Illinois football postgame chat: 4 p.m. Saturday
Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 4:00pm
Talk with football beat writer Bob Asmussen after the Illinois-Purdue game
Talk with football beat writer Bob Asmussen after the Illinois-Purdue game
Welcome to another postgame chat. I'm a minute late, so I'll jump into it. I'm going to go for about an hour.
Do you agree that the widespread sentiment is: 1) fire Zook, 2) spreading to fire Guenther, and 3) beginning to question if the N-G is an objective source or loyal to Guenther.
Steve,
I think there is sentiment relative to the coach and athletic director. Ron Guenther is set to retire a year from now, so I don't think he's going anywhere. Who is going to fire him?
As for The News-Gazette, I'm in my 21st year at the place. My loyalty is to our sports department, to the paper and to the readers. To think otherwise on your part is a mistake. You can keep asking the question, but my check comes from The News-Gazette. Honestly, I understand you asking the questions, but I couldn't more strongly disagree with the suggestion that we are biased toward a person or a program. It simply isn't true. We write based on the best information available.
Why doesn't Zook utilize his available timeouts late in the game? I have never seen a coach at any level look so clueless when it comes to clock management. How long do we have to put up with this nonsense?
David,
Apparently, you have to put up with it for another year.
I think it would be a good idea for all coaches, not just Ron Zook, to have someone on the sidelines who had one job: clock management. Hire a former coach to say, "You might want to call a TO, Coach." Mike White would be great at it.
Charest takes us down the field and we take him out in the red zone pretty much telling him he can't get us a score. Who's call was that?
Mary,
I've got to think it was Ron Zook's and/or the offensive staff. In hindsight, it was not the right move. Especially when the team was knocked back by the penalty.
Any chance Charest plays the rest of the way? The Juice Williams era needs to end.
Marc,
Ron Zook said he will be in a two-quarterback systemn. If Jacob plays well, he will get more time.
When the team has 12 men on the field TWICE in the same game is that indicative of poor coaching or that the players aren't paying attention?
Matt,
Probably a little bit of both. The players have to devastated by the start of the season. Today was as bad as they have looked after the game. Not even close. I think they thought they were going to win today.
Did we actually see Justin Green out there today!? Granted it was only one carry, I'm happy to see him sniff the field again.
Speaking of the RBs, Mikel played his heart out again today. I'd love to see Mikel, Ford, and Green. Enough with running Dufrene out there!
Zook,
Your eyes were not deceiving you. That was Justin Green. He looked good, too.
I agree with you on the Rbs.
I know that Zook is loyal to Juice, but do you have anyidea why he just didn't let Charest finish the job at the end of the half, when Juice is prone to turn the ball over?
Jordan,
The coaches wanted a quarterback more comfortable with the run play they had called. Jacob said he hadn't run the play in months. It made sense, except the penalty ruined the touchdown.
this question is going to be asked a million times, but why in the HECK would Zook take out Charest when he was doing well and they had some momentum...only to bring in Williams and have the drive produce NOTHING??? Please explain, or maybe Zook explained in his post game conference?????
Zook looks confused and desperate. It shows in his decision-making and the players' follies are a reflection of that. Why take the ball from Charest who got us to the redzone and give it to fumbelina Williams?
Also, have you noticed that the Big 10 commercial with all the coaches no longer features Zook asking "do you like roses?" Thank goodness because that is humiliating every time I see it....
Bob,
1) Why replace Charest when he has driven the team down the field? Let him stay in and try and get some confidence
2) Who is the QB from now on?
Ken, Jed, Saluki,
The QB from now on will be both. But I don't think it will take a lot of success by Jacob Charest to let him keep the job the rest of the way. It's a great deal for him. He gets to audition for 2010.
The coaches wanted a particular running play when they got to the 1 and thought Juice would be better at it than Jacob. It worked, but the penalty cost them the score.
When the coaches look at the film, they are going to wonder why they didn't put Charest back in at the 12.
Why does Charest not get a chance to play full time and gain some experience so he can compete next year with Scheelhasse for the starting spot? With a bowl game completely out of the question and Zook's job supposedly safe, how can we not play for the future at this point? I honestly try to understand Zook's decisions and rationale, but it really seems like he can't even get the obvious decisions correct.
Alon,
I think you are going to get your wish. Eddie McGee is out of the quarterback picture. And I suspect Jacob Charest will only get better in the games.
What do you think of this scenario, hire former LB John Holecek, currently HC at Loyola Academy, as a D-coordinator and groom him to replace Coach Zook if things do not get turned around next year?
Mudhen,
I don't know about him as a head coach in college, but he would work as an assistant. But he might like the lifestyle as a high school coach.
Has Ron Guenther ever explained why it's so difficult for him to hire a head coach who can string two winning seasons together?
David,
He has not offered an explanation. Not to appear "pro-Guenther" or anything, but he certainly had good intentions when he hired both guys. It just hasn't worked.
Pls publish a cumulative of penalties and turnovers by player each week from here on out.
Bob,
Do you it broken down by guy? We can probably do it, but I'm not sure what the point is. I kept track of the penalties today and they were by everybody.
