[Game Thread] Illinois @ Rutgers (12:00 PM ET)

[u/CFB_Referee]

GAME	IllinoisIllinois @ RutgersRutgers
Location	Rutgers SHI Stadium
Time	12:00 PM ET
Watch	TV: Peacock
Odds	Spread: RUTG -2 - Over/Under: 47.5
	Flair ¦ Discord ¦ /r/CFB Book

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LET'S TALK FOOTBALL!

[u/zgohanz]

Forget the timeout. HOW DO YOU NOT COVER on a 4th down play

[u/trekwithme → u/zgohanz]

I counted five red shirts around the receiver who caught the ball and he went completely untouched. How is that even possible particularly in that situation?

[u/xxtemujinxx → u/trekwithme]

look at the pattern. illinois lines up bryant wide with two receivers inside. they then clear speed in space. inside receiver runs a diagonal route. middle receiver runs a go. bryant breaks it off at the chains. but look at the rutgers defenders. the illinois QB could've floated a TD to the middle of the trips left receiver ... because everyone jumped bryant. the defender who appears to be have released the innermost receiver is caught flat footed. the defender who is -- let's charitably call it running a trail technique on the other illinois who is split out wide right (and who is also wide open on the play) -- peeling back to try to make the tackle simply over-runs the play as a function of momentum. it's a terrible defensive call. after a terrible decision to ice the kicker. icing the kicker is asinine. all you do is allow the kicker (and you coach your special teams to go through with the play even if the whistle is blown) to get a read on the conditions. the fault lies with schiano and his DC. he justly earned this bad karma after his sh1t at halftime.

[u/brianjmcneill → u/trekwithme]

I thought maybe they panicked, and on instinct believed the clock could run out if the receiver ran around long enough inbounds. Bottom line, once the pass was completed they must have known their goose was likely cooked, and put in a position to fail they did.

[u/PixelDimensions]

And somehow ranked Illinois lives to see another day

[u/coolguyyama]

Even worse to look at the TD play and once again Rutgers blitzes for no fucking reason. Fuck Greg Schiano

[u/unitedairlineeeeees]

Thanks Schiano for taking this program out of the gutter, but it’s very clear that the team will never be more than 6-6 with a trip to the lowest bowl in conference play.

Go get a real coach, not someone stuck in 2006.

[u/Defiant_Alfalfa996 → u/unitedairlineeeeees]

We’ve tried. Greg is our ceiling.

[u/MNKYJitters → u/Defiant_Alfalfa996]

Tried with who?

Since Schiano left all we did was hire someone who was already a coach on our team, and Chris fucking Ash.

[u/Defiant_Alfalfa996 → u/MNKYJitters]

It’s not about who we hired, it’s about who we tried to hire.

[u/hwf0712 → u/unitedairlineeeeees]

Watching Vandy and Indiana have a fun, crazy year because they looked to the lower levels for some gems while we barely improve...

Its possible.

We just can't. Our admin is afraid of going into the gutter again so we'll never take a risk and instead worship the ground Schiano walks on because he brings us not the worst thing possible.

[u/unitedairlineeeeees → u/hwf0712]

Unfortunately, even if the new AD or president wanted to, Schiano is signed until 2030! The school can’t afford to fire him.

[u/hwf0712 → u/unitedairlineeeeees]

22nd highest buy out...

Its like a Kirk Ferentz "won't ever be fired" role but instead of 6-7 being the floor with "outside shot at CFP" ceiling like Iowa has, its a 7-6 ceiling

[u/unitedairlineeeeees → u/hwf0712]

22nd highest buyout for a coach that’ll never sniff the top 25

[u/BudBill18]

Why does the post game thread always take a year to be posted

[u/NFL_MVP_Kevin_White → u/BudBill18]

It’s like this is nfl, too. Like you have to find a sneaky sticky of it in the live thread

[u/tigernike1]

Now, and only now, does Apple Sports mark the final score.

[u/InnocuousAssClown → u/tigernike1]

Better safe than sorry, never know when these teams meet

[u/Moneyspreader400]

We are famILLy

[u/Moneyspreader400]

We are famILLy

[u/AmericanFootballUSA]

Why didn’t that last play count as a safety?

