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What Illinois coach Lovie Smith said at his Monday press conference
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Like many teams in 2020, Illinois had to change on the fly last week. The Illini were slated to go up against Ohio State this past Saturday, but the game was canceled because of COVID cases within the Buckeye program.
That meant Lovie Smith’s team now had extra time to prepare for its next game. It’s a home tilt against Iowa.
Smith talked to the media on Monday during his regularly scheduled press conference. As expected, there was talk about last week’s cancelation.
#illini Lovie Smith: As we went into this football season, we knew that we'd have to be flexible and that things could change quickly. That's what happened for us this past week.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 30, 2020
#illini Lovie Smith: Once the decision was made, we moved on quickly to Iowa. Our players have done a good job of trying to do what they can to keep our team as safe as possible.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 30, 2020
The Hawkeyes handed Illinois a loss in the penultimate regular season game during 2019. In 2018, Iowa went into Champagne and hung 63 points on the Illini. Smith surely hasn’t forgotten that and knows the challenge for playing Iowa.
#illini Lovie Smith: Iowa "embarrassed us the last time we played at home." Last year, we played better, but we haven't beat them for a long period of time.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 30, 2020
#illini Lovie Smith: Hopefully the week off helps us get healthier. We need all hands on deck this week. Iowa has won four in a row and is playing their best football. Last time out [at Nebraska] we played our best football.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 30, 2020
Besides not playing this past weekend, Illinois dealt with some other bad news as the team learned of two different starters being ruled out for the season due to injury.
#illini Lovie Smith: OL Alex Palczewski will have season-ending surgery.
OL had started 40 straight games.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 30, 2020
#illini Lovie Smith: LB Tarique Barnes also had season-ending surgery
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 30, 2020
Illinois certainly showed some signs of progress two weeks ago against Nebraska. However, the Illini haven’t proven it against a high-level opponent. There’s a chance for Smith’s squad to do that Saturday against Iowa.