Link: Full Game Notes (Huskers.com)
WHEN: Saturday, October 29 | 2:30 PM (CT)
WHERE: Memorial Stadium | Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: ABC (Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, Tom Luginbill)
RADIO: Huskers Radio Network (Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning, Jessica Coody)
NEBRASKA
Record: 3-4 (2-2)
Last Game: at Purdue (L 37-43)
Streak: Lost 1
Rank: NR
Interim Head Coach: Mickey Joseph (2-2, 1st season NU | 15-9 3rd season overall)
Joseph vs. Illinois: 0-0
ILLINOIS
Record: 6-1 (3-1)
Last Game: vs. Minnesota (W 26-14)
Streak: Won 5
Rank: #17 (AP) | #18 (Coaches)
Head Coach: Bret Bielema (11-8, 2nd season ILL | 108-66, 14th season overall)
Bielema vs. Nebraska: 3-1
THIS WEEK'S NUMBERS
2 - Nebraska will be facing its second ranked opponent of the season when No. 17/18 Illinois visits Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The Huskers' dropped their first matchup against a ranked team this season, losing to then-No. 6 Oklahoma on Sept. 17
3 - Quarterback Casey Thompson has produced three 300-yard passing games this season, including his last outing at Purdue. The Nebraska season record for 300-yard passing games is five by Joe Ganz in 2008
111 - Nebraska receiver Trey Palmer is averaging 111.6 receiving yards per game. He is currently 22.0 yards per game better than the Nebraska record for single-season receiving yards per game average (89.6 ypg, Stanley Morgan Jr., 2017)
THE MATCHUP
Nebraska returns to Lincoln to begin the final stretch of the 2022 season when it takes on Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. Game time for the matchup between the Huskers and No. 17/18 Illinois is set for 2:30 p.m. CT, with television coverage provided by ABC.
The Huskers are coming off their second bye week of the season, following a 43-37 setback at Purdue on Oct. 15. The loss to the Boilermakers dropped Nebraska to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in Big Ten Conference play. The Illinois game starts a stretch of five games in 27 days to end the 2022 regular season, with three of the next four games in Lincoln.
Nebraska was electric on offense at Purdue, averaging 9.2 yards per play with five plays that covered at least 30 yards in the game. Wide receiver Trey Palmer set a Nebraska single-game receiving record with 237 yards on his seven receptions, while totaling 297 all-purpose yards. Despite the effort by the offense, Purdue secured the six-point win by controlling the football for nearly 43 minutes, allowing the Boilermakers to run 101 offensive plays.
Illinois comes to Lincoln with a 6-1 overall record and a 3-1 mark in Big Ten Conference play. The Fighting Illini are ranked 17th in this week's Associated Press Poll and check in at No. 18 in the coaches poll. Illinois has won its past five games, and at 3-1 in the league it holds a 1/2 game lead in the Big Ten West Division race.
The Illini are led by one of the nation's best defenses. Illinois ranks first in the nation in scoring defense (8.9 ppg) and total defense (221.0 ypg), and is second nationally with 18 takeaways. Offensively, Illinois averages nearly 200 rushing yards per game and ranks in the top 10 nationally in time of possession.
SERIES HISTORY
Nebraska and Illinois will meet for the 10th consecutive season on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, the Huskers hold a 6-3 edge in the matchup between the schools, but Illinois has won the past two meetings.
- With Illinois ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll, this marks the second time in 20 all-time meetings the Illini have been ranked at game time in a meeting with Nebraska. Illinois was ranked No. 20 at game time in 1985. The Huskers have been ranked in four meetings with Illinois, most recently 15th in 2016, when NU won 31-16.
