3 things to like and loathe from Nebraska football loss to Illinois

Waking up on Sunday morning, it’s still hard to believe Nebraska football found a way to lose on Friday night against No. 24 Illinois.

The Huskers had the Fighting Illini right where they wanted them — with the ball in a tie game — inside the 40, with the clock winding down. As we have seen so many times over the years, Nebraska football failed to execute.

First, Dylan Raiola just missed a touchdown pass. Then, the Huskers missed a chip shot field goal and the rest, as they say, is history.

Here are three things I liked and loathed from the 31-24 overtime loss.

Liked: The play of Dylan Raiola

It’s easy to say Dylan Raiola got a little rattled in overtime but the offensive line did him zero favors. I thought the pass he threw on the third down on the field goal was pretty good and maybe another player is able to get to it.

Yet, the staff has an obsession with weird substitution patterns. Still, Raiola played one of the better pass defenses in the Big Ten. The offensive line struggled to protect and he still threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns.

The two-minute touchdown before the half and the scoring drive after Illinois tied it up were particularly impressive, as was the drive when the Huskers started down 7-0. He had a few “freshman” moments but Raiola will learn from them and be better for it.

Loathed: Special teams

It’s not a stretch to say that Nebraska football lost another game because of special teams. They allowed a long punt return and Illinois had a huge advantage in return yards. That didn’t matter as much as the missed field goal though.

I don’t know what’s up with Tristan Alvano. Hopefully, he comes back because John Hohl is a shaky option and missed a field goal that should have been automatic.

It also makes you wonder why Matt Rhule didn’t land a proven kicker in the transfer portal. They were out there. Michigan has got one two years in a row.

Yet, here are the Huskers, still losing games because they can’t make a 39-yard field goal.

Liked: Offensive play-calling

In hindsight, it’s easy to say Nebraska football should have run on third-and-three. But the running game wasn’t blowing Illinois off the ball either. It’s not a guarantee that two runs will get you the first down.

I understand the thinking though. However, Marcus Satterfield had the perfect play dialed up, it just wasn’t executed. For the most part, Satterfield did a good job. There was the double pass at a key time and the play to Janiran Bonner for the go-ahead touchdown at 24-17 was a perfect call.

Overtime was a disaster, but the game should have been won well before that. 

Loathed: Not playing Riley Van Poppel

Maybe I don’t know the full story. But Matt Rhule announced, seemingly out of nowhere that Riley Van Poppel, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound sophomore, was going to redshirt this season.

I found it curious. Nebraska football isn’t that deep along the defensive line and he’s one of the best interior defenders. Matt Rhule said he talked to Van Poppel and said he could play “8 to 10 plays this year or be Ty Robinson next year.”

There are so many things wrong with that statement. If Van Poppel can be Ty Robinson next year, one would assume he’s pretty good right now, and after watching Illinois shred the Huskers for 166 rushing yards, against a defensive line that looked absolutely gassed, it seems like playing Van Poppel would have made a lot of sense.

Hutmacher and Robinson played way too many snaps. They wore down as they often did last season. But when you play them a combined 115 snaps, what do you expect? Defensive line depth is extremely valuable and unless Van Poppel is hurt or has taken a huge step back — which I haven’t seen or heard — this decision is hard to accept.

I can’t imagine any other Big Ten team doing this and if Matt Rhule thought Nebraska had the D-line depth to sit a healthy player who played in 11 games as a freshman and notched a key tackle on fourth down against Illinois last year, it seems he was mistaken.

Liked: The transfer wideouts

I didn’t like that Isaiah Neyor got the ball taken away from him in the end zone. But he caught four passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns as well as a 44-yarder up the sideline. Jahmal Banks also had a big night. He helped set the tone on the second drive and finished with eight receptions (nine targets) for 94 yards. My favorite thing is how both guys can go get the ball and it’s going to be fun to watch them work with Raiola.

Loathed: Losing another game that should have been won

There’s no way around it, Nebraska football should have won this game. They had a probability of around 80 percent with four minutes left.

The Huskers had numerous chances in the second half to take control of the game. They couldn’t push the lead to double digits on their first drive of the second half, following a defensive stand.

Then, after getting the lead back in the fourth quarter, the defense allowed Illinois to tie things up on the ensuing drive. Don’t even get me started on overtime.

It was a total meltdown and this coaching staff has some soul-searching to do.

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