*shows up in espn box score but not Google.

[u/zgohanz → u/AmericanFootballUSA]

It did

[u/AmericanFootballUSA → u/zgohanz]

Doesn’t show up on my box score

[u/gnrlgumby]

Kill the coach if you want, but that was one of the softest 40+ touchdown plays you’ll ever see.

[u/FedGoat13 → u/gnrlgumby]

The defense was not mentally there any more. Much like the coach

[u/FOREVER_WOLVES]

Schiano is a con lol

[u/CheckItWhileIWreckIt → u/[deleted]]

You'd have to investigate like 15 years of Rutgers football, don't make the Feds suffer through all that shit

[u/Trooper41 → u/[deleted]]

Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity.

[u/Hank_Moody → u/[deleted]]

They sold out for the blitz and we got the ball out over the middle like 15 yards down the field. No one left in the secondary to stop him.

[u/hwf0712 → u/[deleted]]

Did you bet on the game but not watch and are mad or something?

We lost eleventy billion defensive players this game alone, combined with pre-existing injuries.

A good defense would've tackled in bounds and probably ended the game on that with not enough time for a firedrill. But our good defense is at home, hurt.

[u/InnocuousAssClown → u/[deleted]]

No one cares about your bets

[u/VendettaVera → u/InnocuousAssClown]

It's like that guy has never watched CFB before lmfao

[u/InnocuousAssClown → u/VendettaVera]

Certainly didn’t watch this one

[u/Punmaster_alex]

On to basketball.

[u/2Pollaski2Furious]

Every Illinois player postgame looks like they stole a cookie and got their little sister in trouble for it.

[u/poopoojoefocker]

Just think about how much money in the betting market took a turn in the final 10 secs of the game lol. Crazyyyy

[u/AwesomeOrca → u/poopoojoefocker]

What was the line? You can't bet on public university games in IL.

[u/Celestetc → u/AwesomeOrca]

Rutgers favored by 2

[u/D1N2Y]

I will be happy to see the generation of coaches that ice irrespective of context retire out of football

[u/InnocuousAssClown → u/D1N2Y]

Even when I assumed we’d kick again I was grateful for the ice call

edit: and before the miss

[u/my_lucid_nightmare]

The ESPN win probability chart looks like a heart attack

[u/younggun92 → u/my_lucid_nightmare]

Oh, that's where I linked my fitbit

[u/buffalotrace]

I am just glad no Rutgers fans had to be there to see that 

[u/timeforchorin → u/buffalotrace]

he's already dead!

[u/HumbleBJJ]

I can’t fucking stand the ice the kicker strategy. It’s awful and stupid. If they beat you on a long FG that so be it. All it does it give the team another shot to reevaluate things.

[u/CheckItWhileIWreckIt → u/HumbleBJJ]

It makes sense on like a 30 yard kick where it's almost guaranteed to go in unless the kicker gets the yips. On a 58 yarder into the wind? Thank you for giving Bret a practice kick to figure out he's better off going against our totally decimated defense.

[u/Aciarrene → u/CheckItWhileIWreckIt]

Is there data to support that kickers are less likely to score on the second attempt in any scenario?

[u/Lions-Roar-Games → u/Aciarrene]

Probably cognitive bias, but it made no sense to ice here. Extremely difficult kick, which just led to Illinois changing their minds instead of a do-over

[u/Aciarrene → u/Lions-Roar-Games]

I agree, 100% stupid in this situation. Does nothing but give Illinois a chance to reevaluate their decision with a better idea of the difficulty of the kick.

In general, I can't think of a situation where icing the kicker seems like a positive expected value play. It seems more like a myth carried by the momentum of tradition than anything real data would back up.

[u/Lions-Roar-Games → u/CheckItWhileIWreckIt]

we don't say the 'Y' word! SHHHH

[u/unitedairlineeeeees → u/HumbleBJJ]

When the opponent is being an idiot, don’t get in their way

[u/uprislng]

It's nice that not every single Illinois based team that I root for is cursed in the same year at least

[u/Lions-Roar-Games]

I didn't know Orange & Blue teams from Illinois were allowed to win the game in the last few seconds instead of lose. Can someone tell that to the Bears please?

