Illinois defeats Nebraska football: The Report Card

Nebraska was good but not great. Dante Dowdell got 20 totes but only turned that into 72 yards. Rahmir Johnson was slippery in his four carries. There were no fumbles, which is always a positive, but it would have been nice to see Dowdell or Johnson pop more chunk runs.

Dylan Raiola held up pretty well against the stiffest competition of his young career. He had several high-level throws in traffic and enjoyed a budding connection with newcomer wide receivers Jahmal Banks and Isaiah Neyor. He did miss a wide-open, go-ahead touchdown with three minutes left in the fourth quarter. That, obviously, came back to haunt the Huskers. He had a particularly rough sequence in overtime.

Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer didn’t hurt the Blackshirts a ton with his scrambles, but he slipped out of the pocket at inopportune times. Kaden Feagin was bottled up relatively well for most of the night but popped a 21-yard run on the first play of overtime that set up the game-winning score.

The Huskers looked more vulnerable than they have all season in this area. The question here becomes: how much of that has to do with the uptick in competition, and how much was poor performance by the Blackshirts? Tommi Hill’s injury didn’t help matters, but he was burned for an early touchdown by Illinois wide receiver Pat Bryant.

My view on special teams is kind of like a “no news is good news” approach. If special teams don’t directly cause a loss, then I am generally willing to look the other way at a couple of longer-than-necessary Illinois punt and kick returns. Something tells me Matt Rhule and Ed Foley won’t be as generous. Jacob Hohl missed a 39-yard field goal with three minutes left in regulation, but how much can you blame him? 

The Nebraska defense committed four 15-yard penalties: three personal fouls and a facemask. The word for that is inexcusable. One surefire way to keep a nine-point road underdog in the game is to help escort it down the field through facemasks and unnecessary roughing calls.  

We all heard the grumbles about Marcus Satterfield’s play-calling last season. It’s a common byproduct of losing. But this year, with Raiola, it’s like he’s found a second win. There’s a lot of creativity, pre-snap motion and deception. The trick play, a backward pass to Henrich Haarberg, back to Raiola, who fires for a first down to Jahmal Banks was chef’s kiss.

This one is going to be tough to swallow. After breezing through its first three games, the Nebraska hype train was rolling pretty well but now comes to a screeching halt. Up next is a trip to Purdue. I think it’s going to be a long week.