5 bold predictions and a score for Nebraska football against Illinois

It’s been a short week, but a long wait for Nebraska football fans who are itching to see their team take on the Fighting Illini of Illinois.

For the first time in a long time, we’ll have a matchup between two top-25 teams inside Lincoln Memorial Stadium, and as hard as it is to believe, Nebraska football hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent in eight years.

Not only would it be great to end that streak, it would be nice to be 1-0 in the Big Ten. Conference play starts tonight, and if the Huskers are going to be in the hunt for the College Football Playoff, they have to beat Illinois. Here are five predictions and we’ll predict the final score at the end.

Dylan Raiola has a modest, but productive day

I don’t expect a 300-yard game from Dylan Raiola tonight. Illinois is going to disguise coverages and make it tough on him. Raiola talked about that challenge and he’ll do fine. But it might cause him to be extra careful. The only way Illinois is going to win this game is by forcing turnovers.

Illinois needs to get at least two. Maybe force a fumble which Illinois has recovered three in the first three games, or intercept Raiola — something that hasn’t been easy to do.

When it’s all said and done, Raiola will win that battle. He’ll throw for over 200 yards and have a touchdown pass, but most importantly, he’ll avoid an interception and make a few key plays on third down.

Dante Dowdell runs for 100 yards

You can count this as a bold prediction, but maybe not if you watched how Illinois defended the run against Kansas. The Jayhawks lost the game but allowed 178 rushing yards and 33 attempts. Devin Neal carried the ball 14 times for 107 yards. Kansas just didn’t get him the ball enough.

My hope is that Nebraska doesn’t make that same mistake. The Huskers have run the ball well and that will continue Friday night. Dowdell has been getting better with each game and he was built for Big Ten play. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound sophomore is averaging 5.9 yards per attempt; tonight, he’ll get fed the ball.

I can see around 20 carries for Dowdell and if he gets that volume, it’s reasonable that he’ll be close to 100 yards and with at least one explosive run (over 20 yards) I believe he’ll get it.

Nebraska football sacks Luke Altmyer five times

Illinois beat Central Michigan with ease last week, but the Fighting Illini also allowed three sacks to the MAC opponent, which doesn’t bode well as they get set to take on the Blackshirts.

Nebraska’s pass rush didn’t really get going last week. Northern Iowa ran the ball and ran the quarterback. The Huskers seem motivated to play better defensively and I expect the tackling to be on point.

I don’t see Illinois being able to run the ball well. They weren’t able to last season and I think Nebraska’s defensive front is even better. That will put all the pressure on Altmyer and the offensive line, which won’t hold up and will surrender five sacks to Nebraska football especially with Jimari Butler back.

Nebraska wins the rushing battle 2-to-1

Altmyer will make some plays and Illinois is averaging 4.5 yards per rushing attempt coming in. But Nebraska has an elite run defense. The Huskers were allowing 1.6 yards per attempt after the first two games.

Last week, Northern Iowa got over 100. I don’t see the Blackshirts allowing over 100 yards rushing for the second week in a row. Altmyer will have a few runs, but Illinois will get stonewalled. Nebraska, on the other hand, will find success and with more backs than just Dante Dowdell.

So I say the Huskers double-up the Illini in terms of rushing yards.

Huskers delve into the bag of tricks

Illinois is allowing just over eight points per game, just like Nebraska. They have five sacks and nine takeaways on defense including six interceptions.

It’s not going to be easy to move the ball. It’s going to be a fight. But through the first three weeks, we have seen a lot of things work for Nebraska football. We have even seen Heinrich Haarberg utilized on offense.

Nebraska hasn’t pulled out a trick play yet, because it hasn’t been needed. Yet, this is the first legitimate defense the Huskers will face and I think they go into their bag of tricks to come up with a big play that leads to a score.

Nebraska football vs. Illinois score prediction

Illinois will get some things going with the passing game but I think the Huskers get the lead early and keep it all night. It will be close, it will be physical, but defense, special teams, and the running game, as well as a clean game from Raiola, leads to a 23-14 win.

Prediction: Nebraska 23, Illinois 14. 

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