Illinois Football: Setting Illini expectations for the final 4 games
I think it is safe to say the win on Saturday against Rutgers was a must-win for the Illinois football program.
Well, the coaching staff and players went into a must-win game and came out with a victory. While it was just Rutgers, it was a Scarlet Knights team that put up fights against Ohio State and Indiana, and they took down Michigan State on the road to begin the season.
With a win on Saturday, it is time to adjust the expectations on what the rest of the season will hold for this program.
Obviously, expectations are always evolving, so who knows what next week will bring. But let’s lay a map out for what could be considered a tough stretch to finish the 2020 campaign.
Illinois heads to Nebraska next week. The Cornhuskers, now 1-2 this season, just took down a below-average Penn State bunch for their first win. Nebraska’s other two losses were to Ohio State and Northwestern, both currently ranked in the top 25.
The Cornhuskers just moved to dual-threat quarterback, Luke McCaffrey. He led Nebraska to the victory over Penn State. I would hope for a win next Saturday, but it will be difficult to beat a team that is hardened by some good competition this season.
Illinois’ final three games would be against No. 3 Ohio State, Iowa and at No. 23 Northwestern. That is an unenviable schedule for any team, especially the Illini.
So, with four tough games remaining, I will be rooting for the Orange and Blue to come out victorious but it is realistic to think we could end the season 1-7. I believe that is reasonable to think that is the record at the end of the year.
But I also have the expectations of competing in the final four games. Having four losses that looked like the Wisconsin and Minnesota games would be a different feeling than having four losses that were closer to the Purdue game.
Being a competitive team is something that happened in 2019. This helped Lovie Smith win some fans over. I believe, even if we go 0-4 the rest of the way out, that Illinois needs to be competitive in those contests. That is the expectation moving forward.
While the expectations don’t seem too high, just remember they can also be exceeded. This program has shown they can blow past expectations in a hurry. No matter what, though, I will always be cheering the Illini on.