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Lovie Smith and the Illini had a bye-week after a disheartening loss against Nebraska, and Smith thought it was a much needed break for Illinois.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a bye-week come at a bad time. And I think that’s the case with us.”
“Had a little more time to stew on things during bye week but not like we haven’t addressed things the last couple weeks.”
“As we look at what we’ve done so far, theres some things we like, there’s some things we don’t like. Simple as that.”
For corrections that were worked on this week Smith said, “Everything. All of the above.”
What Smith had to say about this weeks game against Minnesota:
“Getting ready to play a team that in undefeated. That gets your attention. We need to get back on the football field.”
“Minnesota has an offensive scheme they believe in. This past week, their QB played outstanding ball. Good skill guys. Two good receivers. TE’s are good. Big OL. It’ll be a challenge for us.”
“I had a chance to coach Antoine Winfield Sr. way back in the day at Ohio State. He was an outstanding player. His son is an outstanding football player too.”
In reference to Minnesota’s wide receivers, “These guys are bigger, play the ball well. When you have a running game that is working you get in a lot of one-on-one situations.”
“Dre Brown is an example of how things should be done on and off the football field. No one does that better than Dre Brown.”
And although there is a lot the Illini need to work on, Smith said, “One of the good things we have done defensively is take the ball away.”
“Offensively we have to convert more third downs. Defensively we need to stop more third downs. What I am talking with Coach (Rod) Smith about is scoring more touchdowns.”
Offense Coach Rod Smith quotes:
Rod Smith said the thing he was most disappointed in during the game against Nebraska was, “Third downs. I mean that’s inexcusable, that’s bad, on me, I gotta do better.”
“I think Brandon (Peters) is doing pretty good. Some things to clean up. Some jelling needs to take place. At same time, he’s shown signs he can be a really good QB when all is said and done.”
“We felt that trying to speed things up a little bit more against Nebraska, we knew that might have put the defense on the field a little bit more.”
In regards to late-half management, Smith said, “A lot of talk went into it. Don’t want to give Adrian Martinez the ball back. We talked and wanted to be safe. We’ve moved past that.”