Not to jinx it, but ILL is bad!

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Go Gophers Rah

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I had to look it up.

During Lovie's tenure, the Illini are 3-20 versus the Big Ten. Those 3 wins came against teams that were a combined 1-22 in the B1G ('16 Rutgers 0-9, '16 MSU 1-8, '18 Rutgers 0-5).
Their 8 wins (out of 32 games) included 2 over FCS teams. If you exclude those, their 6 wins are against FBS teams that were a combined 6-45.

Between Lovie Smith and Rutgers' Chris Ash, the basement of the two divisions seems to be well secured.

Of course, any team can win on any Saturday.
 

Road game for us. We haven't done well on the road yet.
Hope we get this win however.
 

The Channel 5 weathergal giving post-halftime weather report nearly lost us the game Friday night by ending her segment by saying "get ready to celebrate a Gophers win" or similar.

Several folks in upper 211 went "Nooooooo...don't say that!"

As the 4th quarter progressed we certainly thought she'd jinxed us.

Fortunately the team fulfilled her prophesy. Hoping the same against the illini!
 

I think the craziest Illinois stat was from last year when they went a full 365+ day span without winning a football, men’s basketball, or women’s basketball game in the Big Ten.
 

Ash went up to 4-8 last year, from 2-10 in 2016. But is 1-7 this yea, so far.
Lovie went down to 2-10 last year, from 3-9 in 2016. And is 3-5 this year, so far.

Guessing both will get 2019 to prove something, barring a horrible showing through the rest of the year.

There are some great candidates in the MAC that might be able to help turn around either program. Any Big Ten program spends enough (or would be willing to spend enough) to create a winning environment. Just have to bring in the right coach.
 


Illinois is #122 in rushing defense, #120 in passing yards allowed, #97 in scoring offense, #119 is scoring defense, #127 in total defense, #84 in total offense, #115 in passing offense and #23 in rushing offense.

Illinois is giving up an average of 287.5 yards passing per game, and 248.1 yards rushing per game. The one positive stat for Illinois is their running game, where they are averaging 226.9 yards per game.

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs
 

I get your point.

But then what are we? I think they were favored right?
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I get your point.

But then what are we? I think they were favored right?
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Gophers opened as double-digit favorites this year over the Illini (assuming that's the favored you're talking about)

That said, I will never not be afraid of Illinois. Not after 2014, when the Gophers should have steamrolled a not-good Illini football team in Champaign (Gophers were 6-1, riding a four-game win streak, Illini were 3-4, riding a three-game losing streak) but instead laid an egg on the road. I was sure Minnesota was going to dominate that one and they just came out flat (down 14-0 after the first quarter).
 

Gopher07 said:
Gophers opened as double-digit favorites this year over the Illini (assuming that's the favored you're talking about)

That said, I will never not be afraid of Illinois. Not after 2014, when the Gophers should have steamrolled a not-good Illini football team in Champaign (Gophers were 6-1, riding a four-game win streak, Illini were 3-4, riding a three-game losing streak) but instead laid an egg on the road. I was sure Minnesota was going to dominate that one and they just came out flat (down 14-0 after the first quarter).
Click to expand...

Half the Gopher team had the flu that day...
 



Gopher07 said:
Gophers opened as double-digit favorites this year over the Illini (assuming that's the favored you're talking about)

That said, I will never not be afraid of Illinois. Not after 2014, when the Gophers should have steamrolled a not-good Illini football team in Champaign (Gophers were 6-1, riding a four-game win streak, Illini were 3-4, riding a three-game losing streak) but instead laid an egg on the road. I was sure Minnesota was going to dominate that one and they just came out flat (down 14-0 after the first quarter).
Click to expand...

I was thinking like more closer to game time.
 

And now Lovie loses his DC, who quit today.

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

There's no way Lovie Smith is still coaching there in 2019, right?
 

GophersInIowa said:
There's no way Lovie Smith is still coaching there in 2019, right?
Click to expand...

They're 3-5 with 4 games left. If they finish 3-9, maybe they'll fire him early, or maybe he will resign. But I feel like modern P5 coaching contracts are a minimum of 4 years, save for scandal, something major bad happening.
 



GophersInIowa said:
There's no way Lovie Smith is still coaching there in 2019, right?
Click to expand...

He'll probably get one more year. Lovie's contract buyout drops significantly next season (if he's fired this year he's entitled to remaining guaranteed compensation+$12M, next year entitled to remaining guaranteed compensation+$4M). Source: https://2michy3wy0l30d34041dt1et-wp...racts/loviesmith-uiuc-employment-contract.pdf

Now, they could fire him on Feb 1, 2019 and pay the lower buyout ... but they'd miss out on any coach worth getting.
 
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WindyCityGopher said:
And now Lovie loses his DC, who quit today.

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...

So he's available? Just saying. Do you think he's interested?:p

he's learned you can't start a fire with a bucket of water.
 


West Fargo Gopher Fan said:
Jinxes are not real
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Jynx__31_102__Base_Set.jpg
 

Oh good, an "easy" game for the Gophers. that's never gone badly before.

Sorry, I am superstitious - or I believe in the power of bad karma. As I've said before, for a team like MN, there is no such thing as an easy game. I want the players and coaches preparing this week like they are going to face the best team in the world.

Games like this scare me. On some level, I'd rather see the Gophers playing an Ohio State or Michigan, because then there's no one talking about an "easy" game.

Illinois can beat the Gophers. Are they likely to beat the Gophers? Probably not. But it's possible. In a game like this, I don't relax unless the Gophers have a 30+ point lead with 2 minutes to play. then I might relax a little. Until then, I treat it like a trap game.
 

WinLoseOrTy said:
Half the Gopher team had the flu that day...
Click to expand...

And yet they regained the lead before Cobb was stripped for a score while struggling for extra yardage. I was sure they would come back. Wolitarsky got them close on a reception on which he was injured but several really close pass plays were thwarted. So frustrating.
 


If you can’t find the easy game on the schedule then you are the easy game. We need to win Saturday.


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WindyCityGopher said:
And now Lovie loses his DC, who quit today.

Lovie Smith looked like a sort of solid hire by a new AD who was trying to bring some credibility to a downtrodden program. In retrospect, it was a very expensive mistake. I do not think they can afford to fire him after this year, nor can the AD reverse himself now.

If I had the $$ and was the AD I would fire him, as there is little chance he turns it around. Lovie is just a terrible fit for CFB, and he seems to a pretty awful job of picking Assistants as well, or at least he fires them a lot.

Illinois never should have fired the Zooker, who could have had them at 3-9, 6-6, 6-6, but eventually they would have won 10 or 11 again with all the talent he brought in, especially in a good recruiting footprint. Zook is coaching at Green Bay years later, so he was not ready to retire.
Click to expand...
 


I only watched Illinois once this season. They were leading Penn St in the 3rd quarter, until Penn St scored 42 unanswered points to win 63-24. LMAO


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