The Deuce

The Deuce
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Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5).

Posted by ATL User icon on September 7, 2026, 06:51:49

Werner early preview below:

https://247sports.com/college/illinois/article/illini-inquirer-am-illinois-fighting-illini-football-duke-blue-devils-odds-big-ten-recap-illinois-soccer-izzy-lee-289615471/

Beat Duke!

“We are old and tired and just want to be taken care of.” - Republican voter, Dec. 2024.

Matelau out today too*

Posted by snipes824 User icon on September 12, 2026, 14:05:05, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

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That’s a disaster. *

Posted by assassin User icon on September 12, 2026, 14:08:24, in reply to "Matelau out today too*"

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Brandon Schrock of Laredo, Texas, told the federal government that his employer was “poop,” and his occupation was “pooper.”

I really think we’ll come out and play much better today*

Posted by John Coctostan User icon on September 12, 2026, 10:18:25, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

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Old saying about "you improve the most between Games One and Two" comes to mind.

Posted by osklister User icon on September 12, 2026, 12:53:50, in reply to "I really think we’ll come out and play much better today*"

Really big one today. Just like last year. And the Kansas series*

Posted by opossum jenkins User icon on September 12, 2026, 09:58:45, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

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2027 WR commit Bennett Konkey has a couple of TDs against Wheaton Warrenville South

Posted by Gene Parmesan User icon on September 11, 2026, 20:58:44, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

He's the best player on the field and it's not particularly close. And WWS has a fairly decent team.

He just caught his second TD with a toe tap catch in the end zone.

Stars and Slants

Posted by jdl User icon on September 11, 2026, 16:42:39, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

https://x.com/IlliniFootball/status/2098498129431531855

I know it was one game vs a poor defense but not sure how much better Houser could’ve looked

Posted by CanHartlebHireSnider User icon on September 11, 2026, 12:09:01, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

Seems almost worthless to attempt to recruit and develop HS QBs anymore.

Bump...

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 11, 2026, 10:34:25, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

...so strange the lack of talk about Illini football here given where the program is now.

Even with this being a supposed rebuilding year...

Our lines scare the shit out of me in this matchup... we have the skill position advantage by a mile, but it won't matter if we get whipped on the LOS.

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

I'm scared to talk about them, need to see more before I can definitively say anything of value

Posted by OrangeSox User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:52:50, in reply to "Bump..."

Offense seems fine, defense needs to scheme to be even serviceable in the front 7. Let's see how it goes.

While the missed tackles are probably due, in part, to lack of practice

Posted by bjl63 User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:48:58, in reply to "Bump..."

mediocre players are also mediocre at playing football, so some is also due to playing guys who are in over their heads.

By halftime Saturday, I think we will know what we have here. If we can't force Duke to throw it's gonna be a long afternoon.

Maybe it turns out we can’t tackle, but upon reflection I was actually heartened by that D

Posted by snipes824 User icon on September 11, 2026, 12:17:22, in reply to "While the missed tackles are probably due, in part, to lack of practice"

Performance.

We created havoc in the pass game, and while we got carved by the run, a decent chunk of those we had a guy there and just missed. So I agree talent wise we’re probably light in the front 7, but if the tackling improves, I can see a reasonable defense there.

I could also see the opposite. Time will tell.

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IDK... I think we had some guys shooting gaps, but I thought we got blown off the ball a lot.

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 11, 2026, 12:19:17, in reply to "Maybe it turns out we can’t tackle, but upon reflection I was actually heartened by that D"

This week will be a much more accurate depiction of what was real and wasn't...

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

Over the course of the game it was obviously some of both. How it looks this week will tell us a lot

Posted by snipes824 User icon on September 11, 2026, 12:24:35, in reply to "IDK... I think we had some guys shooting gaps, but I thought we got blown off the ball a lot."

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This week will be a much more accurate depiction of what was real and wasn't...

