ball placement, the secondary has passed the eye test. The DL is big and strong. Regardless of the offenses they have faced, they still have the player with the most pressures in the nation... just my thoughts. Quality of opponents they've faced are a fair criticism but they have more than passed the eye test imo.
@@TheSammwich11 I was trying to poke holes in the logic without bringing up the obvious so yeah, I agree with you. Its just when I see people calling Purdue a real team I gotta call that bs out.
1. Purdue is one dimensional they rely on passing the ball and if the weather is bad then it’ll be hard for them to pass 2. Illinois is smelling blood from last years loss to Purdue so they will be fired up, 3. Purdue’s offense struggled with Minnesota. I can understand the argument of Michigan but Purdue?
@@coltonwarnes3516 Purdue is 45th in total offense in the country, and 19th in passing yards. My point being is that they actually have a pulse on offense compared to some of these other teams Illinois has faced thus far.
Im not a fan of Illinois but Glad Illinois football is on the rise. They Even have a opportunity to win the BigTen west and compete for championship.
I'm a Michigan guy. If they beat Michigan and win the big 10 I'd bet money somehow OSU would get in before Illinois. And it wod purely be a Money move
@@lewtown
Here’s what I was thinking…. Illinois beats Michigan in the regular season, OSU in the conference title game, and somehow they’d miss out of the college playoffs.
I could see that happening
Lovie smith was the person Illinois needed at the time.
They didn’t expect great things, but they needed an adult in charge who was generally a good person, would command respect, and improve the image of the program after the whole tim Beckham fiasco.
That’s what they wanted, and smith did all of that. He laid the foundation for what is going on now
@@lordrayden3045 100 percent it will happen unless everyone rally behind them like cinci last year. I see a 2 loss LSU making it before Illinois because of SEC bias. Of Illinois Wis the big 10 imo they should make it regardless mbecaise the beast either Michigan or osu
@@lewtown
I’m nit predicting Illinois could pull that off, I can see the. Losing to Purdue after thst Indiana fiasco.
However if they did, I’m sire OSU would make it in instead because “reasons”
Illinois has tremendously underrated facilities and a state loaded with power 5 talent. If they can keep the top Chicagoland area talent away from notre dame, Michigan. Wisconsin, and Iowa they can build a perennial top 15 program easily.
Illinois will be good for a while. Most coaches come into the Ill and focus on Chicago. BB has focused in on the entire state and that’s all you need. The state is loaded with talent.
As a lifelong illini fan and Champaign Urbana resident, it's AMAZING to experience this season
😂 well…..
My dad is pushing 50 and has been a huge Illini fan his entire life. I am 25 years old and naturally took my dad’s favorite teams as my favorite teams. So as an Illini fan my whole life I have had so high highs and some low lows. The wheels could fall off at any moment because thats just what I have gotten used to. That being said it has been an insane amount of fun watching them this year and I hope Bret continues this going forward. I will always cherish what they have done up to this point in the season and I have gone to several games and had an insane amount of fun. Winning out would be a dream come true. I can’t see that happening but If they do I will have died a happy man
Only thing I'd disagree with you on is the wheels falling off. That thought crept into my mind last year for a bit but I sensed something about Bielema's influence on the team that made it feel a little more sound.
I live in champaign and the hype here has been crazy
Glad Brett Bielema is winning somewhere else chase brown is also a beast 💯
I’m so glad Illinois is playing well this year, it’s sucked seeing them underperform and not play well all these years
Well….
They were cheated out of many games this year.
Bielema's first year was already a massive success. That team was pretty unlucky, both in terms of game script but also injuries. If a few more plays go right and Peters isn't hurt (I know he was always made of glass, but at least if he didn't go down game 1) they would have been 7-5 I'm confident. I also believe that team was better than any group Lovie put together, even the 2019 team.
But really while Bielema has done well, the real story is Ryan Walters the DC he brought in from Mizzou. Walters turned what was seriously a bottom 10 defense into an average defense overnight, and with a full offseason, transformed those same guys into a juggernaut top 10 unit. That is some truly unbelievable turnaround, especially given the kind of recruiting talent the Illini have compared to their B10 peers.
