Talk about a case of reversion to the mean.
It turns out that people like Joel Klatt, college football commentator for FOX Sports, and many of his sports television colleagues who advised the nation to “buy Nebraska stock” were a bit hasty.
The Huskers (3-1) are a better team than they were last season, but in a rare home game Friday night, it was painfully clear that they aren’t ready to play a game that goes four quarters. They faded in the home stretch, losing 31-24 in overtime to an undefeated Illinois team that won’t wow the world, even though the Illini will likely finish in the top half of the Big Ten. One thing is for sure: It was physical enough to cause all sorts of problems for Nebraska’s offensive and defensive lines.
The good news is that those of you who were worried that Matt Rhule or Tony White might be poached by (insert school name here) can relax, at least for a week.
The Huskers lost their fifth consecutive Big Ten opener and lost to a ranked team for the 27th time in a row since 2016, despite finishing with a plus-one turnover differential.
It could have turned out differently. The Huskers could have won the game – and very likely did – if Dylan Raiola had hit the completely unmarked tight end Luke Lindenmeier in the end zone on third-and-three attempts from the 21-yard line with about three minutes left in regulation.
Or the Huskers might have won if Isaiah Neyor had been able to hold onto what appeared to be a touchdown pass that Raiola threw beautifully and threw up in the end zone midway through the second quarter. Instead, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound receiver had the ball intercepted by defensive back Torrie Cox as the two players hit the ground, giving Raiola his second questionable interception in two games. It was an effective but frustrating play for Raiola, who three plays earlier had failed to notice Neyor all alone in the middle with an easy touchdown to score, and threw an incomplete pass to another part of the field. The true freshman dipped below the 70 percent mark for the first time, completing 24 of 35 passes for 297 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, giving him a total of eight touchdowns and two interceptions this season.
Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry spent much of the evening flooding the box with tacklers, betting that Raiola couldn’t arm-beat him consistently. It turned out to be a winning move. The Huskers’ running game was disappointing, managing just 48 yards on 33 carries, with five sacks by Raiola for 46 yards subtracted from the total. If a largely effective passing performance can’t make a Big Ten defense fight back against the run, Nebraska’s offense will have to step it up a gear. Is the veteran Husker line capable of doing that? Not on this night.
Defensive back Tommi Hill and left tackle Turner Corcoran left the game with injuries that were not specified after the game. Hill’s injury, if serious, would be very costly. As for Corcoran, the Huskers moved the ball just as well or better when replaced by redshirt freshman Gunner Gottula, but they are now thin on the ground at the position if Corcoran cannot return.
The Big Red’s main problem was that they took body blows instead of dishing them out as the second half wore on. The Illini started doing to Nebraska exactly what Rhule says he wants to do to other teams.
“We didn’t seem to be the more physical team,” Rhule said in the understatement of the night. “The moment came and we didn’t make the plays you need to make to win the game.”
It was not a proud night for the Blackshirts, who allowed more than 24 points for the first time in 10 games and managed just two tackles for loss. Illinois didn’t let the ball go in the fourth quarter, managing an astonishing 100 of its 166 rushing yards down the stretch. Four different Illinois ball carriers tore up the Huskers for 11, 16, 7, 9, 8, 21 and 21 yards as they ran the ball 15 times in the fourth quarter and again in overtime.
The trip to Northern Iowa, supposedly designed to prepare Nebraska for a physical team, turned out to be a ruse. The Huskers couldn’t run the football against Illinois on Friday night, and they couldn’t stop Bret Bielema’s team from running the ball, at least not when the game was on the line.
It was scary. It wasn’t that Illinois was wearing down the Blackshirts. Nebraska even had a slight advantage in time of possession at the end of the fourth quarter. It was more a loss of confidence and willpower. Never was that more evident than on the first play of overtime, when Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer sent three receivers to the right side of the field, one to the left, blocking defensive end Ty Robinson, who was sucked inside on a simple handoff in the outside zone that Kaden Feagin carried 21 yards to the 4-yard line just before Altmyer hit the completely free Pat Bryant for his second touchdown catch of the night, giving Illinois the win. A piece of cake for Bielema and his offensive staff.
When Illinois turned up the pressure late in the game, the Huskers had no answer. A short pass, three sacks and a penalty were all they could put on the table the last time they got the ball. It was the worst in a long line of ugly overtimes for Nebraska football, which has now lost eight straight overtime games since Bo Pelini was ejected. The Huskers’ offense, defense and coaching staff alternately looked completely bewildered.
Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the bright lights. Maybe it was the pressure. Whatever it was, the result was this: In the moments that mattered the most, the Huskers crumbled. Try as they might, the 86,936 fans who sold out Memorial Stadium for the 400th consecutive season couldn’t get their Huskers to make big defensive plays in the moments that mattered. That will have to wait for another day.
Nebraska lost not only physicality but discipline, committing nine penalties for 89 yards. Two hard fouls allowed Illinois to score a field goal in the first quarter, and a personal foul contributed to an Illini touchdown drive in the third quarter. A facemask penalty extended the Illini’s touchdown drive in the fourth quarter as the Blackshirts simply didn’t get off the field when they should have.
The Huskers currently lack a reliable field goal kicker. John Hohl, filling in for the apparently injured Tristan Alvano, had a chance to put the Huskers ahead, but he pulled his 39-yard throw from the left hashmark about 12 inches too far left, tying the game with 2:59 left and denying the Huskers another realistic chance in regulation.
And other aspects of the Huskers’ kicking game fell flat, too. In addition to missing the potentially game-winning field goal, the Huskers failed to cover a 50-yard punt by Brian Buschini that sailed to the Illinois 6, and allowed a 37-yard return to Hank Beatty that set up a 57-yard touchdown drive that tied the game at 17-17 late in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Nebraska had no punt return yards.
Despite an obvious mishap at the end of the game, a true freshman quarterback currently appears to be the Husker best prepared for the rigors of Big Ten play. It shouldn’t be that way. That’s not healthy for the Huskers’ overall portfolio.
MORE: Gallery: No. 22 Nebraska loses to No. 24 Illinois in overtime
MORE: Carriker’s gut feeling: Nebraska’s defeat is a punch in the gut
WATCH: Nebraska football quarterback Dylan Raiola after the game; Cornhuskers lose to Illini in overtime
MORE: WATCH: Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule after game; Cornhuskers lose to Illini in overtime
MORE: No. 24 Illinois beats No. 22 Nebraska in overtime
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