It takes more than 6 quarters to know what you have and young teams can get better as the year goes

Posted by illiniranger User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:54:05, in reply to "While the missed tackles are probably due, in part, to lack of practice"

On. Performance is non linear. We could look good tomorrow and still play like shit in conference play. We could look bad and get better. We’ve got to get at least 4 or 5 games into the season to have a good idea of the teams strengths and weaknesses.

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Perhaps, but I don't know that there are lots of guys with much upside on the D front

Posted by bjl63 User icon on September 11, 2026, 12:04:50, in reply to "It takes more than 6 quarters to know what you have and young teams can get better as the year goes "

I am interested in the Utah St baseball player, though. He is interesting. Beerman, too. Barna is fine but probably more a rotation guy on a good D. He's not a guy who can carry a DL.

Time will tell, of course, but I'm pessimistic until proven otherwise. I'd love nothing more than to be wrong here. Hope thy start proving me wrong in 24 hours.

I think we have some guys who can move and get to the QB... that's not my concern...

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 11, 2026, 12:06:57, in reply to "Perhaps, but I don't know that there are lots of guys with much upside on the D front"

...the obvious concern, which I know you share, is that we're light in the ass and there's no fixing that without being exotic... and that will only go so far.

Fortunately we have a back end that can hold up in man coverage against a lot of opponents, and we probably need to play that way... 3-3-5 isn't an exotic defense, per se... but not having any space eaters or bad asses up front really puts a damper on its ability...

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

If we hold their RB to less than 150 we should win

Posted by bjl63 User icon on September 11, 2026, 12:09:48, in reply to "I think we have some guys who can move and get to the QB... that's not my concern..."

I really wonder if we can. If I heard correctly, Duke's OL is a veteran grou,p so they may not be as fooled by the exotics. We shall see.

I think the obvious approach is to trust the CBs + X in man coverage...

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 11, 2026, 12:13:11, in reply to "If we hold their RB to less than 150 we should win"

...and hope having 6-7 guys in the box will create enough havoc to slow down their RB... which means Bailey is in the box cleaning things up.

Apparently the guy led the nation last week in broken tackles and was #9 in the country overall in that category last year.

That's a big ol' yikes.

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

I don't know the number offhand, but I could see Bailey shattering our single-season tackles record

Posted by bjl63 User icon on September 11, 2026, 12:16:04, in reply to "I think the obvious approach is to trust the CBs + X in man coverage..."

he's a quai LB as it is and it one of the guys I trust to make a stop. ANd if we kind of let him roam around he could be a monster.

The tackling records are unobtainable. Dana Howard had 150 in a season multiple times

Posted by illiniranger User icon on September 11, 2026, 13:23:42, in reply to "I don't know the number offhand, but I could see Bailey shattering our single-season tackles record"

It’s like DiMaggios hits record. Can’t be replicated the way the game is played now.

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he's a quai LB as it is and it one of the guys I trust to make a stop. ANd if we kind of let him roam around he could be a monster.

McConnell and Knapik are the 2 guys I'll be watching on every offensive snap.

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:55:26, in reply to "It takes more than 6 quarters to know what you have and young teams can get better as the year goes "

I think C-LG-LT we're fine... and Abney is a fine blocker as a TE... but I want to see what Barry dials up to help the right side of the OL... some screens to that side would be the obvious way to try to slow down their rushes.

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

I feel like your last sentence is kind of indicative of the mindset among the online fanbase

Posted by OB25 User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:39:43, in reply to "Bump..."

Your one comment about the game is a negative one. That’s not a knock on you, and it’s obviously a fair comment, but any discussion about the game is just about how our defense sucks.

Whereas in years past, I feel like there would just be excitement about us having a nice weather sold out crowd against a P4 opponent tomorrow. I think we’re just proving the old adage that no fanbase in college football is actually happy. Everything evolves accordingly as you have some level of success, I hope no one still holds on to the fantasy narrative that they’d be ecstatic with winning 6 or 7 games every year.

When something is happening, young people like to say it’s “lit.”

The OL scares me too - especially the right side... we've shown an inability...

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:52:32, in reply to "I feel like your last sentence is kind of indicative of the mindset among the online fanbase"

And yes... the happy with 6-7 wins thing was never real... it's rationalization when you're winning 2-5 games every year.