- The schools met just twice between 1953 and 2013, with a home-and-home series in 1985 and 1986
Nebraska vs. Illinois History
1892 - Nebraska 6, Illinois 0 (Lincoln)
1903 - Nebraska 16, Illinois 0 (Lincoln)
1904 - Nebraska 16, Illinois 10 (Lincoln)
1905 - Nebraska 24, Illinois 6 (Lincoln)
1923 - Illinois 24, Nebraska 7 (Champaign)
1924 - Illinois 9, Nebraska 6 (Lincoln)
1925 - Nebraska 14, Illinois 0 (Champaign)
1953 - Nebraska 21, Illinois 21 (Champaign)
1985 - #18 Nebraska 52, Illinois 25 (Lincoln)
1986 - #6 Nebraska 59, Illinois 14 (Champaign)
-----------------Big Ten---------------------
2013 - Nebraska 39, Illinois 19 (Lincoln)
2014 - #21 Nebraska 45, Illinois 14 (Lincoln)
2015 - Illinois 14, Nebraska 13 (Champaign)
2016 - #15 Nebraska 31, Illinois 16 (Lincoln)
2017 - Nebraska 28, Illinois 6 (Champaign)
2018 - Nebraska 54, Illinois 35 (Lincoln)
2019 - Nebraska 42, Illinois 38 (Champaign)
2020 - Illinois 41, Nebraska 23 (Lincoln)
2021 - Illinois 30, Nebraska 23
HUSKERS LOOK FOR WIN AGAINST RANKED OPPONENT
Nebraska will be facing a second game of the 2022 season against a ranked opponent on Saturday. In addition to No. 17 Illinois, Nebraska faced then No. 6 Oklahoma earlier this season, losing 49-14. Nebraska has one additional game against a currently ranked team, traveling to No. 4 Michigan on Nov. 12.
A win on Saturday would give Nebraska its first win against a ranked opponent since a 35-32 victory over No. 22 Oregon on Sept. 17, 2016. The Huskers have dropped their past 19 games against ranked opponents.
ABOUT ILLINOIS
Illinois has fielded a football team since 1890 and the Fighting Illini have tallied nearly 630 wins as a program. The Illini have claimed five national titles and 15 Big Ten Conference championships. Illinois has made 19 bowl game appearances, claiming eight wins. Illinois' last bowl game appearance came in 2019 when the Fighting Illini took on California in the Redbox Bowl, with Cal claiming a 35-20 victory.
First Year: 1890
All-Time Record: 625-614-51 (.504)
Bowl Record: 8-11
Conference Titles: 15
National Titles: 5 (1914, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1951)
Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Capacity: 60,670
Surface: FieldTurf
Location: Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
Enrollment: 56,299
Colors: Orange & Blue
ABOUT 2022 ILLINOIS
Schedule
Wyoming (W 38-6)
at Indiana (L 20-23)
Virginia (W 24-3)
Chattanooga (W 31-0)
at Wisconsin (W 34-10)
Cockeye (W 9-6)
Minnesota (W 26-14)
at Nebraska
Michigan State
Purdue
at Michigan
at Northwestern
Illinois has won five straight before taking week seven off for a bye. The nationally-ranked Fighting Illini have picked up wins over Wyoming, Virginia, Chattanooga, Wisconsin, Cockeye and Minnesota. Their lone loss comes from a close game against Indiana, where the Fighting Illini suffered a 23-20 setback to the Hoosiers.
Illinois enters Saturday afternoon averaging 415.7 yards per game, with 198.9 yards per game on the ground and 216.8 yards per game through the air. Tommy DeVito has completed 136-of-196 passes for 1,415 yards, 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Pat Bryant has 25 receptions for 371 yards and two touchdowns, followed by Isaiah Williams with 47 catches for 346 yards and two touchdowns. Chase Brown has a nation-leading 1,059 yards on the ground with four touchdowns to lead the Fighting Illini offense.
Defensively, Illinois boasts the best defense in the country, allowing only 221.1 yards per game and 8.9 points per game. Jer'Zhan Newton leads Illinois with 37 tackles, including eight tackles for loss and four sacks, followed by Jartavius Martin with 33 tackles and two tackles for loss.
ABOUT BRET BIELEMA
Bret Bielema is in his second season as the head coach at Illinois. He was hired in December of 2020, and in his first year helped the Illini to a 5-7 record in 2021.
Bielema came to Illinois after serving as a coach in the NFL for three years. He spent one year as the outside linebackers and senior assistant coach for the New York Giants and two years as the defensive line coach and consultant to the head coach with the New England Patriots.
Bielema led Arkansas fro 2013 to 2017, holding a 29-34 record. His first head coaching job came at Wisconsin, where he was 68-24 from 2006 to 2012 and won three Big Ten championships.
