The Fighting Illini Are Getting 3

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Can't say I get that. I'm no koolaid drinker to be certain, but Illinois is terrible. Were it not for Colorado, they might be the worst BCS team in the country.

I'd put us as a touchdown favorite, even on the road.
 



Seems a fair line. Illinois is at home so they'll get a bit more respect and we didn't close well in the game against Michigan. We are favored, which is certainly saying something as we haven't been since Syracuse.
 


what was the line for the minnesota/purdue game two weeks ago? based on your response, it will tell me if i should give a rip what some sports book in las vegas thinks.
 

Make no mistake. We will get Illinois A game. They will view this as their bowl game/ last chance to win. I hope we punch them in the mouth early and often. If we do that I think they will fold. If we let them hang around for more than a quarter, we may be in trouble. Illinois still has talented players. They seem to be struggling from the coaching change/ learning new systems more than anything.
 

I expect Illinois to be sky-high. The Gophers will have to match the Purdue effort to win this one - but they could do it. It's on the players and coaches to match emotion with emotion.
 

The Illini won't get three all game long on Saturday. At most they get a lucky safety and put up two. Gophs 42-2. You heard it here first.
 



Illinois lost 31-17 at home to Indiana. They have not been close in any of their Big Ten games to date. You can never take a team lightly and it is always tough on the road but this is a game we ABSOLUTELY should expect to win if we are to believe that this coaching staff is going to be able to cut it in the Big Ten. Every other team in the conference and two of their non conference opponents have figured out how to exploit their weaknesses and put up high point totals on their defense. We should expect nothing less from our squad no matter how young they are.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Illinois lost 31-17 at home to Indiana. They have not been close in any of their Big Ten games to date. You can never take a team lightly and it is always tough on the road but this is a game we ABSOLUTELY should expect to win if we are to believe that this coaching staff is going to be able to cut it in the Big Ten. Every other team in the conference and two of their non conference opponents have figured out how to exploit their weaknesses and put up high point totals on their defense. We should expect nothing less from our squad no matter how young they are.
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I agree with this assessment. You need to take every game seriously but this is far and away the worst team in the B1G this year, through 10 weeks.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Illinois lost 31-17 at home to Indiana. They have not been close in any of their Big Ten games to date. You can never take a team lightly and it is always tough on the road but this is a game we ABSOLUTELY should expect to win if we are to believe that this coaching staff is going to be able to cut it in the Big Ten. Every other team in the conference and two of their non conference opponents have figured out how to exploit their weaknesses and put up high point totals on their defense. We should expect nothing less from our squad no matter how young they are.
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While I do think that our defense is better than Indiana's, I am very impressed with the Hoosiers explosive offense. They can and they have scored on everybody.

I really do think that our Gophers need to jump on Illinois early and often. With that said, I think our ground game will get going this week.
 





I will take a one point win and feel great about it/ Illinois has more talent than we do, at some point they will figure out what they are doing, I hope it is not Saturday.
 

corcoran1 said:
I will take a one point win and feel great about it/ Illinois has more talent than we do, at some point they will figure out what they are doing, I hope it is not Saturday.
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The win doesn't have to be pretty but it should be expected. Their offense ranks last or or close to last in almost every category in Big Ten play and their defense isn't much better. The closest they have come in any of their 7 losses to this point was 14 points against Indiana. They are not just barely getting beat they are getting blown out by everyone. We are not a great team and we still have a ways to go but this is the kind of game we have to be able to win and frankly should be able to win even though we are only in year two for Kill.
 

STPGopher said:
While I do think that our defense is better than Indiana's, I am very impressed with the Hoosiers explosive offense. They can and they have scored on everybody.

I really do think that our Gophers need to jump on Illinois early and often. With that said, I think our ground game will get going this week.
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And what's interesting about that is Indiana only had 292 total yards against Illinois They were out gained by 80 yards, yet won by 14.
 

Bookmaker today has still Gophers -3, but is now -115 with Illinois +3 at -105....moving the vig is usually a sign just like moving the line that money is going one way & encouraging another. Shows money coming in on the Gophers.
 

MNVCGUY said:
The win doesn't have to be pretty but it should be expected. Their offense ranks last or or close to last in almost every category in Big Ten play and their defense isn't much better. The closest they have come in any of their 7 losses to this point was 14 points against Indiana. They are not just barely getting beat they are getting blown out by everyone. We are not a great team and we still have a ways to go but this is the kind of game we have to be able to win and frankly should be able to win even though we are only in year two for Kill.
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I am not sure why you keep on saying that "the win should be expected". We are a three point favorite which is very close to being a toss up. There is no better way to loose a game than by believing that "the win should be expected". Yes, we have a good opportunity to win this game but beating Illinois is far from a certainty. There are a lot of upsets each week with much greater point spreads than this one.
 

It's tough to beat a team 3 years in a row. I expect the gophers to win 24-21. Close one on the road.
 