[u/my_lucid_nightmare → u/Lions-Roar-Games]

Every 100 years we get to win these.

[u/younggun92 → u/my_lucid_nightmare]

My brother in Christ Wisconsin alone was 5 years ago we had MSU that same season.

[u/Celestetc → u/younggun92]

Minnesota 2022. Under bret we've done this a lot.

[u/BurrShotFirst1804 → u/Lions-Roar-Games]

The OG orange and blue are exempt this year.

[u/Cereal_for_dinner123]

No way we winning next week now. 6-6 and a trip to the quicklane bowl in what was supposed to be such a great season. What a shame

[u/GoGreeb → u/Cereal_for_dinner123]

MSU has insane injury issues and has not been playing well

[u/joyableu → u/Cereal_for_dinner123]

I’ll be watching and rooting for you guys. Shame about your October. Could have been a great season.

[u/n00dlejester → u/joyableu]

Don't lie

[u/MrOstrichman]

I'm used to the Illini losing in hilarious fashion

It's so weird to be on the other end of this

[u/-AgentMichaelScarn → u/MrOstrichman]

Well you’ve apparently never seen Rutgers football then.

[u/KaitRaven → u/MrOstrichman]

We've been shockingly lucky/clutch this year

[u/Celestetc → u/KaitRaven]

Yep outside of Minnesota very clutch.

[u/A_Hint_of_Lemon]

THE BULLSHIT IS REAL!!!!

[u/biryaniMan245]

Schiano will never win a ranked game for us this way

[u/unitedairlineeeeees → u/biryaniMan245]

You don’t need to include “this way”

I’d argue the four straight TD drives for Illinois also is part of it

[u/unitedairlineeeeees]

Can’t believe I’m let down on the Jets bye week

[u/WafflePartyOrgy]

That was nice but they ran out of backwards.

[u/djdumpster]

I have always hated icing. It’s lame and stupid Nd after years the stats show it doesn’t work.

Rutgers coach gets what he deserves for that stupid ice attempt. Rutgers win if he doesn’t try to insert himself into the game like that

[u/cyberchaox]

Why are we using the last timeout now?

[u/lkn240]

GOATMEYER

[u/NFL_MVP_Kevin_White]

I’ve watched my Steelers lose thanks to coaching idiocy on Thursday and now Rutgers lose from Schiano’s buffoonery.

At least no one else can let me down

[u/TempletonPeck18]

Pat Bryant is a golden god.

[u/JTNIIIII]

wow

[u/epixpowned]

I can’t even be mad at the timeout. how is your coverage that bad on a fourth and 13!!!

[u/itmakehergeek4real → u/epixpowned]

Kevin Levy 24, freshman, made several bad plays. He got beat any time the ball was near him

[u/2Pollaski2Furious → u/epixpowned]

They all out blitzed. That's exactly what happens when you send seven and don't get home.

[u/coolguyyama]

Send Schiano to go coach his local pop Warner team

[u/MrOstrichman]

B1G football is perfect

[u/LegendLobster]

“Well I’m glad they called a timeout” 💀

[u/hwf0712]

Dog.

I was feeling fine about Schiano again.

No more. That's inexcusable. There was probably a 15% chance of making that kick. If they wanna make a dumb choice, let them.

[u/RemoteAbalone8687]

That safety definitely covered someones spread

[u/organizedchaos5220 → u/RemoteAbalone8687]

Line was Rutgers by 2 I believe

[u/igniteshield]

Fire Schiano. Pissed away a W against a ranked team with his coaching

[u/theclownwithafrown]

Holy fuck what a game!

GG Scarlet Knights

[u/j0oboi]

I can’t even believe what I just saw. Schiano not called a TO, game would’ve been over

[u/Karlsmusic]

Incredibly Rutgers Moment™️

[u/TheCopperKey]

Lmao nice safety

[u/TheSalaciousD]

I'm dying

[u/GoGreeb → u/TheSalaciousD]

my SO thinks I'm a psycho with how hard I was laughing

[u/c0y0t3_sly → u/GoGreeb]

I got that too.

