SOC – Purdue November 16, 2012
It’s been one of those days. Only a few hours sleep. Coworker sick for the second day in a row, so I had to help get one of his projects out the door, meaning I’ll have to work on my project over the weekend. And something kicked my allergies into high gear, so I’m typing this through itchy eyes and wheezing lungs. The Zyrtec should knock that out in a couple minutes, but the Zyrtec will also knock me out in a couple minutes. And I have a basketball game to watch tonight.
*makes violin motion*
So the consciousness I’m streaming tonight is of the negative variety. Hey! What say we talk about Illini Football!
Oh, did I mention I won’t be at the game tomorrow? Actually, I think I did mention that. There’s an event at my son’s school at 5:00. The ONE TIME I need a game to be at 11:00, we get a 2:30 start.
My son’s school is a parochial school. The event is in the chapel. I have BTN2go on my phone. Plenty of cell service in there (I’ve checked). If the game is close, I might act out one of those cell phone commercials with a YESSSS at a quiet moment.
OK, let’s be real. I just typed “if the game is close” when talking about our game tomorrow. We just lost to Indiana and Minnesota at home, and here I am all if-the-game-is-close-ing the Purdue game. Purdue can go to a bowl game if they beat us and they beat Indiana. They’re motivated. We, apparently, are not. So even though I want to believe we’re due for a “turnovers are fun” game, it’s just not going to happen tomorrow.
So I’m resigned to “things I’d like to see”:
1) Donovonn Young beast mode. Just keep feeding and feeding and feeding. See what happens if we stick to the run and then don’t abandon the run and then try sticking to the run. Purdue is 85th in rushing defense. Wear them down.
2) Gamble on defense. How ’bout the entire secondary blitzes? What about rushing one and dropping 10? Ok, maybe not those extremes, but please try something different. Try anything.
3) GO FOR IT ON FOURTH AND SHORT. A bowl is gone. The season is lost. I’d totally be find with not punting once tomorrow.
Man, this Zyrtec is really starting to hit. Sooooo…. sleepy….
Might as well wrap this up. The basketball game is starting, the feed is already frozen, I have to get up at 5:00, I’m starting to get a headache, the house is too cold, the orange juice I just drank was starting to go bad, Illini football has lost 12 Big Ten games in a row, and my beard looks terrible today. Today… was not a good day.
Purdue 23, Illinois 7
It’s a bad day, and in the first half we can’t throw it in the ocean.
.
Too many Illinois fans trying to watch the stream, no one can get it to work for more than 3.4 seconds.
Your perseverance and toughness should be an inspiration to the Illini nation.
I am with rochIllini!
And Robert, I agree. Do anything different that brings results. It can’t hurt. I like the idea of no punts. Tell the team that. Regardless of the score and field position we are not going to punt this game. You have four downs to make a first down or score.
Wow Robert missing 2 games in one season! that sucks dude. Purdue is a tough team to figure out. They actually play way better on the road than they do at home.
At home, they were clobbered by Michigan, Penn State, and Wisconsin.
But on the road, they played Notre Dame/Ohio State very tough, and they beat Iowa.
I think Purdue finally figured out their QB situation (with giving Marve all the reps now)…and he played a good game last week, so I’ll say Purdue wins 27-13.
I have been thinking about my no punt theory for this game. If Beckman actually would do that, would Thomas fire him after the game? There was a hidden motivation in making the suggestion, though I wonder how the team would react? Do anything for a win boys.
I’m pretty sure the playbook could fit on a napkin. What do we run maybe 6 plays all game?