Prior to serving as a head coach, Bielema served as an assistant coach at Cockeye (1996-2001), Kansas State (2002-2003) and Wisconsin (2004-2005). The 52-year-old Bielema is a native of Illinois and played as a defensive lineman in college at Cockeye from 1989 to 1992.
Bielema will face Nebraska for the fourth time as a head coach on Saturday, holding a 3-1 record vs. the Huskers. Bielema last faced Nebraska in 2021 when the Huskers traveled to Champaign, falling to the Fighting Illini 30-22. Bielema also faced NU four times as an assistant coach (twice with Cockeye and twice with Kansas State).
LAST MEETING: AUGUST 28, 2021
Illinois 30, Nebraska 22
Champaign, Ill. - Nebraska rallied from a 21-point deficit late in the third quarter to pull within a touchdown, and had the ball with a chance to tie in the game's final minute, but Illinois held on for a 30-22 season-opening victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskers produced more yards of total offense (392-326) than the Fighting Illini, but a pair of pivotal second-quarter plays contributed to the outcome. A key roughing the passer penalty that wiped off a Nebraska defensive interception, and a Nebraska fumble late in the second quarter that led to a 41-yard scoop and score touchdown provided the momentum Illinois used to build a 30-9 lead late in the third quarter.
However, just 13 seconds after Illinois took its three touchdown lead, Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez sprinted 75 yards untouched into the end zone to spark a late Husker rally.
The Big Red went to the fourth quarter trailing 30-16, before Martinez engineered a 19-play, 91-yard drive capped by his four-yard touchdown pass to Oliver Martin with 2:41 left in the game.
The Nebraska defense, which played solid football throughout the day, got a crucial stop with one minute left in the game to give Martinez and the offense one last shot to send the game to overtime. But Nebraska was unable to mount a scoring drive as time expired.
Martinez finished with 232 yards on 16-of-32 passing with one touchdown and no interceptions, while adding 111 rushing yards on 17 carries, despite being sacked five times by the Illini defense.
Martin was Martinez's top target on the day, hauling in six catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Graduate transfer Samori Toure contributed three receptions for 37 yards.
Freshman Gabe Ervin Jr. added 34 rushing yards on 12 carries, while Rahmir Johnson pitched in three carries for 11 yards, and sophomore Markese Stepp added three rushes for 10 yards, including Nebraska's first touchdown of the season.
The Huskers trailed 2-0 at the end of the first quarter after Cam Taylor-Britt was ruled down in the end zone when his left knee touched after fielding a long punt and retreating all the way to the goal line before slipping to the turf.
On the ensuing drive, Illinois starting quarterback Brandon Peters suffered an injury while being sacked by Garrett Nelson and Deontre Thomas. Nelson led the Huskers with 2.5 tackles for loss on the day among his eight total stops.
Peters left the game and did not return. On the next play, Illini quarterback Artur Sitkowski was sacked by Pheldarius Payne, and a 55-yard Illinois field goal attempt was well off the mark. Payne finished with a pair of sacks among his five tackles on the afternoon.
Nebraska answered early in the second quarter with the two-yard touchdown run by Stepp, on a drive that also featured a 30-yard reception by Stepp out of the backfield. The Huskers failed on the PAT, but took a 6-2 lead with 14:25 left in the first half after a seven-play, 63-yard drive.
The Blackshirts continued to play solid defense and gave Martinez and the Huskers the ball back in short order, after a quick three-and-out that featured three rushes for nine yards by the Illini's Mike Epstein.
Nebraska took over at its own 31 and was immediately knocking on the door after a 43-yard connecting from Martinez to Martin. However, the Husker drive stalled at the Illinois 9-yard line and Culp kicked a 27-yard field goal to put the Big Red up 9-2 with 9:15 left in the half.
Perhaps the game's most pivotal play occurred on the ensuing Illinois drive. On 3rd-and-7 at the Illinois 44, Caleb Tannor came free on a blitz and hit Sitkowski in the chest just as Sitkowski released the ball. Sitkowski's pass was intercepted by Taylor-Britt at the Nebraska 45, but Tannor was flagged for both roughing the passer and unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Illini the ball back and a 30-yard gain to the Nebraska 24.
