Illinois vs. Rutgers

[FirstDownB]

Who do you have winning this game?

Which outcome would be better for Purdue, a 2-3 Illinois team coming off a loss to a bad team or a 3-2 Illinois team coming off a road win?

Does it matter?

 

[StickPurdue]

Who do you have winning this game?

Which outcome would be better for Purdue, a 2-3 Illinois team coming off a loss to a bad team or a 3-2 Illinois team coming off a road win?

Does it matter?

Doesn’t matter. Purdue needs to beat Illinois and get out healthy going into the OSU game. Don’t think Illinois beating Rutgers for confidence or losing and coming to the Purdue game mad will make a difference. Purdue should be the much better team.

 

[NVboiler]

I also don't think that the result of that game makes any difference as to a Purdue win which should happen. The score could be somewhat different because that result could affect how Illinois plays.

 

[FirstDownB]

I agree it probably won't matter... if Purdue plays anywhere near its ability. But if the team that lost to EMU shows up, it might matter. Being halfway to bowl eligibility could give them a big mental boost this week, with some winnable games remaining. I just peeked at their schedule.. it's an absolute joke (no OSU, no UM, no MSU, weak noncon)

 

[arcb102000]

I am not convinced that it matters a great deal which of Illinois-Rutgers wins their game. However, I would prefer Illinois win. That makes their record better and makes our anticipated win over them look better. Plus, an Illinois win is likely to move Lovie down the Hot Seat List which bodes well for Purdue going into the future as we regularly play them.

 

[Tommaker]

Who do you have winning this game?

Which outcome would be better for Purdue, a 2-3 Illinois team coming off a loss to a bad team or a 3-2 Illinois team coming off a road win?

Does it matter?

Odd that you posted this, I was just thinking about the Gene Keady "It's not who you play, it's when you play them" philosophy..

Here's what we're looking at on the down side of the schedule:

Illinois - Plays Rutgers the week before.
OSU - Plays Minny at home.
MSU - plays Michigan at home
Iowa - plays Penn State away
Minny - At Illinois
Wiscy - at Penn State
IU - At Michigan

We could get MSU with a hangover. I've got a supplier buddy in Michigan that says Harbaugh HAS to beat state this year.

 

[Wolegib]

Purdue needs the win period. It looks better if we beat a 3-2 team but it really doesn't matter. It may matter to Illinois fans

 

[FirstDownB]

Odd that you posted this, I was just thinking about the Gene Keady "It's not who you play, it's when you play them" philosophy..

Here's what we're looking at on the down side of the schedule:

Illinois - Plays Rutgers the week before.
OSU - Plays Minny at home.
MSU - plays Michigan at home
Iowa - plays Penn State away
Minny - At Illinois
Wiscy - at Penn State
IU - At Michigan

We could get MSU with a hangover. I've got a supplier buddy in Michigan that says Harbaugh HAS to beat state this year.

I've always appreciated that quote from Gene, but it isn't entirely correct. It's both who you play AND when you play them.

I'm kind of a crack sports psychology nut, and one thing that is interesting to me is the undeniable reality that teams simply do not "get up" for every single game. But predicting the factors that go into these ups and downs is very difficult. And different teams respond in different ways to things like adversity and criticism, but also to accomplishment and accolades.

Illinois played PSU tough for 3 quarters and gave USF all they could handle. I'm not taking this one, on the road, for granted. But I do think the Illini might be the type of team we could hit in the mouth and they would not get up off the mat, especially if they are on a losing streak.

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

I've always appreciated that quote from Gene, but it isn't entirely correct. It's both who you play AND when you play them.

I'm kind of a crack sports psychology nut, and one thing that is interesting to me is the undeniable reality that teams simply do not "get up" for every single game. But predicting the factors that go into these ups and downs is very difficult. And different teams respond in different ways to things like adversity and criticism, but also to accomplishment and accolades.

Illinois played PSU tough for 3 quarters and gave USF all they could handle. I'm not taking this one, on the road, for granted. But I do think the Illini might be the type of team we could hit in the mouth and they would not get up off the mat, especially if they are on a losing streak.

PSU also looked like they were sleeping the entire game before the 4th quarter when the decided to finally exert their will on Illinois. My hope would be that Illinois gets absolutely destroyed by Rutgers because that would screw with their psyche being beaten by arguably the worst B1G team. It's one thing to play a good team tough and get blown out like they did against PSU...it's a totally other thing to get blown out by a bad team.

 

[BoilerFYF]

Who do you have winning this game?

Which outcome would be better for Purdue, a 2-3 Illinois team coming off a loss to a bad team or a 3-2 Illinois team coming off a road win?

Does it matter?

I’d like to see Illinois win but come in with a hobbled QB. If their QB isn’t playing outstanding they won’t move the ball on us. Illinois will be the worst offense we’ve faced yet

 

[Mighty Argyll]

I think for us at this stage of our program, quantity wins are more important than quality wins. So, I'll go with Illinois losing to Rutgers and coming home mentally discouraged. I'd rather that then having them gain some confidence, which wins will do for a team that's rebuilding regardless of opponent.
But it probably doesn't matter much, if we play like we're capable we should beat them regardless of how they come out in their game w/ Rutgers.

 

[KJBBoiler]

Because I am planning on going to the game. I wouldn't mind seeing IL lose this one and more of their fans stay home which drives even cheaper tickets and more space in the stadium for Purdue fans

 

[BoilerFYF]

Doesn’t matter. Purdue needs to beat Illinois and get out healthy going into the OSU game. Don’t think Illinois beating Rutgers for confidence or losing and coming to the Purdue game mad will make a difference. Purdue should be the much better team.

If you go on their fora, very few of their fans think they have winning chances against us

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

Forgot that Lovie likes to run that cover 2 man. If he does that, you are going to eventually get Rondale matched up against a safety or a LB, Hopkins in the seam against a LB, or Sparks/Zico one on one on the outside. You’ll also end up getting a LB trying to cover Knox in the flat.

It’s going to be very difficult for Illinois to matchup against Purdue in the passing game and that is going to leave a lot of running lanes for Knox/Jones/Horvath (hopefully). Rutgers just showed that on their second drive (after their QB threw an INT on their first offensive play).

 

[FirstDownB]

I didn't catch the ILL/RU game. From the highlights it appears RU had some poor defensive fits and horrible pursuit angles leading to long runs by ILL. Looks like ILL is one-dimensional. Look for Holt to pull out the BC game plan and shut them down.