Will Illinois try to bully PSU?

[creamery]

I think they will - on both offense and defense.

On offense - will be interesting to see if Bielema uses the heavy sets and unbalanced formations he used so successfully in the 9 ot debacle when we couldn’t stop the run. Also, Altmyer is going to test our safety’s with Winston out

On defense - this will be an interesting battle. Somehow Illinois seems to always have good defensive lineman. This will be a good test for PSU’s young developing line. And Kotelnicki has shown a willingness to establish the run. Passing success will be important for PSU

Other thoughts????

 

[bcspsu]

I think they will - on both offense and defense.

On offense - will be interesting to see if Bielema uses the heavy sets and unbalanced formations he used so successfully in the 9 ot debacle when we couldn’t stop the run. Also, Altmyer is going to test our safety’s with Winston out

On defense - this will be an interesting battle. Somehow Illinois seems to always have good defensive lineman. This will be a good test for PSU’s young developing line. And Kotelnicki has shown a willingness to establish the run. Passing success will be important for PSU

Other thoughts????

I don’t think that this Illinois team is like the one in 2021; they have a much better passing game than that team with a passing qb and good receivers.

Also, let’s not make this Illinois team something that there not; they’re obviously a good team, but they struggled to beat a 1-3 Kansas team at home. Their win against NU was impressive, but it won’t be easy to play back to back night road games in tough environments.

 

[doctornick]

They do get an extra day to prepare since they played on Friday though. Though I guess that is somewhat evened out by having to travel for an away game.

 

[lazydave841]

I'm going to say no. Illinois offense runs a lot of RPO. Defense plays more zone than man. Decent DL, but no Newton.

 

[royboy]

Illinois has more talent than they are given credit for---4 draft choices in each 2023, 2024

2023	1	5	Devon Witherspoon	Seattle Seahawks	DB
2	47	Quan Martin	Washington Commanders	DB
3	66	Sydney Brown	Philadelphia Eagles	DB
5	163	Chase Brown	Cincinnati Bengals	RB
2024	2	36	Jer'Zhan Newton	Washington Commanders	DT
3	71	Isaiah Adams	Arizona Cardinals	G
3	82	Tip Reiman	Arizona Cardinals	TE
6	187	Casey Washington	Atlanta Falcons	WR

 

[Kasparaitis]

I think they will - on both offense and defense.

On offense - will be interesting to see if Bielema uses the heavy sets and unbalanced formations he used so successfully in the 9 ot debacle when we couldn’t stop the run. Also, Altmyer is going to test our safety’s with Winston out

On defense - this will be an interesting battle. Somehow Illinois seems to always have good defensive lineman. This will be a good test for PSU’s young developing line. And Kotelnicki has shown a willingness to establish the run. Passing success will be important for PSU

Other thoughts????

I would like nothing better than to see Allar toss 4 touchdowns and have Nick go off for a buck and a half and two more TDs so Bielema has to waddle his fat ass over to Franklin and say, Nice game.

 

[bvillebaron]

Illinois has more talent than they are given credit for---4 draft choices in each 2023, 2024

2023	1	5	Devon Witherspoon	Seattle Seahawks	DB
2	47	Quan Martin	Washington Commanders	DB
3	66	Sydney Brown	Philadelphia Eagles	DB
5	163	Chase Brown	Cincinnati Bengals	RB
2024	2	36	Jer'Zhan Newton	Washington Commanders	DT
3	71	Isaiah Adams	Arizona Cardinals	G
3	82	Tip Reiman	Arizona Cardinals	TE
6	187	Casey Washington	Atlanta Falcons	WR

So who are there draft choices this year?

 

[LandoComando]

So who are there draft choices this year?

CB Xavier Scott though he may come back next year. Their secondary is strong--Strain and Scott have NFL potential as well (late picks)
C Josh Kreutz--his dad Olin played in the NFL.
Not much on offense honestly--maybe a couple other lineman

 

[Nittany1997]

I think we win.

 

[RickinDayton]

CB Xavier Scott though he may come back next year. Their secondary is strong--Strain and Scott have NFL potential as well (late picks)
C Josh Kreutz--his dad Olin played in the NFL.
Not much on offense honestly--maybe a couple other lineman

They have good RBs, one outstanding WR, a very good QB who releases the ball quickly (transfer from SEC school - I believe Ole Miss), and a solid TE. As already state, their DL always seems to have some players who are stout.
PSU better be ready to play from the first whistle and adjust quickly because you know Bielama will try something different.

 

[LandoComando]

They have good RBs, one outstanding WR, a very good QB who releases the ball quickly (transfer from SEC school - I believe Ole Miss), and a solid TE. As already state, their DL always seems to have some players who are stout.
PSU better be ready to play from the first whistle and adjust quickly because you know Bielama will try something different.

The offensive skill positions aren't NFL type guys which is what I was answering. Or not at this point. Not saying they're not solid college players.

 

[TheWizardofCamelot]

I actually think we’ll try and bully them. Run first, then get Wallace and Warren down the field. Illinois better score 20+ on the road in Beaver, this is the most confident I’ve been in an offensive coordinator since Moorhead.

 

[RickinDayton]

The offensive skill positions aren't NFL type guys which is what I was answering. Or not at this point. Not saying they're not solid college players.

I think their WR Bryant will make the NFL. The rest are very good but not spectacular. However, Bielama and his staff know how to game plan and normally get their teams to play above their recruiting ranking.

 

[LongJakk]

I don't think that they have the OL to bully us this year.