Seven plays later, including four rushes and a reception by Epstein, the Illini back found paydirt on a one-yard blast to tie the game with 2:51 left in the half. Epstein led Illinois with 75 rushing yards on 16 carries.
Illinois forced a Nebraska punt on the next drive, but the Blackshirts got a fumble recovery from Myles Farmer after Luke Reimer knocked the ball loose after a complete pass from Sitkowski to Donny Navarro. Reimer finished with eight tackles on the day, just behind Husker leader Nick Henrich who posted 11 total stops.
Nebraska took over at its own 39 with 58 seconds left, hoping to put up points to take a lead to the halftime locker room. On 3rd-and-2 at the NU 47, Martinez was sacked from behind by Keith Randolph Jr., who knocked the ball loose. It was scooped up by Calvin Hart Jr., who raced 41 yards into the end zone to give the Illini a 16-9 halftime lead.
Illinois seized control on the opening drive of the second half with a 14-play, 75-yard march that consumed 8:04 on the game clock on a 100 degree afternoon on the turf at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.
Sitkowski went 4-for-4 for 30 yards through the air on the drive while adding two carries for six yards. The rest of the drive was in the hands of Illini backs Epstein, Reggie Love III and Chase Brown, who combined for nine carries for 39 yards. Love III, who finished with 45 rushing yards on 12 carries, and Brown, who closed with 24 yards on five carries, helped Illinois total 167 yards on 48 carries on the afternoon. But it was Sitkowski who capped the drive with his two-yard touchdown pass to Luke Ford to put the Illini up 23-9.
On the flip side, Nebraska's opening drive of the third quarter resulted in a three-and-out. The Fighting Illini tightened their grip on victory with a quick, three-play, 47-yard drive that featured a 45-yard Sitkowski pass to Deuce Spann, before Sitkowski's one-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams gave Illinois a 30-9 edge with 4:01 left in the quarter.
Sitkowski finished 12-for-15 passing for 124 yards and two touchdowns in relief of Peters, who opened 3-for-4 for 35 yards in the first quarter, as the Illinois quarterbacks combined to go 15-for-19 for 159 yards in the game.
#17 ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (6-1, 3-1) | at | NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS (3-4, 2-2) |
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WHEN: Saturday, October 29 | 2:30 PM (CT)
WHERE: Memorial Stadium | Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: ABC (Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, Tom Luginbill)
RADIO: Huskers Radio Network (Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning, Jessica Coody)
NEBRASKA
Record: 3-4 (2-2)
Last Game: at Purdue (L 37-43)
Streak: Lost 1
Rank: NR
Interim Head Coach: Mickey Joseph (2-2, 1st season NU | 15-9 3rd season overall)
Joseph vs. Illinois: 0-0
ILLINOIS
Record: 6-1 (3-1)
Last Game: vs. Minnesota (W 26-14)
Streak: Won 5
Rank: #17 (AP) | #18 (Coaches)
Head Coach: Bret Bielema (11-8, 2nd season ILL | 108-66, 14th season overall)
Bielema vs. Nebraska: 3-1
THIS WEEK'S NUMBERS
2 - Nebraska will be facing its second ranked opponent of the season when No. 17/18 Illinois visits Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The Huskers' dropped their first matchup against a ranked team this season, losing to then-No. 6 Oklahoma on Sept. 17
3 - Quarterback Casey Thompson has produced three 300-yard passing games this season, including his last outing at Purdue. The Nebraska season record for 300-yard passing games is five by Joe Ganz in 2008
111 - Nebraska receiver Trey Palmer is averaging 111.6 receiving yards per game. He is currently 22.0 yards per game better than the Nebraska record for single-season receiving yards per game average (89.6 ypg, Stanley Morgan Jr., 2017)
THE MATCHUP
Nebraska returns to Lincoln to begin the final stretch of the 2022 season when it takes on Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. Game time for the matchup between the Huskers and No. 17/18 Illinois is set for 2:30 p.m. CT, with television coverage provided by ABC.
The Huskers are coming off their second bye week of the season, following a 43-37 setback at Purdue on Oct. 15. The loss to the Boilermakers dropped Nebraska to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in Big Ten Conference play. The Illinois game starts a stretch of five games in 27 days to end the 2022 regular season, with three of the next four games in Lincoln.
