how to get football program from the "mediocre" to "good" level

[Rickster]

...I know we'll never be at the Elite level, and I also appreciate at least we're no longer in the "bad" level. But still, I was hoping our program was finally able to jump from mediocre to good, but the 2 good + 1 elite teams we've played all blew us out.

things I think about at this point...

- I didn't even get to watch the whole Wash game, but even if you watched none, you just look at the box score and see Wash scoring drives of 10 plays, 8 plays, 11 plays, 11 plays, 7 plays, 7 plays....and that tells you all you need to know. 6 TDs after 54 play long drives. the "bend but don't break" defense just isn't good enough
- to make that jump consistently from mediocre to good or to elite you need a lot more team speed and difference makers on D
- at this point I hope they just call a pass on every play so Altmeyer's stats get padded...maybe that will help sign a free agent transfer this winter...cuz, otherwise, who's gonna QB? Who's gonna wanna come here with that kind of O line in front of him unless the perception is that your numbers will be high?
- even if they win out and finish 9-3 and play a bowl on Dec 28-ish, this feels like a disappointment. We only managed to beat a couple other mediocre teams...woooo.

so what's it take? I'm still patient, but I really hope BB figures it out soon.

Is it basketball season yet?

[Rickster]

I've said it before and say again...I hope Illini football fans do not UNDER-appreciate Altmeyer. That dude is really good. I hope we can continue to get QBs of that caliber in the future. Even though the team overall is mediocre, having good QB play makes the games watchable.