Killjoy said:
I am not sure why you keep on saying that "the win should be expected". We are a three point favorite which is very close to being a toss up. There is no better way to loose a game than by believing that "the win should be expected". Yes, we have a good opportunity to win this game but beating Illinois is far from a certainty. There are a lot of upsets each week with much greater point spreads than this one.
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I also said that you can't take any team lightly and have to execute. Indiana beat them by 14, they have not been competitive since week 1 (tossing out the win over Charlseton Southern becasue well it's Charlston Southern). They are getting blown out by everyone. If we want to believe this program is moving in the right direction then this is a game we win. It is up to the coaches to get the players in the right frame of mind but as fans we should expect our team to be able to do what Indiana (another young team in year 2) was able to do on the road against this team. Or are we saying we are even worse off than Indiana at this point? God I hope we have not sunk to that level. I understand we still have a ways to go before the program is where we all want it to be but this is one even our young team should be able to win.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I also said that you can't take any team lightly and have to execute. Indiana beat them by 14, they have not been competitive since week 1 (tossing out the win over Charlseton Southern becasue well it's Charlston Southern). They are getting blown out by everyone. If we want to believe this program is moving in the right direction then this is a game we win. It is up to the coaches to get the players in the right frame of mind but as fans we should expect our team to be able to do what Indiana (another young team in year 2) was able to do on the road against this team. Or are we saying we are even worse off than Indiana at this point? God I hope we have not sunk to that level. I understand we still have a ways to go before the program is where we all want it to be but this is one even our young team should be able to win.
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This
 

Killjoy said:
I am not sure why you keep on saying that "the win should be expected". We are a three point favorite which is very close to being a toss up. There is no better way to loose a game than by believing that "the win should be expected". Yes, we have a good opportunity to win this game but beating Illinois is far from a certainty. There are a lot of upsets each week with much greater point spreads than this one.
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I hope that the players expect to win this game. The team needs to understand that just showing up is not good enough, but if they play smart, physical and up to their ability then this is a game that they can expect to win. Good teams expect to win games and they know what it takes to win games.
 

Clark W. Griswold said:
I hope that the players expect to win this game. The team needs to understand that just showing up is not good enough, but if they play smart, physical and up to their ability then this is a game that they can expect to win. Good teams expect to win games and they know what it takes to win games.
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+1 Illinois has looked totally lost. If we are anywhere near where we think we are in terms of improvement, we win this football game. I expect a big win, but a close game wouldn't upset me so long as our score is higher than theirs at the end of the game.
 

Reading these posts makes me feel like a Minnesota sports fan that is about to be let down in typical Minnesota style
 



lakesgopher said:
Reading these posts makes me feel like a Minnesota sports fan that is about to be let down in typical Minnesota style
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I know right? I've stated this before, but this is a game could be really ugly to watch. A young offense that has struggled many times this season-on the road-is not a good recipe no matter who we are playing. I predicted an overtime win, but it wouldn't be a shock if Illinois comes out and wants it more from the get-go. I would like nothing more to not have to sweat this one out. A 4th qtr. where I can sit back and rest against the couch would be awesome.
 

tikited said:
I know right? I've stated this before, but this is a game could be really ugly to watch. A young offense that has struggled many times this season-on the road-is not a good recipe no matter who we are playing. I predicted an overtime win, but it wouldn't be a shock if Illinois comes out and wants it more from the get-go. I would like nothing more to not have to sweat this one out. A 4th qtr. where I can sit back and rest against the couch would be awesome.
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Concerns about our offense are valid but this is also an opposing offense that our defense should be able to contain fairly easily given the way they have been playing to date. I get the whole MN mentality and expecting the worst but this is a game we should win if we play the way we are capable of playing.

Obviously if we turn the ball over a ton, commit a bunch of stupid penalties or shoot ourselves in the foot in some other form anything can happen but if we play the way we are capable of playing this game should end up in the W column. All year fans have been pointing to this one as a Big Ten game we should win, now we get close and all of the sudden you see the bets being heged against ideas like we are young and what not.

We are not a great football team but this Illinois team is one of the worst in all of Division 1 football right now. Coaching staff should be able to put together a winning gameplan and our players should be good enough to execute it against these guys.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Concerns about our offense are valid but this is also an opposing offense that our defense should be able to contain fairly easily given the way they have been playing to date. I get the whole MN mentality and expecting the worst but this is a game we should win if we play the way we are capable of playing.

Obviously if we turn the ball over a ton, commit a bunch of stupid penalties or shoot ourselves in the foot in some other form anything can happen but if we play the way we are capable of playing this game should end up in the W column. All year fans have been pointing to this one as a Big Ten game we should win, now we get close and all of the sudden you see the bets being heged against ideas like we are young and what not.

We are not a great football team but this Illinois team is one of the worst in all of Division 1 football right now. Coaching staff should be able to put together a winning gameplan and our players should be good enough to execute it against these guys.
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Agreed. I think a concise way to put it is that if Illinois comes out on top after this one, it will be because we lost it not because they won it.
 

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