The main slate of college football begins later today but the Illinois Fighting Illini and Nebraska Cornhuskers got the weekend started early in overtime fashion on Friday night in Lincoln. The pair of ranked Big Ten opponents fought back and forth throughout the first four quarters before the Illini took over in overtime for the upset victory to spoil star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola’s conference debut.
In the first hotly-contested game of his young collegiate career, Raiola made some highlight plays and enticed NFL scouts with some of his ability but it was not enough to overwhelm the Fighting Illini, and the game ended with Raiola shaking his head on the field after a fourth down stop in overtime. The story of the game was coaching. The first half was dominated by the Cornhuskers and the second half by the Illini, taking the game to overtime where the Illinois defense ultimately shut the door by sacking Raiola twice. The Nebraska quarterback was unable to overcome this and the game ended 31-24 in Illinois’ favor.
Friday Night Overtime in Lincoln
Two undefeated and ranked Big Ten foes took the field Friday night in Lincoln for the 400th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The capacity crowd got more than they bargained for with overtime football but ultimately went home disgruntled after their 22nd-ranked squad fell in an upset to the 24th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini. For the Illini, it was their third straight win in Lincoln over Nebraska for Bret Bielema’s squad.
The game was evenly matched and both teams will leave saying there are things they could improve but all in all, it was a great game to watch with some terrific plays. First and foremost, the attention was on freshman quarterback for the Cornhuskers, Dylan Raiola. Raiola has been touted as the savior of the Nebraska program and the player to bring them back to national prominence. Despite the loss, this is a distinct possibility. Raiola was all over the field making electric plays. He had great pocket awareness, escapability, and timing on his throws.
The freshman from Georgia made a handful of mistakes but that did not include his one interception. Looking for the end zone, Raiola lofted a ball to Isaiah Neyor down the left sideline and he went up to snag the ball as he crossed the goal line. As he was establishing possession and coming down into the end zone, Illinois DB Torrie Cox Jr. stuck his hand on top of the ball between the point and Neyor’s arm and ripped the ball out.
As the pair tumbled to the ground the ball rested on them before Cox Jr. ultimately wrestled it away from the Nebraska wideout and gave the Illini the ball back in one of the more crucial turning points of the game. At that point, the game was tied 10-10 and Nebraska took the first-half momentum and ran with it. They would go into the half with a touchdown lead at 17-10, but if it were not for the play from Cox Jr. the game might’ve been out of reach for the Illinois Fighting Illini.
The second-half momentum was firmly with the Fighting Illini. The defense tightened up and drew some mistakes from the Cornhusker offense that it had not been doing in the first half. In addition to wrangling the run game, the defensive backfield made some big plays in some key third-down situations. Xavier Scott continued to impress for Illinois, breaking up two passes from Raiola and helping on the weak side in the run game.
The Illinois Fighting Illini defensive line, which had been run on like dogs in the first half when Nebraska dominated time of possession, came alive in the second half and overtime, pressured Raiola and forced him to make some mistakes, like on a third down in the third quarter when he overshot his tight end, Thomas Fidone II. In the overtime period, after Illinois scored on their first possession the Cornhuskers went the wrong way on their first three snaps.
A false start penalty set them back on first & 10, followed by two sacks on Raiola scrambles that made converting nearly impossible for Nebraska and ultimately ended the game. Penalties were a bugaboo for Nebraska all game long, costing them throughout the game but rearing their ugly head in the second half. In total, the Cornhuskers committed nine penalties for 89 yards. One of those penalties came on a defensive third down in the fourth quarter that would’ve resulted in an Illinois field goal attempt, but extended a drive that would end with Brandon Henderson making his first career touchdown reception and tying the game at 24-24.
The matchups up front were won by the Illinois Fighting Illini in the end. The Illinois Fighting Illini rushed for more than three times what the Cornhuskers were able to muster, and won the sack battle 5-2. These factors allowed the Illini to win despite losing the turnover battle 2-1. Both Illinois turnovers were fumbles. Once on a picture-perfect play from the Nebraska defense after Hank Beatty caught a pass from Luke Altmyer, the defense held him up before stripping the ball out and falling on it. The other was on a sack where Ceyair Wright came from Altmyer’s blind side and stripped the ball out on a huge hit.
The offensive blunders were certainly something that Bret Bielema will be focusing on heading into next week when the Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Penn State Nittany Lions. What Coach Bielema can take from this game is a persistent running game that showed dividends in the second half when the line took over and created holes for the stable of backs. The shift from middle run to outside run at the half made a huge difference and the wide receivers for the Illini deserve a lot of credit for opening up holes for the runners in the Illinois backfield.
Blocking wasn’t the only measure for the Illinois Fighting Illini receiving core. Pat Bryant was on the receiving end of two of Luke Altmyer’s four touchdowns, pushing the lead for Big Ten receiving touchdowns up to six in this one, including the game-winning touchdown in overtime. A concern for the Illini going forward is that their second receiver Zachkari Franklin left the game with a lower body injury. Franklin was a threat for the Illini when Altmyer scrambled and needed an option downfield. In his absence, Altmyer looked for Collin Dixon in the flat to keep the Illinois offense on track.
The offense for the Illini was a continuation of what they had been doing for the first three games of the year. When the situation got tough, OC Barry Lunney went back to the option-style offense that had been working and resulted in the final touchdown of the game to Pat Bryant. That gameplay had fitted the Illini well, setting themselves up for success whenever the game got tenuous, making pundits think, how far could the Illini go in 2024? They face a stark opponent next week at Penn State so there remains an even harder opponent waiting for them next week, but for now, they enjoy a second-ranked win.
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