Illini injuries

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swingman

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Besides the QB, names to watch:

After remaining mostly healthy through the first five games, the Illini suffered a slew of injuries in this one. DeVito left the game late in the first quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. Defensive back Taz Nicholson, wide receivers Isaiah Williams and Jonah Morris, and tight end Michael Marchese also left the game due to injury.

That's not including the apparent groin injury to starting kicker Caleb Griffin.

illiniguys.com

Injury-Plagued Illini Ride Their Defense To 9-6 Win Over Iowa, Best Start Since 2011 - IlliniGuys.com

By IlliniGuys Staff
illiniguys.com illiniguys.com
 


swingman said:
Besides the QB, names to watch:

After remaining mostly healthy through the first five games, the Illini suffered a slew of injuries in this one. DeVito left the game late in the first quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. Defensive back Taz Nicholson, wide receivers Isaiah Williams and Jonah Morris, and tight end Michael Marchese also left the game due to injury.

That's not including the apparent groin injury to starting kicker Caleb Griffin.

illiniguys.com

Injury-Plagued Illini Ride Their Defense To 9-6 Win Over Iowa, Best Start Since 2011 - IlliniGuys.com

By IlliniGuys Staff
illiniguys.com illiniguys.com
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Iowa is so flipping physical. I can't believe how hard they hit.
 


Illinois took a beating in that game. Obviously the key one is the QB injury. If DeVito can't go that is a massive blow to their offense because their backup QB is horrible.
 


MNVCGUY said:
Illinois took a beating in that game. Obviously the key one is the QB injury. If DeVito can't go that is a massive blow to their offense because their backup QB is horrible.
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Is the backup the Rutgers transfer?
 



swingman said:
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Well that clears it all up.....lol

Seems like DeVito and maybe Williams are going to be out, if that is the case it will put a massive dent in their passing game and make it easier for Rossi to really load up on stopping Brown.

Sure the team will prepare for the Illini to have all their regulars but there is a big dropoff from DeVito to Sitkowski if that ends up happening.
 



this is fine for the fans to talk about.

But if the Gophers are talking about it, that's a big problem. There is no way the Gophers can afford to think "hey, they've got guys out with injuries, so it'll be easier to win."

that type of thinking is what leads teams to a performance like the Gophers turned in against Purdue.

The Gophers have to go into the game with the mindset that they have to play their best game of the season in order to win. Because I think that is closer to the truth. even with injuries, Illinois might be the best defensive team the Gophers have faced.

I don't care if Illinois is playing Elmer Fudd at QB. If the Gophers' offense doesn't play its best game, this will be a tough game to win.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
this is fine for the fans to talk about.

But if the Gophers are talking about it, that's a big problem. There is no way the Gophers can afford to think "hey, they've got guys out with injuries, so it'll be easier to win."

that type of thinking is what leads teams to a performance like the Gophers turned in against Purdue.

The Gophers have to go into the game with the mindset that they have to play their best game of the season in order to win. Because I think that is closer to the truth. even with injuries, Illinois might be the best defensive team the Gophers have faced.

I don't care if Illinois is playing Elmer Fudd at QB. If the Gophers' offense doesn't play its best game, this will be a tough game to win.
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Guess it is a good thing we are on a fan message board then. :)
 

short ornery norwegian said:
this is fine for the fans to talk about.

But if the Gophers are talking about it, that's a big problem. There is no way the Gophers can afford to think "hey, they've got guys out with injuries, so it'll be easier to win."

that type of thinking is what leads teams to a performance like the Gophers turned in against Purdue.

The Gophers have to go into the game with the mindset that they have to play their best game of the season in order to win. Because I think that is closer to the truth. even with injuries, Illinois might be the best defensive team the Gophers have faced.

I don't care if Illinois is playing Elmer Fudd at QB. If the Gophers' offense doesn't play its best game, this will be a tough game to win.
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This is the most tired take on all of gopherhole. Me booking a hotel to be at the Rose Bowl doesn’t change the preparation or plans of the players and coaches.

