Illini vs. #19 Kansas Pre-game: Can the Illini Pull Off the Upset?

[Music] [Music] n [Music] welcome in it is Aline cast and I am Austin Berkland alongside Sunny Verma and we are part of the arm chair Align Network and we cannot believe that it is week two of the college football season going up against number 19 Kansas and Man sunny Illinois has a shot in this game we'll run through a few of the keys but what are your initial impressions of this game Sunny you know as the kids say Austin The Vibes are Immaculate right now I've never seen all of social media just everybody just have such a genuine positive attitude for a game like this where again we are still underdogs you know I think we opened up as a six or six and a half Point underdogs it was as low as four in some of the sports books I was looking at earlier today so some money is coming in on Illinois and you know it's just I hope we're not setting ourselves up for disappointment but you know this is going to be one of the biggest games of the season and not just that it's one of the biggest games in a really really long time I mean this is a put up shut up style of game for Brett belel after last year and failing to meet a bll game expectation this year's schedule really does a lineup for Illinois to have success to go to a bowl game and it all starts here in this game against Kansas the defensive ends have got to be Stout today the outside linebackers have to uh read the quarterback read the halfback and really see what this uh Kansas running attack is going to do play by play but my goodness sellout crowd which is something that you don't normally see uh for Illinois games this early on in the season normally have to build up the Alo fans trust but this is an opportunity for uh Brett belma to really catch on this is like the bait game like you know how you're fishing and like the fish like nibbles a little bit this is the game if Illinois wins then it'll be fully in the fan base will be fully bought in and Brett be and this Alina football crowd can really get nil going get some sponsorships going get some uh Mega things done for the I fund as well so this is a huge game not in terms of just uh um one game and making a bowl this could be changing things for this fan base's mentality yeah I agree you know we always as you and I are like equally as big football and basketball supporters and we always kind of hoped for was the football audience to really show up and come support the team that part of the fan base seems to always be a little apathetic well today they have you know we've sold out the stadium for the first time as you said in eight years and now it's on Brett it's on that football team we you you want them to show up put up a good game if you can escape with a victory well then now you're talking about Central Michigan next week three and 0 start so you can a potential Battle of unbeaten week four Nebraska against Illinois you know that game would get really really hyped and all of a sudden you know you're going up against a freshman quarterback it's the seeds are there to have a really really positive season but it's all going to start today you know you beat Kansas which could be the ultimate coin flip game and all of a sudden you know that six wins that you're going to need to make a bowl game it's within reach if you lose today if you get blown out today then all that momentum that we built coming into this week is it's almost out the window because then all of a sudden it's going to be the same old same old people aren't going to show up next week uh if we lose against Nebraska you know again we're going to be dealing with the 25 to 35 40,000 uh crowd Max again so you know I hate to say this but you know the crowd the fan base we've done our part at this point now today starting at six o'clock it's going to be on the football team and I mean you look at the rest of the schedule I know we are going to talk about this game more individually here a little bit but I mean Penn State only beat Bowling Green today 34 to 27 I mean Bowling Green is probably going to establish themselves as a really good mac program this year but this is supposed to be the number eight team in the country and at home and they only beat Bowling Green by 34 to 27 so if you beat Kansas you beat Central Michigan um you have a competitive game against Nebraska who knows what that game's going to bring with the great Dylan rola's quarterbacking I mean that that guy he is as advertised thus far we'll see what happens with the Colorado buffalos but I mean this is going to be a game where against Kansas where if Illinois wins you can start dreaming of uh some bigger things maybe it's not a college football playoff by any means for big that are watching this or will watch this after the Illinois Kansas game but it does feel like this could be a game where you're like all right this is the way that Illinois played on a January 1 bowl game against a top- notot sec team like the first two teams maybe that missed playoffs or the top two teams that missed the playoffs in the Big 10 um you can be in that kind of Ballpark and for Illinois and this new fangled Big 10 that's deeper if Illinois can establish itself above the likes of Wisconsin who are struggling to score so far this season you look at some other teams Minnesota they have a loss on the schedule already I mean you could be that top top team in that tier three and again it's all about building blocks if you keep building you keep building you keep building you'll get bites the apple of greater things in this college football world that's tough to break into with the Georgia Ohio States Oregons at least you can be in a conversation where you're relevant every week where college game day and big noon kickoff are going to be talking about you every single week and that's all we ask for aslant fans it is really that it's just to be relevant on the national stage week in and week out and not just some footnote in the world of college football right