Tony Petersen, last year's OC, cost at least 3 games. He had good running concepts, but a dreadful passing design. Bielema manned up and canned him and brought in Barry Lunney. Lunney has really got it together and the offense and defense play seriously good complimentary football. The defense gets quick stops and the offense stays on the field forever. They clearly could have racked up more points if needed, but have owned most games going into the 4th quarter. Unlike some programs, they don't feel the need to try to run up the scores against soundly beaten teams. Illinois is a hard-nosed, classy, and sound fundamental team. With 2 home wins against MSU and Purdue, Illinois could go into the Michigan away game 9-1 and the Big Ten West locked up with 2 games to go. Bielema and his crack coaching staff are doing a great job of player development.
@@edhorton2766 yep Petersen cost us in Maryland, Purdue, and Iowa
@@TruthfullySpeaking2001 Don't forget Rutgers.
It's great seeing Illinois doing well. Our small Illinois high school has had a few players on the team over the past several years.
aged like fine wine #keepchoppin
Michigan fan here. I'll be checking out the Illini for the rest of the season. If we beat OSU, we will be playing Illinois twice this year! Glad you are having a good season. Our games against Illinois and OSU look to be the toughest games left on our schedule. You seem to be built a lot like Michigan, so it will be a good matchup. #GoBlue
@@thetimelesshistoryofhip-ho1013 Illinois is definitely on the radar. We take it game by game. First Rutgers. We remember struggling with them last year. No game can be overlooked, because the goal is to be undefeated going into OSU. My son plays D3 football and his best friend got beat out by JJ for the QB job at Michigan. They are all in the same class. Good luck to you for the rest of the season! # GoBlue
feels like illinois is a much smaller threat after getting beat by msu. can never look past a team but they were definitely exposed a bit saturday. go blue
@@DB-xp9px It feels that way, but I do think MSU has been better in the past few games. Probably the biggest issue for Michigan is that they need to be ranked when we play them and where are they now? I don't even know. We need more ranked teams on our resume. I feel confident about the OSU game, but if we lose that in a close game, we are going to need the ranked wins to make a case for the playoffs. I feel like we will win that game though. I just have a feeling. #GoBlue
@@thetimelesshistoryofhip-ho1013 we have a way of playing down to our competition, especially in the 1st 1/2 so yea, i wouldn't be surprised if illinois is able to make a game of it.
@@TheSpiritualNoob our fate is in our hands. just need to keep getting Ws and to handle osu. i'm confident we'll be in if we keep playing near the top of our ability. so great to have michigan "back" given how shaky the last 15 years have been.
Great video and thanks for giving Illinois some attention!!
What do you think of Illinois football?
Omg you finally did it!
Finally proud to be from Illinois
This is a good team, hopefully it changes their long term fortunes.
I'm glad it's getting better.
They’re really good
Looking at Brett Bielema's first 3 assistant coaching jobs, Iowa (HC: Hayden Fry), Kansas State (HC: Bill Snyder, who was also a Hayden Fry assistant), and Wisconsin (HC: Barry Alvarez) there's no surprise that he focuses on instate recruiting, as that's what his 3 big name HC's were notorious for doing. As a Wildcat fan I'm happy to see him doing good, and doing what I know he can do, and plus I'm also happy because Illinois has always been a lower tier favorite of mine behind Kansas State who's my #1.
Been a fighting Illini fan my whole life. About time they came roaring back. Bring back the chief!
Would be great to see Illinois and Ohio state in the big 10 title game. One of most forgotten rivalries in college football is IL and OSU but it’s been so 1 sided lately that it never gets any attention
Man PLEASE do a rise and fall on Brennan Armstrong, the lefty who was a superstar last year at UVA and was being compared to steve young. Second only to Kenny Pickett in passing stats and his mobility along with his big arm were something crazy to watch last season. Had more than a handful of games where had had nearly 500 total yards of offense and at least 4 tuds.
