Fundamentals

[#93fanclub]

I found myself shaking my head several times today as Illini runners gained 3, 4, 5 yards after contact. It seems to me that we are trying to tackle runners high and try to strip the ball while the runner churns his legs for extra yards. It's time to "get low".

 

[hungan1]

Our D looked tired and gassed in the 2nd half.

 

[Governor Sibley]

We are running on fumes.

 

[Mulligan]

Ya, it was frustrating but we usually tackle well. Those penalties on the field goals bothered me more.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

The tackling was an issue. As Mulligan points out, the offsides and false starts on field goals are a problem. As is having 12 men on the field immediately after taking a penalty for having 12 men on the field. At the end of the day, we played well enough to win, and that's what matters, so great job to the boys. Need to clean some of this up for next week, but Wisconsin looked very beatable today.

 

[MGGopher]

We are running on fumes.

Yup. You said this in the game thread a couple times and I was nodding in agreement. Take a team that's down something like 4 starters and 3 or 4 key backups and pit them against 3 top teams in the country in consecutive weeks (2 on the road) and you'll be left with what we saw yesterday: tired, physically beat up, mentally drained. I hope they can "get up" for next week, and perhaps get back at least one injured player. Guess we'll see.