which has been the recent history for uh Illinois football and a victory today like even before talking about you know any magical aspirations we might have it will show progress right like last year everybody remembers the Kansas game everyone remembers us getting boat raced out of that game almost immediately I think it was a Friday night game so so like almost the whole world was watching I was in attendence in Lawrence yeah it was like 34-7 at uh 347 at three and you know obviously the score ended up being a little respectable at the end but you saw the offensive line look bad you saw the running back look bad Luke Alm was running for his life he was our best passer and rusher at that point in the season some of us who've been following Illinois we know it's a different team now but to have that backdrop of basically going up against the same opponent I mean Kansas is returning almost all their players from that team last year you want to see us put up more of a fight just to be able to confirm ourselves that progress is being made like this team you and I you know we can keep saying that Brett has us on the right track that we're getting better and better but there's only one way to prove that and you today could be a huge step in that direction absolutely and this is a showcase game for some of the trans that got brought in as well this is a game that they can look at and really have some good NFL tape against a good Kansas team you look at a guy like Franklin who's going up against Kobe Bryan who was a top-notch defensive back in the Big 12 you have uh JC Davis as an offensive lineman to Showcase that he can change an offensive Line's trajectory from where it was last year against Kansas against this year versus Kansas if he's able to do that that offensive line uh will look so much better and it' be like oh man we got to draft JC Davis because look at what the Illinois offensive line was last year versus this year uh same thing with Terence Brooks he has some NFL aspirations coming from the University of Texas and this is a game where he's faced some of these uh Big 12 guys um in Kansas whenever Texas was in fact in the Big 12 so this is a game where he can use his familiarity against some of these wide receivers or talk to a buddy of his that was a defensive back in the Big 12 and be like you know I'm facing Kansas how do we uh attack I mean there are so many benefits from these transfer guys that eleno brought in uh that can help in this Kansas game and I think you look at last year's Kansas game if you had some more offensive Firepower with Franklin you have J JC Davis I don't know if you win that game but it sure doesn't seem to be that blowout in that first half that um I was in attendance for last year Well we also have you know again as you said like our we fixed our offensive line La last year was just it was a complete wreck at least at the beginning part of the season and you know arguably our most important player this season was nowhere to be seen at this point game two last year and obviously that's Kaden Fagan who I think is going to be a huge um part if we're able to come out with a victory today I this could be the Kaden fing Breakout game that's what I'm kind of hoping for um but you know it's the same like with Terence Brooks I'm very interested in seeing was last week just a message with him not starting with him not playing until the end of the game or is this a situation where you know no he it's legit you know he still has to gain the trust of the staff and uh because again like you're right his experience playing in the Big 12 against a team like Kansas could prove invaluable right now but you know obviously there's some issues like are those resolved I guess we're about to find out in about an hour yeah I mean that defensive back situation last week against eiu was a little fascinating I kept looking for Terence Brooks in the Horseshoe and uh he just wasn't there and so I don't know if that's because of the competition as well like they were going to give a bunch of younger guys some shots uh to Showcase their Worth or and not just give it to the transfer um to just showcase what he needs to do but but we'll see what happens against a passing game that's seems to be really good from last year and even in the first game this year so if that's the case then hey then let's use him see what he can do against this Kansas offense but yeah I think Kaden Fagen is the story of this game I I think if Kaden is able to get what he wants um from the line of scrimmage and push that line forward um just fall forward uh get five yards a carry something crazy like that I think Illinois wins this game and with these new clock rules and with the headset device college football pace is slower than it ever was so if Illinois is able to string a few drives together I mean that first game of the season um overall between Florida State and uh Georgia Tech I think they had what like seven possessions each in the first half and in the second half so I think if Illinois is able to control this game and not let Daniels and not let Neil take uh hold of that football for very long Illinois has a really really good shot of winning this game it's got to be that true Big 10 versus Big 12 matchup on who's going to win that fast-paced big 12 and Illinois doesn't quite have the athletes to keep up or is it going to be the Illinois and Big 10 way where you're just big 10 Westing it Kaden Fagan takes over you get a few passes in to Pat Bryant and to Franklin and Luke Alm just takes care of the football is that like Iowa likee game manager and doesn't make mistakes then Ellen O can win this game but if there's some mental miscues if there are some uh three and outs there and Daniels is able to get a 14 to3 lead very quickly it's going to be uh a look back at last year's game sunny I can't he at that point all the air is going to be left out of that Stadium uh you know for me right now like Illinois had four turnovers in that first half of last week's