Coach B's approach to football is very controversial. I mean building large, powerful offensive and defensive lines with a focus on running the ball and controlling time of possession. Who wants complementary football? In all seriousness... you know who wasn't surprised by Illinois success and called it ahead of time? Those boys on Big 10 Network, The Final Drive. They visited the programs in the conference and they said to not be surprised if Illinois made some noise this year calling the Illini as well run a program as any they'd seen. Our staff is fantastical.
Wisconsin and Illinois are two programs who have been known for doing that. Illinois before Bielema always ran the ball and controlled possession to win
As being a life long Illinois fan, growing up in Champaign area. It’s amazing being where we are. Michigan state game sucked. But if you told me we would be 7-2 right now I would never believe you. With basketball and football on the rise it’s the best feeling ever
Luv the channel keep up the gr8 work!!
I’ve been waiting for this …
What topic should I do next?
Make a video of Chase and Sydney Brown hehe
Tennessee vs Georgia!!! Biggest game in the past 15 years in the SEC regular season!
Stanford Football
I'd like to see a deep analysis on Clemson. It could be titled "Are they legit or not?" Some say Clemson's still an ACC juggernaut. Others say they're overrated/not impressive.
Jim Mora and UConn, they might actually make a bowl game this year.
I'm a Mizzou fan, but I'm glad to see Illinois doing well. Haven't paid attention to them since Juice Williams
Bret Bielema is a great coach. It's really hard to win in the SEC , and he had some solid seasons with the Razorbacks... Glad he got a second chance to be a head coach of another power 5 program
Another greal Illinois team was the '84 squad. The Big Ten tried a round-robin schedule for three years, where each team played every other team. The only time a team went 9-0 against all the other Big Ten teams was that '84 team.
W vid as always great work
Just like in real estate, the key to Illini continued success will boil down to 3 things....1.Recruiting, 2.Recruiting and 3.Recruiting
I'm a huge fan of Bret Bielema. Always have been. Best of luck to Illinois. Be watching on Nov 19th. Michigan by 14 in a tough, physical game
U of I grad who is just happy for all involved. Not taking a moment of this or granted.
A month and a half too late, but glad the video is ccoming out now.
Very thought out vid goodshit bro
I'm being very selfish here, but I'm and Illini grad, a lifelong fan and have lived in Florida for the last 30 years. Every year 2 teams from the Big 10 play less than an hour's drive from my house on New Year's Day. Since I've been here the Illini either win the Big 10 and play in the Rose Bowl, or barely get to 6 wins and play in the What The Heck Bowl.
So, I want them to lose to Michigan and Ohio State and play in Orlando or Tampa. Or beat them both and win the national championship. So, we'll see. Go Illini!!!
So my dad did his undergrad at Illinois and grad degree at Wisconsin. I'm currently a student at Wisconsin and my dad came to town for the Illinois game and it was my first time going to a game with him and seeing our team have a grand total of 2 rushing yards was awful all we could talk about was how bad Chryst was. Next day he's fired
I became an illinois fan when they sucked last year because I felt potential in their team, i’m glad it paid off. This is my 2nd real year following college football.
If they make the big 10 championship we may see a teeny tiny riot in Champaign.
Lol!
They’ll easily make it lol
Well this aged like milk...
"I need to find a good time to post this so that the video doesn't IMMEDIATELY age horribly. Oh! Illini is playing MSU this week, that'll be perfect..." -Scott Fisher, probably.
As a Kansas state fan I have always like Illinois football because they remind me of Kansas state a little bit, always underrated and always finds a way to fuck up one teams season a year.
I will say though if Kansas state had the recruiting pool of Illinois we would be a lot better program 😂
I'm not surprised with Brett Bielema doing that...he didn't succeed at Arkansas like he wanted but that is probably the toughest conference in America. I always thought he would've been a good choice at Nebraska, they're style of play over the years suits him. He would still be at Wisconsin if he hadn't left.
In football when a tackler grabs one leg and does the alligator twist, which usually ends in a injury, it should be a automatic disqualification like intentional targeting.
You can tackle one leg without twisting very easily and bring the runner down.
Illinois actually has 5 national Championships. Believe it. If you don't, go look that shit up.
