Looking forward to some Redbird Football

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ISUBU

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The million dollar question (well, quite a bit less actually) is whether all ticket holders will be admitted, and then where will you sit. Even if the Illini have only sold say 50% of capacity for this game, most of those sold seats will be packed closely together.

If you buy a ticket from the secondary market, and it is deemed invalid for your game, it does appear that Seat Geek will refund you. I've seen speculation that some programs may even have a lottery of sold seats week by week, with winners getting in and losers presumably getting a refund. Other places may simply prioritize donor level, years of ticket purchases, actual attendance patterns, etc. It will be a weird year.

I also think masks will be mandatory. I can't see them letting the fans skip masks on Saturday when they will be requiring the students to wear them all week.

Lets get creative: red caps and white masks. Then a section can synchronize nodding and it'll look like the old block cheering sections. Does anybody in the country still have those? I always thought they were entertaining.
 
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ISUBU

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History | STADIUM CARD STUNTS by Kivett Productions

Card stunts have been around for over 100 years. Read more about the history of card stunts! Need a card stunt? Call 407-342-0752 for an estimate,
www.cardstunts.com www.cardstunts.com

Illini's Block I apparently still around, but I don't remember seeing them at the last game I attended there in 2017. They have been moved from good sideline seats to crappy endzone seats.

And quoting from that website,
"Illinois State “Redbird Rooters” Was around from 1967 to 1969. Approximately 850 members between Sections D and E (26 rows x 30 seats). The Block was patterned after the Big 10’s Block I and West Coast blocks like the cheering section at UCLA."

I've seen pictures, but that was before my time.
 
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Apologies if someone posted this, the story is a week or so old, I didn't see it anywhere, so will put up a link. Interesting article from Prairie State Pigskin about our RB situation. The article come off relatively positive, but somehow I wish I had a better feeling. I'm usually bullish on our young guys, but, something about this article felt like a splash of cold water!

www.chicagonow.com

Illinois State not lacking for Robinson replacements

The last time we saw Illinois State on the football field, James Robinson’s immense talent was on full display. The second-leading rusher in ISU history was plowing through defenses on his way to 601 yards in three FCS playoff games. “James is obviously a great player and very tough,” ISU head...
www.chicagonow.com www.chicagonow.com

Points to Proctor as the main man (of course) with a few comments about the supporting cast. Wish there was a little more in the way of insights.
 
TIMMY

TIMMY

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MadBird said:
Apologies if someone posted this, the story is a week or so old, I didn't see it anywhere, so will put up a link. Interesting article from Prairie State Pigskin about our RB situation. The article come off relatively positive, but somehow I wish I had a better feeling. I'm usually bullish on our young guys, but, something about this article felt like a splash of cold water!

www.chicagonow.com

Illinois State not lacking for Robinson replacements

The last time we saw Illinois State on the football field, James Robinson’s immense talent was on full display. The second-leading rusher in ISU history was plowing through defenses on his way to 601 yards in three FCS playoff games. “James is obviously a great player and very tough,” ISU head...
www.chicagonow.com www.chicagonow.com

Points to Proctor as the main man (of course) with a few comments about the supporting cast. Wish there was a little more in the way of insights.
Click to expand...
4th and 2. Who gets it?🤷‍♂️
 
fourthandshort

fourthandshort

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Timmy,

Here's a very indirect answer to your question ... harken back to 2016 season, the first year post Marshaun Coprich ... our RB picture was all gloom and doom. There was no hope, no promise, no future ... no nothing !!!!

Except these 4 guys who formed our RB by committee .. these 4 guys combined for 313 carries for 1,609 rushing yards, thats a pretty strong committee .. though no go to guy. And that was paert of the key ... defenses couldn't game plan for any specific running back.

Year Player Name gp-gs att gain loss net avg td lg avg/g
SR TOWNS,Jamal 12-8 112 675 48 627 5.6 2 50 52.2 .. very solid
RS FR CORBIN,DeMarco 12-0 96 494 21 473 4.9 4 54 39.4 .. big strong RB, would have been solid #2 had he stayed
True FR ROBINSON,James 9 - 2 63 348 26 322 5.1 2 55 35.8 ... did ok
SO MOREIRA,George 5 - 1 42 292 5 287 6.8 3 68 57.4 .. would have been a good one in our system

We also had True FR Jordan Birch and Artis Henderson waiting their turns on the bench. Both showed promise.

Very similar to what we're walking into this year with. As it happens, every back except FR Robinson and SR Towns (graduation) left the program over the next couple years .. most because .. well, let's be honest ... because Robinson didn't leave. That worked out ok.