game I think the spotlights on Aaron Henry and that defense right now everyone's talking when you talk Kansas football right now you talk about that offense Jay James Daniels and Devon Neil Aaron Henry was embarrassed last year and he's admitted afterwards that he quite wasn't ready for that Onslaught and you know he was new he was Green at that point he doesn't have that excuse this year if Illinois can get a turnover early I talked about this in my official uh prediction episode if Illinois can kind of do what Kansas did you know if they can go up 10 nothing or even 103 and then all of a sudden revert back to Brett BMA ball you have the horse in Kaden Fagen you have Aiden laugher who had a fantastic first game as well milk that clock keep Kansas's weapons off the field don't let Daniels and Neil beat you force them to make plays on the defensive side because quite honestly on the offensive side I think we can keep up with them it's the defensive side where I'm kind of worried about whether we can you know keep up with the guys that they have on their offensive side so I think the key is especially in that first quarter if we can get a quick turnover if we can get a a pick get a quick touchdown and then all of a sudden you're talking about 60,000 people in Memorial Stadium that energy which is already high reaching even other levels yeah I I think looking at the defensive side of the ball I think whichever team commits the less the least defensive penalties is going to end up winning this game um last year there were some penalties on the defensive side of the ball there were some eye candy that was just completely like there were defensive ends and offensive line and outside linebackers pardon me that were just glazed over at some of the motion that uh light PS offense has and that really made a difference in Illinois's ability to just kind of pin their ears back and really go after the football see man see ball go tackle the ball kind of thing like that was missed in last year's game plus third and 15s third and 12s like and end of half situations where Illinois was just outclassed where Illinois couldn't get their defense off the field it was constantly something it was a third and 14 up 15 yard completion it was a end of half that you may be building some momentum to then Jaden Daniels threw a long pass and boom it was uh first and goal for the Kansas Jayhawks into the first half and then it's just like oh that momentum's killed so that was fun um I mean there are certain instances in last year's game that you hope Aaron Henry has viewed this and can improve upon in just those small situations and I think that can make all the difference in the world yes it was a technically a blowout last year um but there were some positives for this Ali team like Luke Alm had a great second half um in that game but the first half was just uh it was all null and void so I I think that plays a major factor and Alex over at armchair comments said Illinois has to start strong can't have the crowd get disengaged and I fully believe that like if that Memorial Stadium is rocking similarly to the way it was against uh Wisconsin um back when they upset them as the number five team in the country um you think Arizona State uh that non-conference game that took place uh back in 2012 or 2011 one of those two games like Brock Osweiler coming into town and Illinois was able to up into the Arizona State uh Sun Devil so I think if you have a similar kind of push in that first half then man that can make all the difference and I mean you mentioned his name Luke alme you know this could be the Luke almeer Breakout game uh you know we didn't really talk about yet on Game Day K herb Street was the one guy on the panel member who picked Illinois to win and he had some very positive things to say about Luke you know the attention is going to be on Daniels of course you he's one of the best quarterbacks uh in the entire nation but Luke he played with a different kind of Moxy a different kind of confidence level last week and if he can carry that over to this week all of a sudden you have a mistake-free game like you were talking about right now the narrative on him is yeah he commits a lot of turnovers now majority of those turnovers were at the beginning of last year when you know as we discussed before the offensive line was kind of in shambles and we didn't we hadn't really established our running game but he can turned that around today all of a sudden if Luke has a good solid game today a lot of people around the Big 10 you you mentioned you know the Big 10 may have been 17- one in week one but they're eing out victories so far here in week two I haven't checked the update on like the Wisconsin game but you know they're struggling as you mentioned Penn State struggled to beat uh Bowling Green if Luke has a good game today and you know we already have seen what kayen Fagan is capable of doing week one it's not out of the realm to say that Illinois has one of the best offenses in the conference and I've been saying that already for a couple weeks now but other people are going to start noticing and then all of a sudden you're talking about you know a mid-tier p or perception wise at least uh Illinois team being all of a sudden being talked a little bit more favorably and now all of a sudden in some of the matchups that we have later on including the michigans whatnot Illinois is going to get a little bit more publicity and that's kind of what this program needs and you talk about Luke almeer like I think a lot of people forget how good Luke almeer truly can be as a quarterback I mean you think of last year's Kansas game where I think that spooked Luke Alm for the rest of the season like I think that one game was really a game that shifted his mindset into I need to rush I need to throw throw throw throw I need to just get the ball out of my hands the rush is just getting to me that continued on in the Penn State game last year I think there are situations this year where