The Deuce: i think we were vanilla by design

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i think we were vanilla by design

Posted by illiniranger

on September 8, 2026, 10:01:33, in reply to "my general thoughts after a few sleeps on it"

did what we had to do to win, that was it. wouldn't be surprised to come out in more Tite front (we only ran it a couple times) to stop the run.

Previous Message

* no real concerns with the overall scheme, seems like more often than not we had guys in place to make a play
* Obviously the amount of arm noodling we did in the open field is not great...
* I don't know if we were intentionally vanilla, or we were doing plenty to keep them at arms length so there was no need to be more aggressive.
* we have talent in the backfield, so I'd be fine with bringing an extra guy into the box and trusting the DB's to make plays.

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Message Thread | This response ↓

Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). - ATL September 7, 2026, 06:51:49

Matelau out today too* - snipes824 September 12, 2026, 14:05:05
- That’s a disaster. * - assassin September 12, 2026, 14:08:24
I really think we’ll come out and play much better today* - John Coctostan September 12, 2026, 10:18:25
- Old saying about "you improve the most between Games One and Two" comes to mind. - osklister September 12, 2026, 12:53:50
Really big one today. Just like last year. And the Kansas series* - opossum jenkins September 12, 2026, 09:58:45
2027 WR commit Bennett Konkey has a couple of TDs against Wheaton Warrenville South - Gene Parmesan September 11, 2026, 20:58:44
Stars and Slants - jdl September 11, 2026, 16:42:39
I know it was one game vs a poor defense but not sure how much better Houser could’ve looked - CanHartlebHireSnider September 11, 2026, 12:09:01
Bump... - uofi1998 September 11, 2026, 10:34:25
- I'm scared to talk about them, need to see more before I can definitively say anything of value - OrangeSox September 11, 2026, 11:52:50
- While the missed tackles are probably due, in part, to lack of practice - bjl63 September 11, 2026, 11:48:58
  - Maybe it turns out we can’t tackle, but upon reflection I was actually heartened by that D - snipes824 September 11, 2026, 12:17:22
    - IDK... I think we had some guys shooting gaps, but I thought we got blown off the ball a lot. - uofi1998 September 11, 2026, 12:19:17
      - Over the course of the game it was obviously some of both. How it looks this week will tell us a lot - snipes824 September 11, 2026, 12:24:35
  - It takes more than 6 quarters to know what you have and young teams can get better as the year goes - illiniranger September 11, 2026, 11:54:05
    - Perhaps, but I don't know that there are lots of guys with much upside on the D front - bjl63 September 11, 2026, 12:04:50
      - I think we have some guys who can move and get to the QB... that's not my concern... - uofi1998 September 11, 2026, 12:06:57
        
        If we hold their RB to less than 150 we should win - bjl63 September 11, 2026, 12:09:48
        
        I think the obvious approach is to trust the CBs + X in man coverage... - uofi1998 September 11, 2026, 12:13:11
        
        I don't know the number offhand, but I could see Bailey shattering our single-season tackles record - bjl63 September 11, 2026, 12:16:04
        
        The tackling records are unobtainable. Dana Howard had 150 in a season multiple times - illiniranger September 11, 2026, 13:23:42
    - McConnell and Knapik are the 2 guys I'll be watching on every offensive snap. - uofi1998 September 11, 2026, 11:55:26
- I feel like your last sentence is kind of indicative of the mindset among the online fanbase - OB25 September 11, 2026, 11:39:43
  - The OL scares me too - especially the right side... we've shown an inability... - uofi1998 September 11, 2026, 11:52:32
    - Game is sold out tomorrow and I'm pretty sure most know we're watching a 5-7 win team this year - OrangeSox September 11, 2026, 11:58:11
      - Just get 6* - bjl63 September 11, 2026, 12:11:50
      - Lagging indicator... we drew a shit ton of fans in 2008 also. - uofi1998 September 11, 2026, 11:59:20
    - The vast majority of Illinois fans are going to be happy with 7 wins, esp with a good basketball tm - illiniranger September 11, 2026, 11:55:34
      - Quit drinking 5 months ago... as sober as a monk. - uofi1998 September 11, 2026, 11:56:54
Illini -6 now with o/u 51.5. Not sure why the move other than random betting. - ibdoc September 9, 2026, 11:08:55
- SP+ has it ~ Illinois -3 - illiniranger September 9, 2026, 13:26:17
  - We dropped 13 spots in SP+ - CanHartlebHireSnider September 9, 2026, 13:52:37
    - seems like a lot given how much preseason data remains baked in - illiniranger September 9, 2026, 14:10:11
      - Sounds right to me... just eyeball test through 1 week.* - uofi1998 September 9, 2026, 14:32:52
- Bettors have more access than ever to information. - uofi1998 September 9, 2026, 11:17:43
  - I am not a Manny Diaz fan so I expect some undisciplined moments from Duke* - bjl63 September 9, 2026, 11:22:51
    - The thing I like is Houser is experienced with the quick hit game... and Dixon... - uofi1998 September 9, 2026, 11:52:51
      - We flipped the momentum in the Duke game last year with the 3rd and mega-long screen pass to Clement - OB25 September 9, 2026, 12:11:15
        
        the game last year was very close, except for the turnovers - illiniranger September 9, 2026, 13:42:21
      - I mean, I'm on year 24 of thinking maybe we'd get the TE's more involved in the passing game - ijustkrushalot September 9, 2026, 11:57:21
        
        said this before because bitching about TEs is a theme here. - illiniranger September 9, 2026, 13:32:15
        
        Werner and Wagner talk about TE production constantly - bjl63 September 11, 2026, 11:41:51
        
        Exactly. THIS is the week the TE’s breakout. Lunney spent time with Ben Johnson so it has to happen* - DocWalk20 September 9, 2026, 12:17:28
        
        I’ve long ago given up on it ever being more than we’ve seen the last couple years - OB25 September 9, 2026, 13:32:35
i don't feel great about this game - illiniranger September 8, 2026, 10:03:17
- Bobby’s comments this week bothered me. - opossum jenkins September 9, 2026, 08:07:34
  - Are we taking coaches at their word on game planning?* - ATL September 9, 2026, 08:10:47
    - Particularly in football, never believe anything a coach says* - bjl63 September 9, 2026, 11:23:28
    - We know BB doesn't tell the whole truth on injuries, so game planning shouldn't be any different* - uofi1998 September 9, 2026, 10:26:17
- I'm not sure there's a massive dropoff to Laughery... I'd like to see them combine for 25-30 touches - uofi1998 September 8, 2026, 11:05:55
  - Agreed. Both have good vision, speed and lateral quickness - Blazer September 8, 2026, 13:45:39
- Soft! We win 33-14.* - Warrin'_Illini September 8, 2026, 10:24:38
A tweet about Houck’s defense - gvibes September 8, 2026, 07:46:01
Agree with this, I think we’ll get better at tackling as the season wears on - illiniranger September 7, 2026, 15:21:05
- my general thoughts after a few sleeps on it - ijustkrushalot September 8, 2026, 09:05:29
  - i think we were vanilla by design - illiniranger September 8, 2026, 10:01:33
Platt and Henderson both out and Bret not ruling out it being as much as 4-6 weeks for both - OB25 September 7, 2026, 14:28:49
Now illini -6.5. O/u 53.5 - redgrange77 September 7, 2026, 13:43:14
- Will Duke attempt more than 10 passes?* - LeatherneckIllini September 7, 2026, 14:07:33
  - gotta sell out to stop run - Poldark September 7, 2026, 14:22:00
Sellout - biclops September 7, 2026, 12:34:57

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