I think he just covered the last 22 years?!?! Because he said only 5 bowls in 25 years. I know in the 80’s and 90’s they were good to middle of the road team. Not this blip on the schedule. The mike Thomas AD era was very very hard for illini fans. Watching their basketball team lose university of illinois Chicago was the worst thing to watch. IMO they should’ve kept zook. He made the rose bowl and Texas bowl in back to back seasons. They said that hadn’t happened in like 50 years. Then they bring in crap for the next 10 years. Oh well I’ll enjoy it for now.
@@bbradley280 Yes actually in early 80s they were good('83 Rose Bowl team is still only team to ever beat every other conference school in 1 season) until probation from Mike White recruiting violations & got very good under John Mackovic in late '80s before he bolted to Texas. Then in early 90s had some outstanding defensive talent & should have done better but unfortunately Lou Tepper made a big mistake. And it sounds even worse in today's day&age- he treated the QB position like any other on the roster. Yes. If he would've stuck w/Johnny Johnson full time & tried to build him up publicly to the media & fan base, just that little bit of effort maybe gets them a Big 10 title ('95 Northwestern wins it & Illini had superior defensive talent while Northwestern's QB was Steve Schnur- ultimate game manager type who had backing of Gary Barnett & staff. Johnson again was a way better athlete & could've been a good college QB in right situation). When you watch film of that team defensively from early '90s they're impressive-talent&they played hard. Hustled, gang tackled & knocked the shit out of ppl. After Tepper there was a litany of coaches- Ron Turner, Tim Beckman, etc- but I agree with you 100%. They really should have kept Ron Zook. He could recruit with the best in the nation (very important because east-central Illinois isn't the most attractive area in the country let's just say)& if he had enough rope from administration to build program to a big time threat, it's unlikely he would have left for 'greener pastures' like other Illini football/hoops coaches(Mackovic, Bill Self,etc). Bielema could very well be the answer because he's from the state(won't be itching to go 'home')& after Arkansas flameout he should understand how fickle university's that aspire to/think they're big time football programs are with the head coaching position. Illinois will always be a basketball school but that doesn't preclude them from being the top or close to the top program in the West division. Everyone is focused & rightly so on the success of the team this football season but- remember u heard it here 1st- the basketball team (#23 preseason rank, what a joke) is going to be dynamite this year & Igor believes has a legit shot at Final4. Take care & have a good day
@@bbradley280 I don't think many people think of how much Mike Thomas screwed over ALL of Illinois athletics in his time here. Any success he had was built off of Ron Guenther's hires. The only thing he was good at was fundraising, and you don't have to be an athletic director to do that job.
@@bbradley280 They didn’t do that plus Bielema could easily out coach Zook
@@MustacheDLuffy zook took them to the Texas bowl and Kraft fight hunger. ‘10 and ‘11. Granted zook got fired halfway through 2011 because mike Thomas is a knob and zook went on like a 6 game losing streak
Having grown up in Illinois it would be great to see an Illinois team that is consistently good. However it seems like the only thing the administration in Champaign is concerned with this how many foreign, Asian, engineering students they can pack the place with.
I L L I N I !!!! 🤘
Hell Yeah!!!! ILL!!!!!🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙
What? No mention of Sydney Brown?
Good timing Scotty. They went into this past Saturday as 17 pt favorites at home and lost to my TERRIBLE Michigan State Spartans. Ooof.
They hadn't played anyone man. Super DUPER overrated.
Bud Light Brett got too fat to jump around.
And it’s gone.
Go Illini
Yessir I-L-L
INI !
INI!!!!💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡
@@gregoryhelton2408 Just lost to a fucking 3-5 msu team
Definitely not enough emphasis on how good the defense has been. And the refs lost us the Indiana game, unfortunately
Happy for Brett bielema 🌰🌰
They still caught that loss from my Roadrunners last year BIRDS UP
You didn’t mention that Illinois hired away UTSA’s 2021 OC, Lunney. 😊 🤙🤙
3:55 It wasn't "very controversial." Some people simply thought he wasn't a great hire because he didn't have a good record at Arkansas. There was nothing "controversial" about it.