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

Game is sold out tomorrow and I'm pretty sure most know we're watching a 5-7 win team this year

Posted by OrangeSox User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:58:11, in reply to "The OL scares me too - especially the right side... we've shown an inability..."

Competency is sexy. Just avoid embarrassing losses to bad teams and the fans will be there to support.

Just get 6*

Posted by bjl63 User icon on September 11, 2026, 12:11:50, in reply to "Game is sold out tomorrow and I'm pretty sure most know we're watching a 5-7 win team this year"

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Competency is sexy. Just avoid embarrassing losses to bad teams and the fans will be there to support.

Lagging indicator... we drew a shit ton of fans in 2008 also.

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:59:20, in reply to "Game is sold out tomorrow and I'm pretty sure most know we're watching a 5-7 win team this year"

Let's not confuse what I said with being unhappy... just saying I've never bought that narrative... not the first time I've said it here.

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

The vast majority of Illinois fans are going to be happy with 7 wins, esp with a good basketball tm

Posted by illiniranger User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:55:34, in reply to "The OL scares me too - especially the right side... we've shown an inability..."

Put down the crack pipe.

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...early in seasons to handle exotic pressure - especially with inexperienced units.

I think our defense will force a couple of picks, but if Houser is getting pummeled all day, we're in deep trouble. And yes... the happy with 6-7 wins thing was never real... it's rationalization when you're winning 2-5 games every year.

Quit drinking 5 months ago... as sober as a monk.

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:56:54, in reply to "The vast majority of Illinois fans are going to be happy with 7 wins, esp with a good basketball tm"

Fandom is fluky.

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

Illini -6 now with o/u 51.5. Not sure why the move other than random betting.

Posted by ibdoc User icon on September 9, 2026, 11:08:55, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

Any word or changes on our or their team that would make a change in 1.5 points?

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SP+ has it ~ Illinois -3

Posted by illiniranger User icon on September 9, 2026, 13:26:17, in reply to "Illini -6 now with o/u 51.5. Not sure why the move other than random betting."

various analytics say the game should be closer than the 7ish points the betting opened at

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Any word or changes on our or their team that would make a change in 1.5 points?

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We dropped 13 spots in SP+

Posted by CanHartlebHireSnider User icon on September 9, 2026, 13:52:37, in reply to "SP+ has it ~ Illinois -3 "

29 to 42. Duke I think is 45

So basically a wash with us getting the home field.

Most of the metrics did not like our performance vs UAB.

seems like a lot given how much preseason data remains baked in

Posted by illiniranger User icon on September 9, 2026, 14:10:11, in reply to "We dropped 13 spots in SP+"

but i think we are closer to the 42nd best team in the country than the 29th, so seems about right

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29 to 42. Duke I think is 45

So basically a wash with us getting the home field.

Most of the metrics did not like our performance vs UAB.

Sounds right to me... just eyeball test through 1 week.*

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 9, 2026, 14:32:52, in reply to "seems like a lot given how much preseason data remains baked in"

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

Bettors have more access than ever to information.

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 9, 2026, 11:17:43, in reply to "Illini -6 now with o/u 51.5. Not sure why the move other than random betting."

Anybody who actually watched last years game knows the score wasn’t indicative of the play on the field. Further, anybody who watched last week’s game saw UAB run all over us, which is Duke’s strength. They also know we have 5 new OL starters this week against a manny Diaz-led heavy blitz scheme.

We may win by 20, but if I knew all of that as a neutral, I’d be leaning to the dog.

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

I am not a Manny Diaz fan so I expect some undisciplined moments from Duke*

Posted by bjl63 User icon on September 9, 2026, 11:22:51, in reply to "Bettors have more access than ever to information. "

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The thing I like is Houser is experienced with the quick hit game... and Dixon...

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 9, 2026, 11:52:51, in reply to "I am not a Manny Diaz fan so I expect some undisciplined moments from Duke*"

...is the kind of WR who can body up a guy and win tough balls.