it can prove where Luke Alm can prove to himself I can stand in the pocket I can deliver the ball I have some talented wide receivers at my disposal this year even better than compared to last year and I think that it's just going to be a situation where it's like hey Luke almeer is is g to be better this year he was red like what 14th in some preseason quarterback rankings that we saw I I think that can climb to at least top seven top eight um by the time this season's done if he takes care of business says we need a blue and orange ant Shield yes we do that would be awesome ant the folks at the armchair have a new graphics guy now come on get those interns to work hey Alex Come on talk about my TV being tilted because of Jaylen Herz is throwing an interception in the uh Endzone last night um let's just get some graphic design people on that uh put that in next to armchair ali um but yeah this game is vital to the Brett belma era I think Illinois can make a bowl game if they lose in this Kansas game yes but this is a program definer this is a if Josh Whitman um made the right call kind of thing between Lance lipold and Brett belma I mean like that that's that see may seem unfair but hey um that was the decision between Lance and Brett and if Lance gets the best of Brett and showcases that he can put Kansas of all teams into a top 25 then hey uh Josh might be uh keeping keeping awake at night like the Giants owner because saquan Barkley yeah I mean that's still you that's G to be a a storyline that's going to follow Brett be Lance lold for the next X amount of years you know we all know the narrative at this point you know light buold was considered the favorite we all watched that bowl game his last game at Buffalo thinking he was going to be announced as the new head coach at Illinois obviously they went with Brett belma and you know Lance granted with some of uh Les miles's recruits has been on a tear you know they been in the top 25 and Illinois is kind of Str since then but today's a big game you know right now we've had three recruiting Cycles we have a chance for Brett to close the gap a little bit if Lance and Kansas run away with the game again it's hard to argue that Josh Whitman made the wrong right choice at that point you know like Lance has got I mean we'll see what happens when Daniels and Neil are gone and some of the studs that he recruited we'll see if he's able to recruit at a level where they can stay competitive but you know again this is arguably I I I forget who it was someone wrote an article this past week that said that this could be Brett belma's biggest game of his career and in a lot of ways it I can understand why all the different narratives not just impacting the season but impacting his own potential to continue here at Illinois what do you think about that yeah I mean I think from Brett bma's perspective he's showcased that he can beat a lot of these big 10 West teams based on his reputation I know the Big 10 West doesn't exist but they are your close peers in how you're building a college football team in this new Big 10 you can you have to pass up Iowa you got to pass up Wisconsin you got to continue to be better than Minnesota to Showcase that you shouldn't be left out of whatever next iteration college sports are um and I think with the way Brett belma has built this program you need a marquee non-conference win and that's something that Brett BMA just does not have yet yeah I'm trying to think like what is that Marquee win you know like uh 10 State nine overtime maybe right but really what did that what did that game mean it signal that it could potentially be the turn around of the program but it didn't really catapult us uh anywhere maybe all that showed us was it wasn't the lovey years anymore but you know as you said this could be that game this could be that game in front of a soldout crowd you got a line ey fan super excited and again if you win today you're talking about you know hopefully of course beating Mac team next week a big Showdown down against Nebraska and then who knows like we've seen Michigan Michigan doesn't look like Michigan one of my bold predictions on one of my other shows was uh talking about like uh Illinois is going to up upset Michigan in that 100 year anniversary game and now it doesn't seem like it's quite as outlandish of a prediction that it might have been even two weeks ago yeah I think the two games you might be thinking of uh in terms of Brett belma wins would be the backto backto back stretch where he beat Wisconsin Iowa Minnesota and Nebraska all in a row in 2022 to be eight and four like I think that stretch is equal to like one like top five win because no coaches ever done that in this uh new Big 10 era so I think that could be one of Brett belma's top wins but um let's get back to this game on a micro level um I think h Robertson is going to be a huge factor in this game he was ranked last in terms of big 10 um punter averages at 39 yards per Punt and that's out of 18 now so it's even worse of a stat to be last in a category um so I think if Hugh Robertson has a better game uh than that I think that can be huge because if you're gonna play Brett ball you got to be able to control that field position game you can't give uh Neil and Daniels short fields to play on so it it's got to be a long field situation you got to get them in the 20 yard line category yeah make them work don't make it easy for them you know we know they've got studs on that side of the football and the easier you make their job the harder you make yours um you know that defensive line I'm going to be keeping an eye on them like stats wise like they played well last week but it's against Eastern Illinois and it's not like we blew them up when you look at that box score uh this is going to be a much different game uh in about 45 minutes you know let's see how they perform against another Power four type of Team the the linebackers Dylan rosak can he continue his Stellar play as of late you