It was controversial.... and do they have a chance for a title? That's lol but people do dream
@@clarencewalder2985 Describe the controversy that happened after Illinois hired Bielema.
Only to immediately fall to MSU 😢
Can you do a school in California? Like San Jose State or Cal Poly? I love seeing these smaller schools get some views. Maybe even do some juco schools? Ventura College.
The Illini were cheated out of these close games, I thought they could go to the big ten championship game, but shot themselves in the foot in the Michigan state game.
I swear every time you make one of these that team proceeds to lose its next game.
this video is the sole reason we just lost to michigan state and purdue
What happened to Last Chance U’s Buddy Stephens?
Can you do about Delaware
Please don't put ANY former U of I coach in the same breath as Tim Beckman. Lovie Smith at the very least put a professional mature atmosphere in place. It was difficult to follow Beckman, he trashed Illinois recruiting which despite what you might think was not that bad under Zook. Beating Wisconsin at home and the Michigan State Spartans on the Road, set up a bowl bid. It wasn't enough to turn things around and I really don't think it was worth investing more in Lovie, but give him some credit for his accomplishments. Bielema early on benefitted a lot from the core players Lovie had recruited. Isiah Williams is back for his Senior year.
My step brothers are chase and sydney brown
My girl is your mom
@@MustacheDLuffy haha so funny 😐
Yes they look better this year, but let's keep things in the proper perspective. They just lost to a very awful 3-5 Michigan State team. Their OOC schedule was very weak and the Big Ten west division is an absolute dumpster fire. Point being, outside of the Michigan game, their schedule overall this season has been weak and so they haven't really been tested yet.
Can you do Joey Porter Jr next?
Well it will be interesting to see how long illinois can keep winning.
I'd say about two weeks. Michigan will be a harsh test, but we get Northwestern's mildcats to heal up. Our big game is Purdue at home on November 12.
Bruh you sorta jinxed their season
Do kenney bell from Nebraska
They’ll come back down to earth when Chase Brown leaves
As would any team with a running back of his caliber!!! Duh
I.L.L.... I.N.I.
Y'all must've forgotten about what Juice Williams did for ya'll while he was there. If he had better talent surrounding him....
Must be nice, Boston College completely fell off the rails. I’m sure you’ll be doing the fall of a promising coach Jeff Hafley and QB Phil Jurkovec. Sure BC was not Alabama or Ohio State but they were a competitive and respectable program. Now we are coasting to a 2-10 record.
Ummm......yeah......We were down 2 scores in the 3rd (16-7), wind at our backs and we're gonna air it out, right? Nope. Barry dials up a run for no gain, a wide-receiver screen (Oh God, not those again!) for no gain and then when everybody and their mother expects a shot downfield (because we have a 3rd and 10 and we have to!), incomplete pass as we beg for a PI call. Yuck, Barry, yuck.
Now the downfall of Illinois football
This video was likely done before they lost to Michigan State last night.
All you have to do is beat Michigan at the big house and then Ohio state at a neutral site. Oh and all your other games. That’s all. Ha.
The first 2 things are harder than they’re last ones. Purdue, Michigan state and northwestern are all cookies
Sound proof what ever room you're in
Can't believe they lost to MSU
Back to back Ls and a probable loss at Michigan next week. HORRIBLE timing
My Spartans tried to give you the game but you wouldn't take it.
Video on unc🤷
I read most of the comments and all I can say is let's be at least honest. They are a good bigten west team. Whoever they playing the title game a 14 to 28 point lost easily. Just remember last bigten team eho beat them. And there strengh of schedule is Terrible. But at least they beat Ohio state like most teams have. Whoever they plsy that so called running offense will be mediocre to average at best against a good team. On defense so called no. 1 in the nation reminds me of the great Wisconsin defense until they plsy a good offense. Still thing the coach is a hypocrite after leaving Arkansas in a shambles. Not going to talk shout the playoffs because that's laughable
You know the word plAy has no S's in it, right?
This is a bad take. The teams they play against are bad because they lost to Illinois. They have the leading rusher in the nation but he’ll be bad against good teams 🤡
If you have watched the Illini so far in the 2023 season, you know this didn’t age well.