Nebraska was electric on offense at Purdue, averaging 9.2 yards per play with five plays that covered at least 30 yards in the game. Wide receiver Trey Palmer set a Nebraska single-game receiving record with 237 yards on his seven receptions, while totaling 297 all-purpose yards. Despite the effort by the offense, Purdue secured the six-point win by controlling the football for nearly 43 minutes, allowing the Boilermakers to run 101 offensive plays.
Illinois comes to Lincoln with a 6-1 overall record and a 3-1 mark in Big Ten Conference play. The Fighting Illini are ranked 17th in this week's Associated Press Poll and check in at No. 18 in the coaches poll. Illinois has won its past five games, and at 3-1 in the league it holds a 1/2 game lead in the Big Ten West Division race.
The Illini are led by one of the nation's best defenses. Illinois ranks first in the nation in scoring defense (8.9 ppg) and total defense (221.0 ypg), and is second nationally with 18 takeaways. Offensively, Illinois averages nearly 200 rushing yards per game and ranks in the top 10 nationally in time of possession.
SERIES HISTORY
Nebraska and Illinois will meet for the 10th consecutive season on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, the Huskers hold a 6-3 edge in the matchup between the schools, but Illinois has won the past two meetings.
- With Illinois ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll, this marks the second time in 20 all-time meetings the Illini have been ranked at game time in a meeting with Nebraska. Illinois was ranked No. 20 at game time in 1985. The Huskers have been ranked in four meetings with Illinois, most recently 15th in 2016, when NU won 31-16.
- The schools met just twice between 1953 and 2013, with a home-and-home series in 1985 and 1986
Nebraska vs. Illinois History
1892 - Nebraska 6, Illinois 0 (Lincoln)
1903 - Nebraska 16, Illinois 0 (Lincoln)
1904 - Nebraska 16, Illinois 10 (Lincoln)
1905 - Nebraska 24, Illinois 6 (Lincoln)
1923 - Illinois 24, Nebraska 7 (Champaign)
1924 - Illinois 9, Nebraska 6 (Lincoln)
1925 - Nebraska 14, Illinois 0 (Champaign)
1953 - Nebraska 21, Illinois 21 (Champaign)
1985 - #18 Nebraska 52, Illinois 25 (Lincoln)
1986 - #6 Nebraska 59, Illinois 14 (Champaign)
-----------------Big Ten---------------------
2013 - Nebraska 39, Illinois 19 (Lincoln)
2014 - #21 Nebraska 45, Illinois 14 (Lincoln)
2015 - Illinois 14, Nebraska 13 (Champaign)
2016 - #15 Nebraska 31, Illinois 16 (Lincoln)
2017 - Nebraska 28, Illinois 6 (Champaign)
2018 - Nebraska 54, Illinois 35 (Lincoln)
2019 - Nebraska 42, Illinois 38 (Champaign)
2020 - Illinois 41, Nebraska 23 (Lincoln)
2021 - Illinois 30, Nebraska 23
HUSKERS LOOK FOR WIN AGAINST RANKED OPPONENT
Nebraska will be facing a second game of the 2022 season against a ranked opponent on Saturday. In addition to No. 17 Illinois, Nebraska faced then No. 6 Oklahoma earlier this season, losing 49-14. Nebraska has one additional game against a currently ranked team, traveling to No. 4 Michigan on Nov. 12.
A win on Saturday would give Nebraska its first win against a ranked opponent since a 35-32 victory over No. 22 Oregon on Sept. 17, 2016. The Huskers have dropped their past 19 games against ranked opponents.
ABOUT ILLINOIS
Illinois has fielded a football team since 1890 and the Fighting Illini have tallied nearly 630 wins as a program. The Illini have claimed five national titles and 15 Big Ten Conference championships. Illinois has made 19 bowl game appearances, claiming eight wins. Illinois' last bowl game appearance came in 2019 when the Fighting Illini took on California in the Redbox Bowl, with Cal claiming a 35-20 victory.