This may really upset you and others but the coaches are already scouting future opponents!
 

MNVCGUY said:
Well that clears it all up.....lol

Seems like DeVito and maybe Williams are going to be out, if that is the case it will put a massive dent in their passing game and make it easier for Rossi to really load up on stopping Brown.

Sure the team will prepare for the Illini to have all their regulars but there is a big dropoff from DeVito to Sitkowski if that ends up happening.
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Re. stopping Brown we need a spy assigned to him every play. That will be the nickel back lined up close to the LOS, eyes only on Brown. Dixon and Stapp can trade off to stay fresh. Hit him every time he comes through the line, ball or no ball. Follow him pre-snap if he is in motion.

If we hold Brown to 60-70 yards and nothing long they might not score a TD.

If it's Sitkowski, I see at least three turnovers-- two interceptions and a strip sack. Art throws it up for grabs under pressure. I predict he will be seeing Danny Striggow in his sleep for years.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
this is fine for the fans to talk about.

But if the Gophers are talking about it, that's a big problem. There is no way the Gophers can afford to think "hey, they've got guys out with injuries, so it'll be easier to win."

that type of thinking is what leads teams to a performance like the Gophers turned in against Purdue.

The Gophers have to go into the game with the mindset that they have to play their best game of the season in order to win. Because I think that is closer to the truth. even with injuries, Illinois might be the best defensive team the Gophers have faced.

I don't care if Illinois is playing Elmer Fudd at QB. If the Gophers' offense doesn't play its best game, this will be a tough game to win.
Click to expand...
Fudd was third string at IMG behind Annextad and Sitkowski.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
this is fine for the fans to talk about.

But if the Gophers are talking about it, that's a big problem. There is no way the Gophers can afford to think "hey, they've got guys out with injuries, so it'll be easier to win."

that type of thinking is what leads teams to a performance like the Gophers turned in against Purdue.

The Gophers have to go into the game with the mindset that they have to play their best game of the season in order to win. Because I think that is closer to the truth. even with injuries, Illinois might be the best defensive team the Gophers have faced.

I don't care if Illinois is playing Elmer Fudd at QB. If the Gophers' offense doesn't play its best game, this will be a tough game to win.
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You think the gophers took Purdue lightly?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
this is fine for the fans to talk about.

But if the Gophers are talking about it, that's a big problem. There is no way the Gophers can afford to think "hey, they've got guys out with injuries, so it'll be easier to win."

that type of thinking is what leads teams to a performance like the Gophers turned in against Purdue.

The Gophers have to go into the game with the mindset that they have to play their best game of the season in order to win. Because I think that is closer to the truth. even with injuries, Illinois might be the best defensive team the Gophers have faced.

I don't care if Illinois is playing Elmer Fudd at QB. If the Gophers' offense doesn't play its best game, this will be a tough game to win.
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Not sure why you’re getting negative comments to this. You didn’t say we shouldn’t dwell on it. You said the team shouldn’t. A valid concern after the dumpster fire we witnessed 2 weeks ago.

Some guy said:
You think the gophers took Purdue lightly?
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I don’t think it’s out of the question. Definitely were some mental failures in that locker room between the coaching staff and/or players to lose by double digits as a double digit favorite.
 
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PJ mentioned this on one of his shows. It's a constant battle vs. human nature. So they constantly talk about it and train against that sort of thinking. I don't think it factored in at all. Just a great game plan and execution by Purdue.
 

Devito will play. You can book that one. They know how important this game is. If they win, they can rest him for the next 2 weeks. This game is big for both teams though. Don't expect them to make it easy on us. He will be in there.
 


Go Gophs said:
I do. 100%. No fire or passion on your homecoming. To me, they looked hungover to be honest.
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Having an off day doesn't have to mean you took the opponent lightly. Anyone who has been involved in team sports knows that sometimes your team just doesn't have it on a particular day. Could be for any one of a hundred different reasons and might be a different reason for each player/coach.

Purdue executed and we didn't. On top of that you can't make the number of critical unforced errors we did against basically anyone and expect to come out on top.

