Ad Disclosure
What Illinois coach Lovie Smith had to say at his Monday press conference
Published:
Heading into the 2020 season, there was some hope that Lovie Smith’s Illinois squad would take a step forward in 2020. So far, that hasn’t happened.
The Illini have just two wins and haven’t done much to inspire much confidence. The hope is, however, is that the Illini can pull off a monster upset against in-state rival Northwestern on Saturday and salvage something out of the 2020 season.
After coming out strong on Saturday and looking primed to upset Iowa, Illinois struggled in the second half and ultimately fell to the Hawkeyes. Based on Smith’s regularly scheduled Monday press conference, it appears that loss is in the rear-view mirror.
#illini Lovie Smith: "There's nothing like rivalry where you want to beat the team more than anyone else." pic.twitter.com/K5nPDNNet6
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 7, 2020
#illini Lovie Smith: "We plan on playing the best game we have all year."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 7, 2020
#illini Lovie Smith: There's four teams with 3 or more wins in the conference. Getting that third win is important to us.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 7, 2020
#illini Lovie Smith on new Northwestern OC: Mike Bajakian is an outstanding coach. Had him on staff at Tampa.
"We see little twists of NFL from Mike's background."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 7, 2020
Throughout this season, we have seen a multitude of quarterbacks play for Smith. That still appears to be the case. Though Smith knows his plan for how the quarterback situation will play out on Saturday, he’s keeping his quarterback situation a mystery to the public.
#illini Lovie Smith asked about Isaiah Williams and said he won't get into the game plan.
"Show up on Saturday, and you'll see."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 7, 2020
#illini Lovie Smith asked if Brandon Peters will start: "We know what we're going to do at the quarterback position. Now, we're not going to talk about it now."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 7, 2020
Smith might be coaching for his job on Saturday, which might not seem fair given the talent gap between these two programs currently. But it’s the position Smith put himself in and now has to live with.
#illini Lovie Smith: We see things in the program that will get us over the hump. We're gaining.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 7, 2020