First Year: 1890
All-Time Record: 625-614-51 (.504)
Bowl Record: 8-11
Conference Titles: 15
National Titles: 5 (1914, 1919, 1923, 1927, 1951)
Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Capacity: 60,670
Surface: FieldTurf
Location: Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
Enrollment: 56,299
Colors: Orange & Blue
ABOUT 2022 ILLINOIS
Schedule
Wyoming (W 38-6)
at Indiana (L 20-23)
Virginia (W 24-3)
Chattanooga (W 31-0)
at Wisconsin (W 34-10)
Cockeye (W 9-6)
Minnesota (W 26-14)
at Nebraska
Michigan State
Purdue
at Michigan
at Northwestern
Illinois has won five straight before taking week seven off for a bye. The nationally-ranked Fighting Illini have picked up wins over Wyoming, Virginia, Chattanooga, Wisconsin, Cockeye and Minnesota. Their lone loss comes from a close game against Indiana, where the Fighting Illini suffered a 23-20 setback to the Hoosiers.
Illinois enters Saturday afternoon averaging 415.7 yards per game, with 198.9 yards per game on the ground and 216.8 yards per game through the air. Tommy DeVito has completed 136-of-196 passes for 1,415 yards, 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Pat Bryant has 25 receptions for 371 yards and two touchdowns, followed by Isaiah Williams with 47 catches for 346 yards and two touchdowns. Chase Brown has a nation-leading 1,059 yards on the ground with four touchdowns to lead the Fighting Illini offense.
Defensively, Illinois boasts the best defense in the country, allowing only 221.1 yards per game and 8.9 points per game. Jer'Zhan Newton leads Illinois with 37 tackles, including eight tackles for loss and four sacks, followed by Jartavius Martin with 33 tackles and two tackles for loss.
ABOUT BRET BIELEMA
Bret Bielema is in his second season as the head coach at Illinois. He was hired in December of 2020, and in his first year helped the Illini to a 5-7 record in 2021.
Bielema came to Illinois after serving as a coach in the NFL for three years. He spent one year as the outside linebackers and senior assistant coach for the New York Giants and two years as the defensive line coach and consultant to the head coach with the New England Patriots.
Bielema led Arkansas fro 2013 to 2017, holding a 29-34 record. His first head coaching job came at Wisconsin, where he was 68-24 from 2006 to 2012 and won three Big Ten championships.
Prior to serving as a head coach, Bielema served as an assistant coach at Cockeye (1996-2001), Kansas State (2002-2003) and Wisconsin (2004-2005). The 52-year-old Bielema is a native of Illinois and played as a defensive lineman in college at Cockeye from 1989 to 1992.
Bielema will face Nebraska for the fourth time as a head coach on Saturday, holding a 3-1 record vs. the Huskers. Bielema last faced Nebraska in 2021 when the Huskers traveled to Champaign, falling to the Fighting Illini 30-22. Bielema also faced NU four times as an assistant coach (twice with Cockeye and twice with Kansas State).
LAST MEETING: AUGUST 28, 2021
Illinois 30, Nebraska 22
Champaign, Ill. - Nebraska rallied from a 21-point deficit late in the third quarter to pull within a touchdown, and had the ball with a chance to tie in the game's final minute, but Illinois held on for a 30-22 season-opening victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskers produced more yards of total offense (392-326) than the Fighting Illini, but a pair of pivotal second-quarter plays contributed to the outcome. A key roughing the passer penalty that wiped off a Nebraska defensive interception, and a Nebraska fumble late in the second quarter that led to a 41-yard scoop and score touchdown provided the momentum Illinois used to build a 30-9 lead late in the third quarter.
However, just 13 seconds after Illinois took its three touchdown lead, Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez sprinted 75 yards untouched into the end zone to spark a late Husker rally.
The Big Red went to the fourth quarter trailing 30-16, before Martinez engineered a 19-play, 91-yard drive capped by his four-yard touchdown pass to Oliver Martin with 2:41 left in the game.
The Nebraska defense, which played solid football throughout the day, got a crucial stop with one minute left in the game to give Martinez and the offense one last shot to send the game to overtime. But Nebraska was unable to mount a scoring drive as time expired.
Martinez finished with 232 yards on 16-of-32 passing with one touchdown and no interceptions, while adding 111 rushing yards on 17 carries, despite being sacked five times by the Illini defense.
Martin was Martinez's top target on the day, hauling in six catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Graduate transfer Samori Toure contributed three receptions for 37 yards.
