Illinois football moved to 1-1 this past Saturday with a heartbreaking loss to the Indiana Hoosiers.
Honestly, the Illini let that game slip away. We should be 2-0 heading into Virginia week, but that isn’t the case right now. That loss to the Hoosiers was a gut punch.
Despite the loss, there are still 10 games left in the season. We need to win five of those contests to become bowl eligible for the second time in four years. Can it happen?
I believe it can. Illinois has a good team even though we just blew that game to Indiana. I also think the Hoosiers have a much-improved squad from their two-win campaign in 2021.
Does the Illinois football fanbase still have faith the Illini can win games in 2022?
On Saturday, after the loss to the Hoosiers, I did a small poll on Twitter to gauge the feeling of the Orange and Blue fans. I asked the question, “how are you feeling?”
Following the question were four answers; 0-3 wins, 4-5 wins, 6-7 wins, and 8+ wins.
In the poll, there were 225 votes, and the answer to receive the least amount of votes was the 8+ wins, obviously. That option came in with just 1.8% of the vote. I would imagine that number wouldn’t have been too much higher before the season started.
I still have confidence in Illinois football. The pieces are there to win. We can still make a bowl game this season.
— Writing Illini (@WritingIlliniFS) September 3, 2022
How are you feeling? #Illini #Illinois #Football #B1G
0-3 wins only got 10.2% of the vote. I believe that is the part of the fanbase that is always down on the team and usually chimes in with, “how much longer until basketball season?”
The two highest answers were 4-5 wins and 6-7 wins. They were both pretty close with 4-5 wins getting 45.8% of the vote and 6-7 wins getting 42.2% of the vote.
Even with the loss to Indiana, it feels like the Illini fanbase is still optimistic that this team can win games. That is good. We need a motivated fanbase. 42.2% still think we can even make a bowl game with six or seven wins. That is exciting too.
Personally, I fall in line with the 6-7-win category right now. I think Illinois is a solid team that can win games. Losing to Indiana hurt. That is a game we let slip away, but we have the talent to make a bowl game. That was my expectation to start the season, and it continues to be my expectation two games in.