5-7 Welll shit
Then comes 3-5 Michigan State! LOL
Look at the schedule..
Won against a solid Minnesota team. Not a huge win by any means but they controlled that game pretty well the whole way. Gotta give credit where it's due.
@@danielspiker4754 ill refrain 🤷🏾♂️
This has aged horribly
Bert will leave after this year. He will get a better offer.
Nah he just built a multimillion dollar mansion in Champaign he ain’t leavin
3-5 MSU smoked the Illinois pack
The illini sure choked against MS,to a team that basically stunk all year and as usual the illini choked, i don't see them winning many more games. If they are so good why did they choke against Michigan State, I've been illini fan for decades and this team is no Ohio or Michigan these two teams with their drafting and dominate's in the big 10 will always be the top-tier teams because your a young kid that has options to go to one these three schools where you going to go that is either Michigan or Ohio,surely not the illini who have basically stunk for decades and doesn't have any talent and at best maybe bring on players that couldn't play in Michigan or Ohio state so the sub-tier player that amounts to nothing. How many players from the illini football ever go to the NFL not many because the illini doesn't bring in talented players and they will always be a bottom feader in the big ten football. All you have to do is look at the past 3 decades have been miserable for a illini football.
We want bama
Until next week lol
They can beta Michigan state and Purdue
Ngl you seem to jinx the sheit our of teams. Every other impossible rise literally loses the next week
wwwwwwwwww video like all ways
Scott Fisher
put so much work into this video only for illinois to lose to msu lol
Hire the right coach and... see Tulane. BTW Illini - beat the traitors USC and UCLA. Incidentally, if it gets below 60 degrees, sprinkles a bit, or is windy, they will fold quickly.
While it’s nice to have a fresh face in Illinois, this season is still the worst Big Ten in recent history. Winner of Ohio State and Michigan is guaranteed the Big Ten title as it’s clear that it’s the return of the 1970s Big Ten when it was the Big 2 vs. the Little 8.
The only chance of Illinois ever winning a Big Ten championship is when Bielema fully gets his guys together, and if the Big Ten bans the East and West division when they then will be playing against better competition which will make them be more prepared against the big boys on a big stage in the Big Ten championship game.
In Illinois defense they are a good team. Nobody else in their division is but they are
UCLA and USC will likely join the Big Ten West and given both teams are ranked it’ll probably make the division stronger
@@MustacheDLuffy I highly doubt that the Big Ten is going to keep the division based on geography in 2-3 years
@@gill2069 Why not? Unless they can create a pacific and a central division they likely won’t change it. Someone will have to travel to LA in the big 10 every year.
Illini in 2023 at best 9-3
They have not faced a Top 50 S&P offense yet. When they come up against a Purdue or Michigan, I don’t expect that defense to hold up as well. Benefit to them so far is playing weak Offenses
Did you not see Purdue get clapped by Wisconsin? Don't put them in the basket of good teams.
Thats fair, but I think they've passed the eye test. They play lots of man coverage on D and have locked up a fair number of decent receivers. Even if the opposing team's qb's arent great at ball placement, the secondary has passed the eye test. The DL is big and strong. Regardless of the offenses they have faced, they still have the player with the most pressures in the nation... just my thoughts. Quality of opponents they've faced are a fair criticism but they have more than passed the eye test imo.
@@TheSammwich11 I was trying to poke holes in the logic without bringing up the obvious so yeah, I agree with you. Its just when I see people calling Purdue a real team I gotta call that bs out.
1. Purdue is one dimensional they rely on passing the ball and if the weather is bad then it’ll be hard for them to pass 2. Illinois is smelling blood from last years loss to Purdue so they will be fired up, 3. Purdue’s offense struggled with Minnesota. I can understand the argument of Michigan but Purdue?
@@coltonwarnes3516 Purdue is 45th in total offense in the country, and 19th in passing yards. My point being is that they actually have a pulse on offense compared to some of these other teams Illinois has faced thus far.
HE DID NOT DO WELL AT Arkansas