Illinois football postgame chat: 4 p.m. Friday
Friday, November 27, 2009 - 4:00pm
Talk with football beat writer Bob Asmussen after the Illinois-Cincinnati game
Talk with football beat writer Bob Asmussen after the Illinois-Cincinnati game
Welcome to another postgame chat. Thanks for your participation. Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving.
I'm going to answer a handful of questions, take a short break to work on my story, then come back to you.
sure this will be asked several times, but oh well
how big of a loss is CJ? any chance that he will reconsider all his options again after the season?
Bob, thanks as always for the chat.
CJ Declares for Iowa. Cooper, Easterly and others are wavering. We have a grand total of 8 commitments at the moment and it looks like that number will shrink over the next week or two.
The Zooker's strength is supposed to be recruiting. This year's will be poor and it is unlikely that next year's will be better -- even if the record is better any wins will come too late given the uncertainty regarding Zook's employment.
If recruits doesn't improve, how can Zook keep his job?
Pat and Brian,
No way to sugarcoat it, recruiting will be very difficult for the staff. They are getting hit with negative recruiting on all sides. Other coaches are certainly talking about the situation at Illinois. Not in a good way.
Nobody should be surprised by the decommitment from Fiedorowicz. I'd be more surprised if Corey Cooper makes the same move.
I think Fiedorowicz has a chance to be a great player in college. You always want those guys on your team. I don't think C.J. will change his mind. He has made a commitment to a likely BCS school. The only thing I'd wonder about is if he sticks with Iowa if Kirk Ferentz takes another job (Notre Dame, perhaps).
Bob,
I know it didn't matter in the end, but please find out who decides when to go for two and how they decide. Illinois scored to make it 42-29 with ten minutes left, and they decide to go for one to make it 42-30, instead of two to make it potentially 42-31, and a TD/FG game. A similar situation against NU had the score 21-3 with about fourteen minutes remaining.They decide to go for two when the right thing was to go for one at that time. You don't go for two until you have to because it still give your team hope. The later the game gets the sooner you're forced to go for two. With ten minutes left, the right call is to go for two and cut the deficit to eleven. These are the kind of decisions that show Zook is a horrible game manager. Please ask him about this. Thank you.
James,
I promise to ask. I think the answer will be something about a chart that the coaches use. I think the Illinois staff follows the chart. I'll ask to see it.
Were those Big East Officials today? that was a terrible crew out there today. Gave Cincy 15 points...
Brian,
They were Big East officials, which means a Big Ten crew will work the game when Cincinnati visits Champaign in 2013. Not that that does the team any good now.
I've heard there were some shaky calls. I taped the game and am eager to see it.
Why didn't the Charest get into the game? It made no sense.
Also, I saw several penalties that would not be called against the haves of college football.
Tweet,
Ron Zook decided Juice Williams was going to play as long as he was healthy. He said Juice has earned that right and Williams had a good game.
I was also surprised to not see more of Zach Collaros, who didn't go in until late in the game.
I know you won't want to answer about replay officials, but why wasn't Fayson's reviewed? We looked pretty good today on offense, but if Juice hits Duvalt on that bomb and we score a td on the turnover it could been different, Maybe. I did like what we saw from Green.
Robert,
It was good to see Justin Green in the game. I still think he can be a very, very good player.
On the replays, all plays are subject to review. I'm not sure what happened on the Fayson play. I want to see it for myself.
You're right, the game could have been very different.
Bob,
Is there any hope for '10? I'm getting pretty discouraged by all this losing. After going to the Rose Bowl in '07, we should be looking at 11-0, not fighting to reach 4-8. We all thought this year would be better, but realisticaly, is there any chance we'll go 6-6 next year?
Rob,
Looking at the schedule, it doesn't seem very likely. Of course, I would have never guessed the 2007 team would go to the Rose Bowl.
When a school is in Illinois' situation, things turn very unpredictable. But the program seems closer to 4-8 now than 11-0.
So Guenther said Zook stays for 2010 a few weeks ago. Is there any doubt now that the defensive coaches should be fired at the end of the season? This defense is the the most futile I have seen in my 30 years of watching Illini football.
Jacquelyn,
The defense is one designed by Ron Zook. Ultimately, the buck stops with him. You would have to know exactly who does what to decide how to assess blame.
Again, remember that the coaches are people with lives outside of football and families. I think that's very important.
The ABC announcers for today's game criticized the Illinois coaches' acumen repeatedly. Do you think AD Guenther cares what outsiders think of the Illinois program?
Bill,
Honestly, no. I think he considers himself the judge of the coaches on his staff. He wouldn't let an opinion from a television station influence his choices or how he feels about a particular coach. Nor should he.
Might be a little to early, but who do you think wins next week, Fresno State or Illinois?
Adam,
Right now, I'd lean toward Fresno State. The Bulldogs have a lot of motivation against a BCS school. They will be very ready.
It looked like Charest could have picked Cincinnati apart just like Pike did to Illini secondary --- why do you think RZ is so stubborn not to play best players to win when Juice was hobbling around there and missed several big plays, potential TD's? Has nothing to do with Sr vs Fr, has to do with ability to throw the passes accurately!!
Paul,
Ron Zook felt Juice gave him the best chance to win, not Charest. Do you or I agree? Maybe not. But it doesn't matter. I wanted to see Charest play, but that's Ron Zook's call.