But the thing that worries me is Barry has a proclivity to overlook the screen game in his playbook... which should be there for the taking - especially a little TE screen with Feagin.

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

We flipped the momentum in the Duke game last year with the 3rd and mega-long screen pass to Clement

Posted by OB25 User icon on September 9, 2026, 12:11:15, in reply to "The thing I like is Houser is experienced with the quick hit game... and Dixon..."

Which also featured JC Davis completely swallowing a tiny DB.

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When something is happening, young people like to say it’s “lit.”

the game last year was very close, except for the turnovers

Posted by illiniranger User icon on September 9, 2026, 13:42:21, in reply to "We flipped the momentum in the Duke game last year with the 3rd and mega-long screen pass to Clement"

total yards was 419 - 439 in favor of Duke. First downs were close, IL had 25, Duke had 21. Illinois had 4 3rd down conversions, Duke had 5. Illinois had 7 penalties, Duke had 6. the efficiency stuff was generally close.

We were +5 on turnovers. a turnover is worth 5 points in EPA. So by EPA we were +25 on turnovers. We won the game by 26 points.

make of that what you will

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Which also featured JC Davis completely swallowing a tiny DB.

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I mean, I'm on year 24 of thinking maybe we'd get the TE's more involved in the passing game

Posted by ijustkrushalot User icon on September 9, 2026, 11:57:21, in reply to "The thing I like is Houser is experienced with the quick hit game... and Dixon..."

but maybe *this time* we were avoiding it week 1 to exploit it against Duke.

said this before because bitching about TEs is a theme here.

Posted by illiniranger User icon on September 9, 2026, 13:32:15, in reply to "I mean, I'm on year 24 of thinking maybe we'd get the TE's more involved in the passing game"

TEs in college generally don't catch very many passes. last years Big Ten TE of the year averaged a whopping 40 yards receiving a game on about 3.5 catches. he did have a high number of TDs, so was probably used in the red zone.

the other first team guy averaged about 32 yards a game with only 2 TD catches on the season in 14 games.

One was a 1st Round Pick, the other was a 2nd round pick. TEs don't add that much value in college football.

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but maybe *this time* we were avoiding it week 1 to exploit it against Duke.

Werner and Wagner talk about TE production constantly

Posted by bjl63 User icon on September 11, 2026, 11:41:51, in reply to "said this before because bitching about TEs is a theme here."

I like Werner a lot, but the TE obsession is weird to me.

Exactly. THIS is the week the TE’s breakout. Lunney spent time with Ben Johnson so it has to happen*

Posted by DocWalk20 User icon on September 9, 2026, 12:17:28, in reply to "I mean, I'm on year 24 of thinking maybe we'd get the TE's more involved in the passing game"

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but maybe *this time* we were avoiding it week 1 to exploit it against Duke.

I’ve long ago given up on it ever being more than we’ve seen the last couple years

Posted by OB25 User icon on September 9, 2026, 13:32:35, in reply to "Exactly. THIS is the week the TE’s breakout. Lunney spent time with Ben Johnson so it has to happen*"

I just tried to think through this and realized I can’t name a single non-Illinois TE in all of college football. I know we’re only a week in so I will learn some, seems like Oregon and Georgia are supposed to have new studs.

That’s obviously not to say that using TE’s isn’t important, but having them be high usage guys is extremely rare in CFB these days. I feel like we’ve actually done a pretty darn good of using TE’s the last few years.

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but maybe *this time* we were avoiding it week 1 to exploit it against Duke.

When something is happening, young people like to say it’s “lit.”

i don't feel great about this game

Posted by illiniranger User icon on September 8, 2026, 10:03:17, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

not sure they are mentally ready to give it to Valentine 20+ times if that's what is required. they really, really enjoy rotating running backs despite the drop off.

think the Henderson injury is going to be a problem for us versus a team that will run blitz like crazy. i think they will come out with more or less their same game plan from last year on defense.

defense didn't tackle well and didn't line up smoothly. not sure we are ready on that side of the ball.

i think its going to be a really close game.