know the defensive backs I'm so grateful that we have Matthew Bailey today you know compared to last year him being gone last year you're was arguable that he was going to be a team captain on last year's team a guy you kind of really count on and you kind of see what kind of impact he has in week one if he stays on the field I so much more confident about what we can throw out there on the defensive side of the football and again we're going to need all the talent that we have out there so there's a lot of X factors here but you know Matthew being back I think is one that has me a little bit more at ease yeah some current scores if you're watching us uh in the Big 10 Iowa State 14 Iowa 19 that's in the third quarter U Maryland is leading Michigan State 2417 Washington over Eastern Michigan 30 to9 in the fourth quarter and Wisconsin currently up only 20 to3 to South Dakota and that is in the fourth quarter right now uh so the Big 10 kind of uh having some uh close games here with uh some teams they probably shouldn't be having close games with so this Tak not just the Big 10 though take a look Auburn's down 14 seven in the fourth quarter Auburn put up 70 last week so it's like the college football world it's going kind of crazy Notre Dame only up one point I mean man there's a lot of right now people said parody was uh was leaving college football you know yeah but all right so Austin what do you think like uh if you had to guess how does the game go do you have a final score prediction yes I do I think elen wins 35- 31 and it's going to come down to um Fagan breaking a couple long runs I feel like that could be a possibility or Aiden um I think one of the running backs breaks one maybe Kaden beats the ever living hell out of the Kansas defensive line and Aiden speed allows him to break through for a long one um so I I think 3531 I think the defensive backs against Eastern showed that they can be ballhawks at least like they can at least get their hands on the ball which was nice to see even though it was against Eastern so I think there are some interceptions that can be had um in this game for the Ali so I'm going 35 31 and Illinois receives Vats in the AP pole oh man that would be nice uh I have a very similar score I have 3431 but I do have Kansas winning I'm just going to stick to the prediction I had I made a couple days ago I'll be honest with Vibes are a lot better right now the student base seems to be really excited the fan base seems really really excited and if again we get that turnover early if we can get up early whether it's you know 7 nothing or you know 143 something like that and all of a sudden we can control the clock I'm going to feel a whole lot better about our chances just right now what I saw from the defensive side of the football was promising week one but this really is a prove it game for Aaron Henry and you know to really show us that he's grown as a defensive coordinator that all those Whispers I mean keep in mind Barry Lenny Jr kind of had a similar trajectory right like we hired him and after his first bunch of games people wonder like who's this guy he's not he's not doing a great job either like Brett's 0 for two when it comes to offensive coordinators now Barry Lenny Jr is considered one of the better offensive coordinators not just in the conference but in the country a guy who might be able to get uh head coaching job in the next couple years is Aaron Henry also on that track the only way to know that is if he proves it in games like this I hope I'm wrong here i' of course Illinois again this is always funny Austin like you're usually the pessimistic one when it comes to football and I'm the positive one but you know I have this 34 31 Illinois or Kansas in a very tight game but I think a score like that will be close enough that won't necessarily have the fan base feel too concerned they're they're not going to be leaving in uh you in masses so to speak uh I think it's going to show progress and hopefully continue to build excitement for the remaining uh rest of the season yeah I mean this is why you bring in those transfers that's what I've been harping on this entire season is just the transfers transfers transfers on how they are able to uh blend in with this line team and so far the returns have been great for the most part Alex I'm with you how dare you sunny it's it's not just I think Alex might be referring to my tweet um I had a comment on my locked on Eli episode where someone literally said uh how dare let me read this tweet or this me comment out loud Ali Channel and you pick can out of here Channel blocked so hopefully I don't lose any subscribers with this uh L prediction here on the Line cast speaking of which we're like 961 we're so close to 1,000 guys so incredibly close if you're watching this this is it's a brand new season of course if you're watching this for the first time hit that like button hit that subscribe button cost you guys nothing and it helps us you know show up in the algorithm for other align fans and helps this channel grow so please we're going to be trying to do this basically every pregame and when Austin and I can we're going to try to be doing this a postgame as well uh you know we'll be taking in comments I have a little longer form shows postgame it's going to be a lot of fun but we can help with your support so definitely hit that like button hit that subscribe button if you haven't already Kenosha three-point shooter I don't know what this means maybe it's because Illinois's F playing some big fish in champagne or it's he's trying to get the board out about aine cast either way Good Vibes on that comment of the two fish emojis um but this has been an episode of the Alina cast we'll get let you get to some more pregame of the Alina versus Kansas if you're watching from the tailgate lot we thank you have a cold one for us and if you uh um subscribe thank you so much as well um this has been the Ali cast part of the armchair Ali Network Sunny thank you and go Al I