Bob-
Why can't we ever gameplan effectively for a passing team? We know exactly what Missouri was going to run, same for Cincy. How do you not come up with passing packages with 2 weeks of preparation?
Andrew,
I think the plan was in place. But a lot of young guys on the field, particularly in the secondary, made it difficult to execute. I get the impression the defensive backs missed a lot of assignments. And Cincinnati seeemed to have the right call every time.
I'm going to take about a 15-minute break. I'll be back.
I'm back to answer some more questions, then I'll take another break.
Today and the past 3 games, when a passing td is scored against us, #38 is chasing the receiver. How can the same guy be picked on so much without something be done to help him?
Terry,
Great question. The coaches said they had the right calls for Friday's game, but got hurt by execution. My guess is that if Ian Thomas is chasing the play, somebody made a mistake behind him. That shouldn't happen this late in the season.
Bob,
so I think its becoming more clear that we need to make some changes in the defensive philosphy. I think that includes going to one cordinator. Is this likely to happen?
Dan,
I think that's a strong possibility. But I still think Ron Zook will want his hand in the defense. I don't see Illinois going to a different style, even if a single coordinator is added. But some new ideas would be a good idea.
what good is replay when they don't or won't look at it. Replay sucked.
illini77,
I think you meant to "replay stunk." Or is it "stank"? I can never get that right.
I really think the Big Ten is the best in terms of using the replay. A lot of prid there. Maybe the other leagues don't like it. I can't wait to see what everybody is talking about.
It seems that everytime zook puts dufrene in we lose. Am I being superstitious?
Jap,
I think you are being superstitious. And kind of mean to No. 22. Remember, he had a decent play against Ohio State in 2007. Speaking of replay ...
Bob,
My biggest concern is Zook's strength (recruiting) is bottoming out and his weakness (in game adjustments and player developement) will show even more if the stream of talent continues to spiral down. Don't get me wrong, there have been some success stories while there (our last 2 middle linebackers), but I see more regression or at the least, lack of improvement once they become upper classmen from guys as a whole. Is Zook back to selling playing time to recruits and how long can he hang his hat on 2007 and tell kids, "You can achieve this at Illinois and you can do it early in your career". I pull for the guy, because I think he will stay at Illinois even with success, but at this rate I see him ending up on that large scrap heap that is former Illinois coaches who tried and failed. Where is the next John Mackovic and do we really care that he isn't exactly Mr. Public Relations-I certainly don't at this point.
Thanks for your time!
Ryan,
I don't think schools worry too much about public relations when hiring a coach. Joe Paterno has very limited media policies, but would be worth a billion dollars if he was 40 today.
I'm not sure who can fix the Illinois football troubles. Maybe Ron Zook is still the answer. He will get a chance to try in 2010.
Hi, Bob. What's your guess for attendance next week?
Jim,
Listed: 45,000. Actually, somewhere in the low 30s. If it's a nice day. If it's blizzardy, put the number in the low 20s. I'm rooting for sunny and 60.
What is your opinion of Illinois scheduling into December? I believe other big ten teams should use Illinois as an example, and schedule non-conference opponents the last two weeks into December. Use the weather to your advantage. Do you have any information on why other Big Ten teams do not schedule later on?
Adam,
For the longest time, Big Ten schools weren't allowed to schedule past the last week of the conference's regular season. I think it's a great idea. And it would have worked well for Illinois had the team gotten the bowl bid it expected.
Anything that's different is good, in my opinion. I would like to see schools schedule big-time games after the conference season ends, if they have logical matchups.
I take it Zook doesn't believe in the philosophy "don't let the opponents best player beat you". Mardy Gilyard...meet Jeremy Maclin, meet Marcus Thigpen. How many times has it happened in his tenure? This is from a guy that was an NFL special teams coach? Watching a Ron Zook coached football team is like taking a beating with a sledgehammer! Bye week adjustments? Please, just replay the script two weeks later and it is the same ol same ol!
Gary,
It might have made more sense to kick the ball out of bounds and give Cincinnati the ball at the 40.
Please, no sledgehammers to your head. That would smart.
Why will this team be better next year?
If it won't be better, why are we keeping the Head Coach around?
Milorad,
I want to see what happens at quarterback in the spring. That might make fans feel better. And there are a lot of talented freshmen and sophomores. And Corey Liuget and Josh Brent and Clay Nurse make for a good defensive line. And Martez Wilson will be back.
But there are probably more reasons to be concerned, starting with the schedule.
Not only are we losing games but now we are losing recruits. How anyone can support Zook is beyond my comprehension. Prep stars and coaches see the Illinois program as poison right now. How can Guenther NOT make a change?!?
Was it me or was the officiating obviously one sided. The late TD's ( not EVEN reviewing our and giving them the late TD was a joke) Plus the so-called personal foul on 4th down. No way we could have won if it was close.
Tom,
I wish I had more to say about the officiating. I didn't get to see many replays. But I did hear from Illinois fans that there were bad calls. Maybe Ron Zook will talk about it Sunday.
I don't think Ron Guenther makes a change. That's my opinion.
Are Illinois high school players just overrated coming out or can Zook just not develop them?r We cannot have such highly rated classes every year and have such poor results. Outcoached,undisciplined every week. Zook MUST GO AND ALL COACHES WITH HIM.