3 takeaways from a troubling loss for Nebraska football

After an offseason talking about chasing three points and winning close games — after losing four games by three points last season — Nebraska football blew another lead and suffered a troubling 31-24 loss to Illinois Friday night.

Illinois is a good team, yes. But Nebraska got out-coached. The Huskers were pushed around and somehow found a way to lose a game when they had the ball inside their opponent’s 30 with less than four minutes to go in a tie game.

Dylan Raiola just missed a touchdown pass. John Hohl missed a field goal attempt and the rest was history. I didn’t need to watch the end of the fourth quarter and overtime to tell you how it would go.

Nebraska football still hasn’t beaten a ranked team and here are three takeaways from the 31-24 loss to Illinois.

The Blackshirts have an issue

If you are getting torn up by Illinois, you better be worried. USC is on the schedule. Ohio State is on the schedule and yes, Indiana is on the schedule.

The most concerning thing was giving up 166 rushing yards. Nebraska football struggled against the pass when Tommi Hil left the game due to injury. Ceyair Wright had some good moments, but the cornerback room is thinner than we thought. So is the defensive line, which makes the decision to redshirt Riley Van Poppel even more curious.

Van Poppel stuffed Illinois on a key fourth-down play last year. This time around, I don’t think he even played. Nebraska is sitting him on the bench to preserve a redshirt, which now feels like arrogance. Van Poppel is the third-best defensive tackle on this team and it just got battered to the tune of 166 yards in the Big Ten opener.

The run defense has allowed nearly 140 yards per game in the past two weeks. It’s completely fallen apart and if the Huskers can’t stop the run, they can’t stop anyone.

No more excuses for Matt Rhule

Matt Rhule is the one who has talked about the defense all offseason. It was supposed to be an elite defense and it isn’t. Nebraska wasn’t able to run the ball and yes, the injury to Turner Corcoran was painful, but, Matt Rhule’s in charge of roster management.

It was a risk to have Turner Corcoran and Teddy Prochazka as the top tackles on the roster with all of the injury history. Injuries struck and the injury to Corcoran looks “severe” according to Rhule.

That leaves a big problem at left tackle. It doesn’t look like the Huskers have anyone who can play it and the other tackle didn’t look like he belonged in the NFL.

A bad night is a bad night. But Nebraska had tons of penalties, allowed five sacks, and was terrible on special teams. Illinois was well-coached and Nebraska wasn’t.

As a result, the Huskers lost another game they should have won. That can’t continue.

Dylan Raiola is the least of Nebraska’s worries

I get that Dylan Raiola missed a could-be touchdown pass in the fourth quarter by inches. He took too many sacks and had some ball-security issues he got away with, but the Huskers lose this game by three scores without him

The one interception he did throw, should have been caught. I thought the review got it wrong, but Isaiah Neyor has to bring that in, just like Jaylen Lloyd needed to last week.

Raiola is going to have his freshman moments, but after Illinois tied the game at 17-17, Raiola engineered a touchdown drive. He also got the Huskers in field goal range after the defense allowed the game to be tied up again.

Maybe Illinois forces overtime or even wins the game, but outside of the last ugly possession overtime, which wasn’t Raiola’s fault alone, you have to tip your cap. He threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns and his his team still lost.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find our podcast on Apple or Spotify.