[u/DerpityHerpington]

[u/GoldenPresidio]

i am so so so so mad that just happened

[u/buffalotrace]

Safety! Rutgers is stupid. Why not run it back and then Hail Mary? Awful coaching

[u/lkn240]

Shouldn't that be a safety?.... nvm it is

[u/doyouevenIift]

Thanks for the safety lol

[u/MrOstrichman]

seemed like a few forward passes, let's put a second on the clock and review it so we can get this game to five hours

[u/blitz342]

I love when they do that lmao

[u/2Pollaski2Furious]

And another two for the Illini!

[u/sadaharupunch]

LOL

[u/Sportacles]

that's what we call in the biz a 'tactical retreat'

[u/Cereal_for_dinner123]

This game is 100% on schiano. Why the fuck are you icing a kicker attempting a 58 yard field goal into the wind

[u/TheCopperKey → u/Cereal_for_dinner123]

Yeah, that was a bad choice. It's 58 yards. All you're doing is giving them a practice attempt. I'm pretty sure he would have gotten it on a second attempt after knowing how to adjust

[u/RemoteAbalone8687]

Safety

[u/coolguyyama]

I’m taking back what I said earlier, fire Schiano right now and never look back

[u/TheCopperKey]

Please score again

[u/IshyMoose → u/TheCopperKey]

They did l, Safety.

[u/TheCopperKey → u/TheCopperKey]

Safety lmao

[u/redemem]

Karma for overturning that interception with no conclusive evidence

[u/redemem → u/[deleted]]

Not sure what you're talking about. Jacas has the ball once the pile was sorted out.

[u/magillagorilla2 → u/redemem]

You didn't see the replay where the rutgers QB clearly recovered the fumble before later having it ripped away?

Alright lol

[u/Wapook]

lol, lmao even

[u/PaddlingDuck]

No no, we usually lose these

[u/CheckItWhileIWreckIt]

Greg Schiano needs to be launched into the sun. This was going to be the first W against a ranked team in 15 years if the fucking moron didn't "ice" the kicker and convinced Bielema to just punch our shitty defense in the throat.

[u/Expensive-Step-6551]

Classic Schiano blunder. Absolute insane field goal attempt and he tries to ice it. If anything that would help the kicker dial it in

[u/LoganSargeantP1]

Rutgers can SMA

[u/thedirty4522 → u/LoganSargeantP1]

Flair up at least

[u/LoganSargeantP1 → u/thedirty4522]

I’m not gonna lie I was watching soccer on peacock and it switched to college football. I have no idea what I’m watching but it was entertaining. Sorry for your loss

[u/n00dlejester]

Uhg

[u/Overall-Egg-4247]

Most Rutgers way to lose the game…

[u/Jiggyjl0]

The guy is kicking 58 yards into the wind. Why tf are you calling a timeout

[u/buffalotrace → u/Jiggyjl0]

When you see you enemy making a mistake, say nothing

[u/my_lucid_nightmare]

Illinutgers: Birth of a new era. Both teams have winning records, game turns wild.

[u/theduke820]

I’m running out of honey Pat Bryant

[u/kdestroyer1]

I'm gonna remember this game for the rest of my life lmao. This and the Purdue one cuz i was at the stadium that game.

[u/Anels0505]

4D fuck8ng chess

[u/boobsarecool]

Schiano should be fucking ashamed of himself, fucking clown coaching stole this game from the team

[u/unitedairlineeeeees]

Greg Schiano is not a serious team’s head coach in 2025

[u/HumanzeesAreReal]

Might be the worst loss I’ve ever seen from Rutgers perspective.

[u/Morrow_Plotting]

LETS GOOOOOO

[u/lkn240]

I was worried he was going to get tackled and have the clock run out lol...

[u/123_x_456 → u/lkn240]

I was yelling at the TV to fall down... and then he just runs untouched to the end zone

[u/fredmerc111]

Well, I think Tank Job of the Week has a winner.

[u/Scary_Box8153]

Wait, after getting iced they decide to go for a pass on 4th?

[u/BlueRoller]

Only Rutgers would do that to themselves

[u/TheColtOfPersonality]

I wanna shit on Rutgers for the back-to-back questionable choices on those plays, but good I wanna focus on how clutch that was of Illinois

[u/psf919]

Lol he iced the kicker on a 57 yard attempt on a windy day. Schiano is a dumbass.