I don't buy for a second that the team took Purdue for granted, we just didn't play well and it cost us the chance to win a very winnable game. It is frustrating as heck for fans/players/coaches but it happens all the time in team sports across all sports and all levels.

When I was coaching a youth team, I could deal with losses where we just got beat by a better team. But losses against teams where we could have/should have won drove me nuts.
 

Good to see some injuries but we still gotta play our best because there is no margin for error.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
this is fine for the fans to talk about.

But if the Gophers are talking about it, that's a big problem. There is no way the Gophers can afford to think "hey, they've got guys out with injuries, so it'll be easier to win."

that type of thinking is what leads teams to a performance like the Gophers turned in against Purdue.

The Gophers have to go into the game with the mindset that they have to play their best game of the season in order to win. Because I think that is closer to the truth. even with injuries, Illinois might be the best defensive team the Gophers have faced.

I don't care if Illinois is playing Elmer Fudd at QB. If the Gophers' offense doesn't play its best game, this will be a tough game to win.
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I'm quite certain PJ won't let a lackadaisical mindset set in, not the players need to be pushed to take this game seriously given what happened with Purdue.
 

Go Gophs said:
Devito will play. You can book that one. They know how important this game is. If they win, they can rest him for the next 2 weeks. This game is big for both teams though. Don't expect them to make it easy on us. He will be in there.
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I assume he will play as well.
 

tikited said:
I assume he will play as well.
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I'm sure our staff is assuming that as well. As Fleck mentioned though they don't really change their style on offense with the backup in there so it doesn't really matter who plays all that much. Both are similar styles of players (DeVito is obviously better).

That said, ankles are tricky and it sounds like he has been dealing with this for a while. If he is limited at all I can definitely see them holding him out to give him extra time to heal up for the rest of the season. Because yes, this is a big game for both teams but there is still a lot of season left after this weekend. Could be a similar case to what we dealt with in terms of Mo playing in the Purdue game.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Having an off day doesn't have to mean you took the opponent lightly. Anyone who has been involved in team sports knows that sometimes your team just doesn't have it on a particular day. Could be for any one of a hundred different reasons and might be a different reason for each player/coach.

Purdue executed and we didn't. On top of that you can't make the number of critical unforced errors we did against basically anyone and expect to come out on top.

I don't buy for a second that the team took Purdue for granted, we just didn't play well and it cost us the chance to win a very winnable game. It is frustrating as heck for fans/players/coaches but it happens all the time in team sports across all sports and all levels.

When I was coaching a youth team, I could deal with losses where we just got beat by a better team. But losses against teams where we could have/should have won drove me nuts.
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Agreed, but the unforced errors, dropped balls, etc are definitely a result of not having focus.

Whether that comes from overlooking a team or not is up for debate. Either way, Purdue didnt WIN that game IMO, we LOST it.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
Hard to say but they certainly came out flat after a week of really positive press clippings.
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If you think they didn’t take the game seriously you have a really low opinion of our team and coaching staff
 


Some guy said:
You have a really low opinion of the coaches and players then
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How else do you explain missing easy FGs? Dropping easy passes? Hitting a guy out of bounds? Not getting ANY push from your O-line? They weren't ready, or they didn't play like it, one or the other. If you think PJ didn't hammer their butts after that game, then you have never played organized football.

Doesn't matter. This week is a new week. The coaching staff should have them ready to go. PJ has a chance to beat Bielema for the first time in his career. It's due time.
 

Go Gophs said:
How else do you explain missing easy FGs? Dropping easy passes? Hitting a guy out of bounds? Not getting ANY push from your O-line? They weren't ready, or they didn't play like it, one or the other. If you think PJ didn't hammer their butts after that game, then you have never played organized football.

Doesn't matter. This week is a new week. The coaching staff should have them ready to go. PJ has a chance to beat Bielema for the first time in his career. It's due time.
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You think he missed the field goal because he thought Purdue would be an easy opponent?
You think he dropped the ball because he thought Purdue would be an easy opponent?

That’s illogical
 

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