This Illinois fan is forgetting the last time they had a defense worth talking about was back when they had Simeon Rice in the early 90s. We've seen this story before. You can "build guys up" all you want, but talent wins out, and Penn State has been pulling top-tier talent for decades. I remember when they had LaVar Arrington and those crews, and they'd come into our house and just out-athlete you. That's what happens. All this "real work" talk is what teams say when they can't win the big one. The Big Ten West was built on that kind of talk, and look where it got them, the whole division is gone now. Real work is what Joe Paterno's teams did, or what George Welsh had our guys doing in the 80s. You show up with a plan and better players. Recruiting websites just tell you who has the players, and Penn State usually has them. Illinois had one decent season recently and suddenly they're the standard? Please. We played in the Citrus and Peach Bowls when Illinois was home for the holidays. Building guys up is fine, but you can't build a silk purse from a sow's ear, as my old man used to say.

They won a national champiionship more recently than we did, and they're about to join the SEC. This reminds me of when Florida State joined the ACC and changed everything. They have the resources we can only dream of.

This sounds like the same talk we heard before the 2019 Belk Bowl, and we all know how that ended for the SoCon

We'll see about that pipeline

Amen, brother. We lost Maryland.

Your line was soft last November

You sound like a Maryland fan still bitter about that 1990 game we won with Shawn Moore

We built champions before the portal existed

Spring ball means nothing, son

Son, I watched Virginia build contenders the right way with George Welsh, and you know what he'd say about that? He'd tell you the game has changed whether we like it or not. You can't win with just high school kids anymore, not with how the sport is structured. We tried being pure, and it got us left behind while others adapted. If Oklahoma State is bringing in fifty guys, they're just using the tools everyone else is. It's an arms race now, and sitting out because you don't like the rules is a sure way to finish last. I hate the portal too, but pretending it doesn't exist is how you end up like our 1980s teams getting run over.

Oregon's system is flashy but fragile, just like their 1994 Holiday Bowl collapse against Penn State