Did Dufrene get hurt today?
Chris,
I don't think so. It wasn't mentioned in the postgame.
IF, they finish 1-11 and Zook is retained, will you call this a travesty?
Illini and Redbird Fan,
I think that will be up to you. I cover the team. You provide the labels by your support, anger, etc.
I will say that I have never seen a team hyped so much that has played so poorly. So, maybe travesty is right.
I'll come to a question, but first my venting. The whole org looks confused - repeated penalties week after week, lack of execution, lack of fundamentals, lack of concentration, poor tackling, no considerable offense to speak of, play calling that simply seems out of place at the time it's needed, guys who simply give up, lowest confidence ever, and confusion starting at the top that carrying right down to the bottom - very embarrassing for a D1 school. How the heck can it change ? Obviously, the tinkering has come due to a mis-judged and poorly planned pre-season time. Now, the tinkering is so disruptive, it's ridiculous. The best guys need to stay in place, and play it out.
Andy,
This is the place to vent. Please, vent away.
Why are the Illini still struggling to get the ball to Arrelious Benn? He still doesn't have a touchdown, right?
Travis,
No answer for the Benn issue. I would think he will do better with Charest on the field. He doesn't have a TD.
Go Hornets.
Will Ron Guenther ever be held accountable for the state of this football program under his watch?
Why does it seem like the opinions of the fans, alumni, press,... are being ignored by Ron G? Is it OK for him to limit himself so much from the press and public on this issue?
So Guenther comes out today and says that Zook is the guy for the rest of this and next season. Do you think this was a case of "coach speak" or do you believe it to be true?
If so, how bad do you think the home attendance and ticket renewals for next year will suffer?
Do you put a lot of stock in Guenther's vote of confidence giving to Zook last night or is it just posturing?
Ron Guenther's halftime announcement was ridiculous. Whatever happened to waiting until the end of the season to make a decision on the HC? And why is it unfair to question a coach's employment in his fifth year? I think we've seen enough.
Dave, dan, TJ, Ron, Tim
I think Ron Guenther felt like he had to say something to those who cover the team because he said something to Glen Mason. He's right. That wasn't fair.
I think what he said is true today. If the team loses the rest of its games and big-money donors say, "Not another year," then he can change his mind. He felt like he had to support his coach. I think that's where he is now.
I don't know who holds Ron Guenther accountable these days. Probably Stan Ikenberry, but he isn't here for long. And I think the administration is generally happy with him.
OK, one more rant - this mess isn't helping the cause to get coverage of the Illini on a better radio station than WIND 560 AM up this way. It really stinks - for this entire Chicagoland area, we can't get any decent coverage of Men's football and basketball. The link between that station and Illinois is pitiful. I appreciate the Illini HQ source, but I always get it after the fact. I miss pregame, game, and postgame coverage.
If we're venting, then I have to say I didn't expect much this year. This was a losing team last year, with no reason to really expect much more. I don't see things changing for a long time.
why doesn't he sit the seniors and play underclassmen.the season is over play for next year!
van,
That might happen in some form. Maybe not all of the seniors, but some who the coaches aren't happy with because of effort.
Between the predictable play call on 1st down to the holding call, to the yanking Charest for Juice, to the missed FG, to the butchering of clock management during the last series of the 1st half, I can't imagine another year of this regime. Is there any possibility Ron Guenther goes against his word and makes a coaching change at the end of the year? If there really isn't, can you please at least tell me there is to make me fell better?
Mike,
I think this is all fluid. Given the right set of circumstances, anything is possible.
Hey Bob - Now that Guenther let that ugly, ugly cat out of the bag, I am sure you will be relieved to actually have football questions to answer instead of the same coaching question reworded 100x over. I have a few of them for you:
1)Toward the end of the game, one of the announcers stated that Schultz's attempt to spark the offense by means of playing Charest was unsuccessful. Outside of his 2 near-picks I thought he looked pretty good, especially during that long drive that was zooked into a missed FG. Why was he used so sparingly thereafter? Do you know/think the staff will give any indication this week as to how much we can expect to see Charest next week? This will be a major factor in my evaluation of whether going to the game is worth the time and gas. (i.e. 32 min of O&B Scrimmage is worth it; 2.5 hrs of inept juiceball is not)
2) As Mr. Hawthorne seemed to be the only DB that did not lose his jock in attempting on open field tackle, why is he not in there more often?
3) Did Schultz forget about his promise to pass downfield more? I realize that running up the middle on 1st/25 and 2nd/23 is a highly effective strategy but come on, seriously.
Buster,
You should make the trip. It's college football.
I disagree with the announcers. I thought Charest played well and should be given more time. And I think he will.
Terry Hawthorne started and played most of the game. His playing time is doing nothing but going up. He wants to play on offense too.
I don't know what happened with the deep passes. It worked when Charest went to Hubie Graham, the best play I've seen by the Illini in weeks.
Coach Guenther sounded rather meek and inarticulate when he gave Coach Zook the dreaded vote of confidence. Were you present @ the Q&A? Was the atmosphere as bad in person as it sounded on the radio? How does this book end:)?