A Bret Bielema coached team embarrasses Nebraska once again.
At least it wasn’t to the tune of 70-31 like it was in 2012. We can hang our hat on that fact.
Well, maybe I take that back. This wasn’t a game where a Bret Bielema team embarrassed Nebraska. This was simply a game where Nebraska embarrassed itself. This time Bielema simply took advantage of the miscues by the Huskers.
The mistake that appeared to break Nebraska’s back was Caleb Tannor’s penalty on the Cam Taylor-Britt interception. Whether you want to blame the officials on that call, it doesn’t change the fact that for some reason Illinois went on to score 28 unanswered points.
The things is, that before the double penalty on Tannor, the defense was flying around and looking like the dominant defense we haven’t seen for years. After they knocked Illinois’ starting quarterback out of the game did they stop playing with an edge? It is difficult to say at this point.
Maybe the defense was running out of gas. The offense had trouble running the ball and started with several short possessions early in the game.
After the game Scott Frost said it was like watching “the same movie.” I’m not sure it’s the same movie. To me it feels like a new episode of a bad sitcom. The jokes are the same but they are packaged differently.
In the most recent episode it was catching a punt at the two, missing two extra points from an all-conference kicker, shanking punts, and fumbling the ball right before half that is scooped and scored.
It’s hard to think what jokes we will see on next week’s episode.
The Morning After
Husker Report Card: Grading Nebraska’s performance against Illinois | Football | omaha.com
The World-Herald’s Sam McKewon hands out his grades for the Huskers’ performance in several areas during the season-opening loss to Illinois.
McKewon: This time, Husker horror flick includes a key coaching miscalculation | Football | omaha.com
We’re now many sequels deep into the Scott Frost cinematic universe, and this era of Nebraska football has a familiar plot. But in losing to Illinois, Frost agreed the formula
Shatel: Another Nebraska loss due to the same mistakes. Are Husker fans angry? Or over it? | Football | omaha.com
This was the season opener for Scott Frost to rewrite the narrative that he isn’t up to the task of transforming Nebraska football. A loss to Illinois may have engraved
Chatelain: If Scott Frost fails to redeem Nebraska, what’s left to try? | Football | omaha.com
The scary part of Nebraska’s loss to Illinois is NOT what it means to Scott Frost’s long-term status as head coach, writes Dirk Chatelain. The scary part is that if
Steven M. Sipple: Looking for ‘incremental improvement,’ Alberts sees NU in same sloppy form | Football | journalstar.com
Saturday’s loss provided Scott Frost’s detractors with more ammunition. Detractors aside, most NU fans surely came away with a sense of dejection.
‘It looked like the same movie’: Mistakes, sloppy play cost Huskers in season-opening loss to Illinois | Football | journalstar.com
Instead of standing up to adversity, the Huskers in the middle of the game gave up too much ground to get back into a season-opening loss.
The grades: Illinois 30, Nebraska 22 | Football | journalstar.com
Steven M. Sipple weighs in with his report card from the Huskers’ game against Illinois. Take a deep breath, and dive in.
Husker backs limited in opportunities as mystery about them remains
It was a position of mystery on Saturday morning and remains something of the same on Sunday morning.
How much more do you really know about Nebraska’s running backs after Saturday’s disquieting 30-22 loss to Illinois? The data was minuscule on a day when the Husker backs carried it a total of 19 times, including a game-deciding third quarter in which Nebraska barely had the football at all and the first touch by one of the backs came with just a minute left in it.
Still work to do for Husker special teams
On a day where there were plenty of glaring mistakes in the Huskers’ 30-22 loss to Illinois, perhaps none stood out more than the continued blunders on special teams.
Frost Caught In ‘Guessing Game’ Against Illinois – Nebraska Football | Hail Varsity
Nebraska’s coaching staff didn’t know what to expect in their season-opener against Illinois, and it wound up biting them in a 30-22 loss.
Sherman: For Nebraska, Scott Frost, same ol’ movie is playing on a loop with no new ending in sight – The Athletic
The path to a winning season for Nebraska, by all estimates, included a victory at Illinois. Now the Huskers are 0-1 before Labor Day.
Illinois executed the basics — and won – The Champaign Room
Happy Sunday to fans of the first place team in the Big Ten West, the Illinois Fighting Illini!
Many things were different about these Illini than previous editions, but the biggest difference so far between the Bret Bielema Illini and their predecessors is also the biggest reason they won the season opener.
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