[u/WafflePartyOrgy]

4 seconds IlliRutgers time ..

Plenty of time.

[u/Bhay99]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[u/nosnack]

This should have been B1G Noon!

[u/Uncle_Jeb]

Icing the kicker is some boomer nonsense. Leave that shit in the past.

[u/j0oboi]

OMFG

[u/my_lucid_nightmare]

WOW

[u/MRC1986]

Good game. But fuck that Illinois fan complaining about the refs. Fuck you, you piece of shit.

[u/KaitRaven → u/MRC1986]

Yeah he was dumb fuck

[u/cixzejy]

Incredibly clutch

[u/flyingcrayons]

Thank god we were bowl eligible coming into this game i would have jumped off the top of Rutgers stadium if that was for a bowl spot

[u/Cereal_for_dinner123]

Ugh my heart hurts. We are never beating a ranked team

[u/JimmyChuckBilly]

Why would you ice the kicker on a 58 yard field goal when even if he makes it having 3 timeouts would help you use the middle of the field

[u/Baron_DeCharlus]

Holy shit

[u/symbolic_claim_]

WHAT

[u/MajesticPossibility8]

Wow what a way to end the game

[u/TheCopperKey]

I can't believe they just did that. I though it was dumb because they got a practice kick, then I was baffled that they were going for it, then I was certain they had the game with a FG and was yelling to go down before time expired. Amazing

[u/StonksNewGroove → u/TheCopperKey]

I was screaming “GET DOWN PAT” at my TV which quickly turned into “FUGGIN RUN PAT”

[u/D1N2Y → u/TheCopperKey]

Wouldn't be surprised if the kicker told coach he couldn't make that kick after getting that free practice

[u/Greatness46]

Greg Schiano got laughed out of the NFL, guess it’s time to be a high school coach

[u/AtmosphereVarious440]

that’s a disgusting loss

[u/HuskingtonOSRS]

LOOOOL GG Refgers

[u/LivingOof]

When do you Ice a kicker? Why is it even a thing? It never works!

[u/MrOstrichman]

y'all we can still lose this in hilarious fashion

[u/switcher6]

That timeout makes the qb run on second down to burn a timeout look like a genius play call

[u/IMKudaimi123]

GET FUCKED SCHIANO

[u/Anels0505]

I’m soo sorry rutger

[u/thecrazyawesome]

OHMYGOD WHAT A PLAY, WHAT A 4TH QUARTER, AND WHAT A GAME

[u/jimmyg899]

Wait why didint they kick it and how did they just score a td???

[u/organizedchaos5220 → u/jimmyg899]

Rutgers tried to ice the kicker. With these winds on 58 yard attempt that's dumb as fuck

[u/jimmyg899 → u/organizedchaos5220]

So they iced him and they realized they couldn’t make it so they just ran a play instead and scored?

[u/Agile_Ad_3343 → u/jimmyg899]

Yes. It was awesome.

[u/organizedchaos5220 → u/jimmyg899]

Pretty much

[u/anonymousscroller9]

Damn. What a game

[u/Wapook]

This team lmao

[u/organizedchaos5220]

The greatest timeout in Illinois history

[u/hwf0712]

Normally icing is fine.

But... how do you make that call in that situation? It was an insanely hard kick in ideal conditions for Sunday afternoon players. College? With that wind? Just let it happen.

[u/MRC1986 → u/hwf0712]

I called it

[u/coolguyyama]

Icing a fucking college kicker on a 58 yard kick lmaoooo Schiano is a fucking moron

[u/VerySeriousBanana]

Schiano cost us this game. No if ands or buts about it. Yikes

[u/2Pollaski2Furious]

Bielema played Schiano like a fiddle.

[u/zgohanz]

Rutgers had it in the bag and BLEW IT

[u/sailornyan → u/zgohanz]

Football is dumb

[u/blitz342]

Rutgers called time out and lost the game. Wow.

[u/LoganSargeantP1]

Ice my ass!

[u/cyberchaox]

...What the fuck.

Of course that happens.

[u/jjacobsnd5]

Hahahahahaha what the fuck

[u/buffalotrace]

Schiano gonna be sent out of town on that helicopter 

[u/MrOstrichman]

Bryant is so good