3 reasons Nebraska football will beat Illinois in top-25 matchup

The Big Ten season opens for Nebraska football on Friday as the 3-0 Huskers, ranked No. 22 in the AP poll will host 24th-ranked Illinois (3-0).

When the schedule was released, not many Nebraska football fans had this matchup circled as a “big game.” But it has the chance to set the tone for the Big Ten season, while also ending one of the most annoying streaks of ineptitude that still exists for the Huskers.

Nebraska hasn’t beaten a ranked team since 2016 when Mike Riley’s team beat Oregon. Nebraska started 8-0 that season and it feels like a win on Friday could propel the Huskers to a 7-0 start.

Illinois has the best defense of any team that Nebraska has played so far. Luke Altmyer is also a dangerous quarterback. He’s completed 69 percent of his throws (6 TDs, 0 interceptions) and had three games last season with at least 69 yards rushing.

Bret Bielema is a also proven winner and despite the Huskers being more than a touchdown favorite, this feels like a nail-biter. Here are three reasons why Nebraska fotoball will emerge victorious.

Better in the trenches

Nebraska was better in the trenches last season against Illinois and I don’t see much changing. Nebraska football has the same defensive line as last season. It’s also deeper and just better.

Ty Robinson has taken his game to another level. Nash Hutmacher has been Nash and Jimari Butler, although he missed last week’s game, has dominated.

Illinois is averaging 4.5 yards per attempt this season, but none of the defenses they have faced hold a candle to the Huskers who also have a solid offensive line. Nebraska has allowed just one sack in three games. The Huskers are running it well and my prediciton is that just like in 2023, Nebraska owns the line of scrimmage.

A true home-field advantage

Lincoln Memorial Stadium has always given the Huskers an edge, but when Nebraska football is good, it’s nearly impossible to win in Lincoln.

It’s the combination of factors. Nebraska has a great defense and the crowd plays into that. The atmosphere for the Colorado game was off the charts. Part of that is Nebraska fans hating Colorado. However, Husker fans are so hungry for a winner that I expect them to be frothing at every home game, especially when it’s a ranked team from the Big Ten (and the UNL students get out of school, which they did).

Honestly, there might not be a tougher place to play in the Big Ten — in all of college football — the Huskers just haven’t had the team to take advantage of it. Now they do.

Dylan Raiola

Having an elite quarterback makes all the difference in the world. We have seen that through three games so far this season. Raiola will be tested by an Illinois defense that has six interceptions through three games.

The star quarterback will have to do a good job of reading the defense and recognizing what he’s seeing. However, after what we’ve seen through three games, I’m not worried about that. Raiola is constantly getting to his second and third read and he hasn’t made many “bad” decisions with the ball.

The only interception he threw was a good ball and a good decision, the defensive back just beat the Nebraska wideout to the ball. It happens, but Raiola has been nearly flawless.

If he keeps that up, the Huskers will not only win this game, they’ll cover the spread.

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