HUSKERS RECAP – Same Old Song: Illinois 31 Nebraska 24 nebraska matt rhule dylan raiola illinois

The good news is the silly talk can now stop and we can do what we should’ve been doing all along – worry about winning six freaking games.

Because guess what? Same as it ever was – we still can’t win a one-score game. Matt Rhule’s record in them as the head coach of the Huskers is now an imperfect 0-6. When the going got tough, the defense got gashed allowing a 21 yard rumble and then left a receiver uncovered on 1st and goal to begin OT. And suddenly, the offensive line which had a solid night just forgot how to block as Raiola was forced to run for his life. Backwards.

By the way, a special thanks to the referees who ignored a blatant late hit on Jahmal Banks on 3rd and 42 in the overtime which should have been an auto first down. As usual, they upheld the high B1G levels of incompetence, inconsistency and/or questionable ethics by calling four times as many penalty yards on Nebraska as Illinois. More important were the repeated instances when they chose to call nothing (see above). A rousing, sarcastic cheer when they called a 3rd quarter holding on Illinois drew laughter in the press box given their, let’s call it reluctance, to do so in conference play.

Their efforts are foul and brazen and I believe I’ve been fairly consistent in that opinion.

The shock of the night was probably the defense which, while coming up with two turnovers, never got a true three and out and consistently stayed out there for drives of 8 to 11 plays. The opening drive only took 6, but that went for 78 yards and a 7-0 deficit.

The rumblings after the North iowa game proved to have some teeth. The defense gave up 385 yards and was beat inside and outside on the ground and consistently left receivers wide open. They will probably look good again versus Purdue, but keep an eye peeled for things being tightened back up in that game.

John Bullock remained a bright spot with a team-leading 9 tackles, a sack, a pass break-up and a forced fumble. And Ceyair Wright debuted with 6 tackles, a sack, a QB hit and a forced fumble of his own.

The talk about Tony White’s future as a head coach will cool a little and Husker fans better hope it picks back up over the coming weeks. Maybe it will turn out Illinois has turned a corner on offense, and this loss won’t look so bad down the road. Their offensive line won the battles convincingly.

Offensively, Raiola, Banks and Isaiah Neyor put on a show. Raiola put up a line of 24-35-297-1 with 3 touchdowns and the only pick being another highly questionable overturn for the second straight week. The strenuous argument on both sides only reinforced it should have remained a TD due lack of convincing evidence. It would’ve made for a 4-0 TD/Int ratio and given Raiola well over 300 yards passing.

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Banks finished with 94 yards receiving and Neyor added 90 with 2 touchdowns, one of which was a highlight-reel toe drag snag from 11 yards out. Dante Dowdell carried 20 times for 72 hard-earned yards and burst through holes with force all night. Outside of the abomination which was overtime, the future is still looking very bright there.

But that defense.

If Illinois hasn’t truly become a top 4 B1G offense, the post-UNI rumblings have merit. Were last year’s defensive stats aided by playing in the Big 10 West and thus facing 5 of the worst 10 offenses in Division 1? And by extension, is the 3-3-5 the way to go against bigger, tougher teams?

Or will everything be okay and the problems turn out to be fixable mistakes?

Time will tell and the Friday game gives the coaches an extra day to hit the film and chalkboard?

And will all of the B1G crews be as foul and depraved as the chuck-knuckles who made their presence known tonight? The picture I will remember is the Huskers coaches just shaking their heads and laughing as they went with the “they called timeout first” nonsense to pick up a procedure flag.

There’s not enough time left to get into the fake injuries well the Illini went to repeatedly, so I’ll just leave it with this mention.

At a certain point, laughter is the only answer in the name of preserving sanity.

Go Big Red

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