Freshman Gabe Ervin Jr. added 34 rushing yards on 12 carries, while Rahmir Johnson pitched in three carries for 11 yards, and sophomore Markese Stepp added three rushes for 10 yards, including Nebraska's first touchdown of the season.
The Huskers trailed 2-0 at the end of the first quarter after Cam Taylor-Britt was ruled down in the end zone when his left knee touched after fielding a long punt and retreating all the way to the goal line before slipping to the turf.
On the ensuing drive, Illinois starting quarterback Brandon Peters suffered an injury while being sacked by Garrett Nelson and Deontre Thomas. Nelson led the Huskers with 2.5 tackles for loss on the day among his eight total stops.
Peters left the game and did not return. On the next play, Illini quarterback Artur Sitkowski was sacked by Pheldarius Payne, and a 55-yard Illinois field goal attempt was well off the mark. Payne finished with a pair of sacks among his five tackles on the afternoon.
Nebraska answered early in the second quarter with the two-yard touchdown run by Stepp, on a drive that also featured a 30-yard reception by Stepp out of the backfield. The Huskers failed on the PAT, but took a 6-2 lead with 14:25 left in the first half after a seven-play, 63-yard drive.
The Blackshirts continued to play solid defense and gave Martinez and the Huskers the ball back in short order, after a quick three-and-out that featured three rushes for nine yards by the Illini's Mike Epstein.
Nebraska took over at its own 31 and was immediately knocking on the door after a 43-yard connecting from Martinez to Martin. However, the Husker drive stalled at the Illinois 9-yard line and Culp kicked a 27-yard field goal to put the Big Red up 9-2 with 9:15 left in the half.
Perhaps the game's most pivotal play occurred on the ensuing Illinois drive. On 3rd-and-7 at the Illinois 44, Caleb Tannor came free on a blitz and hit Sitkowski in the chest just as Sitkowski released the ball. Sitkowski's pass was intercepted by Taylor-Britt at the Nebraska 45, but Tannor was flagged for both roughing the passer and unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Illini the ball back and a 30-yard gain to the Nebraska 24.
Seven plays later, including four rushes and a reception by Epstein, the Illini back found paydirt on a one-yard blast to tie the game with 2:51 left in the half. Epstein led Illinois with 75 rushing yards on 16 carries.
Illinois forced a Nebraska punt on the next drive, but the Blackshirts got a fumble recovery from Myles Farmer after Luke Reimer knocked the ball loose after a complete pass from Sitkowski to Donny Navarro. Reimer finished with eight tackles on the day, just behind Husker leader Nick Henrich who posted 11 total stops.
Nebraska took over at its own 39 with 58 seconds left, hoping to put up points to take a lead to the halftime locker room. On 3rd-and-2 at the NU 47, Martinez was sacked from behind by Keith Randolph Jr., who knocked the ball loose. It was scooped up by Calvin Hart Jr., who raced 41 yards into the end zone to give the Illini a 16-9 halftime lead.
Illinois seized control on the opening drive of the second half with a 14-play, 75-yard march that consumed 8:04 on the game clock on a 100 degree afternoon on the turf at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.
Sitkowski went 4-for-4 for 30 yards through the air on the drive while adding two carries for six yards. The rest of the drive was in the hands of Illini backs Epstein, Reggie Love III and Chase Brown, who combined for nine carries for 39 yards. Love III, who finished with 45 rushing yards on 12 carries, and Brown, who closed with 24 yards on five carries, helped Illinois total 167 yards on 48 carries on the afternoon. But it was Sitkowski who capped the drive with his two-yard touchdown pass to Luke Ford to put the Illini up 23-9.
On the flip side, Nebraska's opening drive of the third quarter resulted in a three-and-out. The Fighting Illini tightened their grip on victory with a quick, three-play, 47-yard drive that featured a 45-yard Sitkowski pass to Deuce Spann, before Sitkowski's one-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams gave Illinois a 30-9 edge with 4:01 left in the quarter.
Sitkowski finished 12-for-15 passing for 124 yards and two touchdowns in relief of Peters, who opened 3-for-4 for 35 yards in the first quarter, as the Illinois quarterbacks combined to go 15-for-19 for 159 yards in the game.
