Snap Judgments: Thomas thinks Hilinski is the future at QB

loyolacat

Redshirt
Oct 21, 2006
2,686
41
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Jared Thomas thinks that we will see a lot of new faces on the field for the Wildcats during these final two games.

So I am guessing if we see the same guys in,,,these are guys we anticipate will start next year...and where we see new guys , are positions of players who will not be back or whose play has not been satisfactory this year? and by the way, who do we anticipate will not be back from the starters currently playing?
 
Nov 5, 2001
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"He can be a Big Ten quarterback," he said. "He just hasn't had enough time in the system."

I can accept this analysis. Anyway, as much as we were clamoring for Marty, he didn't do anything to earn the job. It doesn't solve the medium term problem that Lou addressed. Heck, Hilinski could get hurt or decide not to come back for 2023, and we don't have any indication that the guys coming back / being signed are capable.

This does give me more interest in the PU/ILL games, even if they end up losses, just to see what we have coming back, as opposed to a bunch of 5th year/grads that haven't won much. The exception, to me, is Robinson. I really enjoy watching him play, and we've seen so little of him because of injuries and bad QB play. He's really fun to watch.
 

Gocatsgo2003

All-Conference
Mar 30, 2006
45,596
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Would expect we see Marty starting against Purdue and Illinois, which makes no sense to me.
 

GECat2

Sophomore
Oct 8, 2012
1,879
111
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I agree. Let's give Hillinski the ball and see how he fares the next 2 games.
 

jensberg

Redshirt
Jul 28, 2006
2,779
44
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Would expect we see Marty starting against Purdue and Illinois, which makes no sense to me.
Agree I think Marty will start as well, but definitely so will all the others who have been starting recently whether they will be coming back next year or not. I don't see our coaches auditioning other players.
 
Nov 5, 2001
18,494
736
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Agree I think Marty will start as well, but definitely so will all the others who have been starting recently whether they will be coming back next year or not. I don't see our coaches auditioning other players.
I hope you two are wrong, although I'll jump for joy/bandwagon if they win. The team is terrible and boring. Let the 2022 people play. Including specialists.

Edit, it's our final "home" game, will give Fitz to lean on the "seniors" excuse. Then same for rivalry game.
 
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lou v

All-Conference
Staff member
Aug 27, 2004
17,248
1,238
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Would expect we see Marty starting against Purdue and Illinois, which makes no sense to me.

I will be disappointed if that's the case. Starting Marty does you no good. And I say that not only because he's not coming back. It's also because he's been a turnover machine who's proven these last two weeks that he isn't a No. 1 QB, in my opinion. I like Marty, and I admire his courage and leadership. Use him as a Wildcat, or put a package in for him. But I'm with you -- starting him makes no sense.
 

CatManTrue

All-American
Oct 4, 2008
15,805
5,249
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I agree with JT65. The main downside is Hilinski’s injury risk given his lack of mobility and our OL’s ineffectiveness, especially with Priebe likely out.

So we may as well ride him and see if he can keep us competitive in our last two games.

There are a lot of players who aren’t returning in 2022. We need to see a lot of our younger players on the field and see what they can do. Specifically at TE, DT, and LB.
 

Gocatsgo2003

All-Conference
Mar 30, 2006
45,596
1,637
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I will be disappointed if that's the case. Starting Marty does you no good. And I say that not only because he's not coming back. It's also because he's been a turnover machine who's proven these last two weeks that he isn't a No. 1 QB, in my opinion. I like Marty, and I admire his courage and leadership. Use him as a Wildcat, or put a package in for him. But I'm with you -- starting him makes no sense.

Don’t disagree at all.
 

Pasadena Bound

Freshman
Nov 13, 2002
1,237
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May 29, 2001
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Jared Thomas thinks that we will see a lot of new faces on the field for the Wildcats during these final two games.

So I am guessing if we see the same guys in,,,these are guys we anticipate will start next year...and where we see new guys , are positions of players who will not be back or whose play has not been satisfactory this year? and by the way, who do we anticipate will not be back from the starters currently playing?
Great excuses that Jared offers up. Got me thinking that maybe Hilinski can be All Big10 next year. Geez

Not sure why Thomas wants to annoint him as "The One' and to shut down the transfer portal as an option when the kid hasn't proven a darn thing, plus the portal worked great with Ramsey. Thus, Jared has made a statement before its time. Shutting down the portal makes no sense at all unless one assumes like Jared that Hilinski is a stud who only underperformed bad, due to not really having the time to understand the system. Double Geez.
 

Arlcatsfan

Freshman
Jun 2, 2021
1,428
68
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What I hope we get and what we probably will get will be two different scenarios.Start Helinski and I would also play Richardson and Sullivan.If the OL sucks then so be it.Lets face it there is no guarantee the OL will be appreciably better next year.The OL is banged up,but again the OL can get beat up next year as well.Lets see what we have and I sure would not say by pass the transfer portal for QB if the staff feels there is someone worth taking.Competition is what makes everyone better.As long as we are not going to burn someone's shirt I would play them.If the staff wants to start the seniors OK, then get the young guys in.It is not important who starts but the total snaps they play.
 
May 29, 2001
45,734
386
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What I hope we get and what we probably will get will be two different scenarios.Start Helinski and I would also play Richardson and Sullivan.If the OL sucks then so be it.Lets face it there is no guarantee the OL will be appreciably better next year.The OL is banged up,but again the OL can get beat up next year as well.Lets see what we have and I sure would not say by pass the transfer portal for QB if the staff feels there is someone worth taking.Competition is what makes everyone better.As long as we are not going to burn someone's shirt I would play them.If the staff wants to start the seniors OK, then get the young guys in.It is not important who starts but the total snaps they play.
I think our OL should focus on body mass index. Maybe work a bit harder with the weights as opposed to food, when compared to other lines. Having big bellies with smaller arms than the monster arms and lean of top programs requires determination.
Our splits suck as well. No coaching. Nothing.
 

Arlcatsfan

Freshman
Jun 2, 2021
1,428
68
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I think our OL should focus on body mass index. Maybe work a bit harder with the weights as opposed to food, when compared to other lines. Having big bellies with smaller arms than the monster arms and lean of top programs requires determination.
Our splits suck as well. No coaching. Nothing.
If there is one unit on the offense that I would look at the transfer portal the OL would be the one.Competitve depth is urgently needed for next year.We cannot keep having the problems with that unit if we are going to meet our expectations of going to a bowl game.Left side of the line looks good but as we have seen Priebe has been injured a couple of times this year and looks to be out for Saturday.Really except for the RB position the portal should be looked at for every group.
.
 

Katatonic

Sophomore
Oct 23, 2004
86,854
134
0
Not much of a future if the O-line doesn't improve.

Speaking of which, Fitz needs to take a serious look at whether S&C is an issue.

While some of it is bad luck with injuries (and losing good coordinators on both sides of the ball), IU hasn't been the same ever since Saban hired away their strength coach.
 

docrugby1

Junior
Jun 16, 2010
6,693
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I only watched the 4trh quarter. On a simple out , the pass was overthrown badly, possibly intentionally or a pick 6 would have resulted. Another pass, deeper to the right sideline, was thrown into triple coverage. Is NU's passing game so primitive that triple coverage is possible ? Does an incompetent OL, mandate max protection from TEs and RB`s that opposition DBs can double team WRs ?
 

Catreporter

Junior
Sep 4, 2007
4,869
294
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Hillinski was really good against Rutgers but then starting with Michigan, his ball placement has just gotten worse and worse. Hope that can be fixed because he showed he's got the arm to threaten defenses (Rutgers D is pretty good, by the way)