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Bobby’s comments this week bothered me.

Posted by opossum jenkins User icon on September 9, 2026, 08:07:34, in reply to "i don't feel great about this game"

He was asked about Duke’s serious running attack. He said something along the lines of maybe they will change their attack against Illinois. As in Duke might throw it more.

That isn’t going to happen. Their QB is hurt and it shows.

Duke also has a starting corner who played for Bobby last year.

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Are we taking coaches at their word on game planning?*

Posted by ATL User icon on September 9, 2026, 08:10:47, in reply to "Bobby’s comments this week bothered me. "

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“We are old and tired and just want to be taken care of.” - Republican voter, Dec. 2024.

Particularly in football, never believe anything a coach says*

Posted by bjl63 User icon on September 9, 2026, 11:23:28, in reply to "Are we taking coaches at their word on game planning?*"

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We know BB doesn't tell the whole truth on injuries, so game planning shouldn't be any different*

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 9, 2026, 10:26:17, in reply to "Are we taking coaches at their word on game planning?*"

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Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

I'm not sure there's a massive dropoff to Laughery... I'd like to see them combine for 25-30 touches

Posted by uofi1998 User icon on September 8, 2026, 11:05:55, in reply to "i don't feel great about this game"

How they're divvied up, I'm not terribly picky. Obviously CV is more electric and elusive, but Laughery can get a tougher yard IMO.

Are you going to bark all day, little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

Agreed. Both have good vision, speed and lateral quickness

Posted by Blazer User icon on September 8, 2026, 13:45:39, in reply to "I'm not sure there's a massive dropoff to Laughery... I'd like to see them combine for 25-30 touches"

Laughery maybe a little more shifty, Valentine a little more physical.

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How they're divvied up, I'm not terribly picky. Obviously CV is more electric and elusive, but Laughery can get a tougher yard IMO.

Soft! We win 33-14.*

Posted by Warrin'_Illini $<iframe src='https://mb.boardhost.com/TheDeuce/info/user=Warrin\'_Illini' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;' tabindex=0>$ on September 8, 2026, 10:24:38, in reply to "i don't feel great about this game"

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I said forget about it cuh

A tweet about Houck’s defense

Posted by gvibes User icon on September 8, 2026, 07:46:01, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

https://x.com/the_coach_a/status/2097006992426439088?s=46

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Agree with this, I think we’ll get better at tackling as the season wears on

Posted by illiniranger User icon on September 7, 2026, 15:21:05, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

http://x.com/jwerner247/status/2097019080699974118?s=46

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my general thoughts after a few sleeps on it

Posted by ijustkrushalot User icon on September 8, 2026, 09:05:29, in reply to "Agree with this, I think we’ll get better at tackling as the season wears on"

* 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.

i think we were vanilla by design

Posted by illiniranger User icon 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.

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Platt and Henderson both out and Bret not ruling out it being as much as 4-6 weeks for both

Posted by OB25 User icon on September 7, 2026, 14:28:49, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

Says it could be a couple weeks or could be more like 4-6.

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When something is happening, young people like to say it’s “lit.”

Now illini -6.5. O/u 53.5

Posted by redgrange77 User icon on September 7, 2026, 13:43:14, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

Defense!

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Will Duke attempt more than 10 passes?*

Posted by LeatherneckIllini User icon on September 7, 2026, 14:07:33, in reply to "Now illini -6.5. O/u 53.5"

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Defense!

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gotta sell out to stop run

Posted by Poldark User icon on September 7, 2026, 14:22:00, in reply to "Will Duke attempt more than 10 passes?*"

Beat Duke!

Social Misfit who wants to coach Illinois women's basketball.

"Arsenal fans are the only ones that consistently behave like dicks to a rival fanbase."

Sellout

Posted by biclops User icon on September 7, 2026, 12:34:57, in reply to "Duke Gameweek. Illini (-7.5). "

https://x.com/illinifootball/status/2097000756821823615?s=46&t=Z2WDeGTY1oiKv3V21L4QWw

Don't take offense, better make amends
Rip it all to shreds and let it go

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