But we were loaded with guys ready to emerge in 2016, and post Coprich. Not all would have worked out, but we were loaded with uproven talent and 1 SR .. now where have we heard this all before ?????

Ok, so that's a non-answer actually.
 
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fourthandshort

fourthandshort

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So, here's your answer .. sort of. Take you pick ...



 
TIMMY

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Not much size there when we really need that 2yds. Who's running between the tackles? I wouldn't mind seeing if Pennington get's a shot in short yardage. He ran it a ton as a fullback in Cary-Grove's flexbone. Other than that there's not a lot of butt in this backfield.
Looking forward to finding out.
 
fourthandshort

fourthandshort

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TIMMY said:
Not much size there when we really need that 2yds. Who's running between the tackles? I wouldn't mind seeing if Pennington get's a shot in short yardage. He ran it a ton as a fullback in Cary-Grove's flexbone. Other than that there's not a lot of butt in this backfield.
Looking forward to finding out.
Click to expand...
way too true for my liking too .. I just went off on different tangent because 2016 looked so familiar. But that group had way more "butt in that backfield".

The guy with most potential Phaleak Brown (current 200 lbs) or Ty Pennington (225 lbs). But your observation is dead on ... we sure have moved away from the big backs model Spack seemed to be moving towards since Coprich .... Robinson, Corbin, Birch, Markel Smith.
 
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fourthandshort said:
way too true for my liking too .. I just went off on different tangent because 2016 looked so familiar. But that group had way more "butt in that backfield".

The guy with most potential Phaleak Brown (current 200 lbs) or Ty Pennington (225 lbs). But your observation is dead on ... we sure have moved away from the big backs model Spack seemed to be moving towards since Coprich .... Robinson, Corbin, Birch, Markel Smith.
Click to expand...

JR was listed at 210 lbs. as a freshman, maybe PhaLeak can add the 10 pounds and make us all feel a little better!
 
Virginia Redbird

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TIMMY said:
4th and 2. Who gets it?🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
I know this is not in keeping with Coach Spack's usual offense but maybe instead of banging into the line on 4th and 2 like everybody expects...maybe a run/pass option...if Brady is back to full physical form. I thought I would play a little Devil's Advocate this morning! If Proctor is healthy he is probably the #1 back, he played well last year. I kind of like the variety of the backfield. Looks like more speed. JR was not slow but he was not a burner either. I wonder how well this stable of running backs can catch the ball? I think the offense was far too predictable in years past and being able to send out some speedy backs into the passing game will keep the defense a bit busier. They used JR as a receiver out of the backfield in the Shrine game and he had two receptions for 56 yards. The passing game struggled last year much in part due to injuries. to the QB and Receivers. If everyone is healthy the passing game could be a strength this year. If any of these RBs can catch the ball maybe a much more diversified attack than what we have seen in the past.
 
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ILLST25

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I think Proctor has a big year if he stays healthy. He can basically do it all - quick, fast, good hands, and can get surprisingly physical for his frame. He also seems to have packed on a bit of weight. Would love to see us use Proctor in the screen game often and also have him run a few routes out of the backfield or slot. Our offense needs to be designed based on our player’s strengths and I’m really hoping not to see good ole power I formation every play. After that I think Phaleak comes in as a guy to take about 30% of the touches.
 
fourthandshort

fourthandshort

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MadBird said:
JR was listed at 210 lbs. as a freshman, maybe PhaLeak can add the 10 pounds and make us all feel a little better!
Click to expand...
Not that it matters any .. but I saw that when I looked back to 2016 for the RB committee stats .... 210 lbs seems really off. I recall him being definitely heavier coming right out of HS. I think they changed this recently.

Checked all his roster weights by year ... I'd bet money they changed his 2016 and 2017 weights. He did not gain a nice neat 5 lbs per year. I remember posting about his size all the time back in 2016 -17 and saying how he could stand to lose some weight.

2016 .. 210 lbs .. thinking this was closer to 220-25 lbs
2017 .. 215 lbs .. thinking he put on more weight after his 2016 injury and offseason, closer to 225-230 lbs
2018 .. 220 lbs .. this was year he lost weight I think
2019 .. 225 lbs

Here's his HS SR year weight at 220 lbs from 247 recruiting site .. this is much more accurate .. again, not that it matters .. just odd they changed it. The article headline says 200 lbs, but 247 site says 220 lbs.

247sports.com

James Robinson, New York Jets, Running Back

James Robinson is a 5-11, 200-pound Running Back from Rockford, IL.
247sports.com 247sports.com
 
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