5 things to watch for Nebraska football vs. Illinois

For the first time in a long time, Nebraska football will take part in a matchup of top-25 teams on Friday night. It’s the third straight season that the Huskers will play in a Friday Big Ten game but the first at home.

Nebraska played at Rutgers during the 2022 season and won the game thanks to a late Trey Palmer touchdown. The Huskers also won at Illinois last season after Matt Rhule gave the “If we die, we die speech.”

Now, Illinois and Nebraska are each 3-0. The Fighting Illini have a nasty defense, a dual-threat quarterback, and are ranked 24th. They are also more than a touchdown underdog to the Huskers and here are five things to watch.

Who wins the turnover battle?

Through three games Nebraska has turned the ball over twice. Illinois has turned it over once. However, the Fighting Illini have done a stellar job of taking the football away forcing nine turnovers (six interceptions, three fumble recoveries) in just three games.

That’s a huge reason why the Fighting Illini are 3-0 with a win over a ranked Kansas team that’s expected to compete in the Big 12. Nebraska has done a solid job of taking the football away and has at least one interception in each game but it’s imperative to get a takeaway or two Friday night.

The team that wins the turnover battle usually wins the game.

Dylan Raiola’s first big test

Dylan Raiola has been spectacular so far this season. He’s completing 73 percent of his passes, has five touchdowns, and just one interception which was more on the receiver than him. It wasn’t a bad pass or a bad decision. The cornerback just beat Jaylen Lloyd to the ball.

Yet, Raiola hasn’t faced what I would call a “good” defense. Colorado is terrible. It’s frankly disappointing that the Huskers only scored 28 points in that game. UTEP and Northern Iowa weren’t all that impressive either.

This Illinois defense is different. As Marcus Satterfield said at his press conference, they give you a ton of pre-snap looks and do a great job of disguising coverages — hence the six interceptions.

Outside of pressuring the quarterback, the best thing you can do is confuse him. Illinois will try to confuse Raiola and we’ll see how he handles facing his first Big Ten defense.

Who can Protect and affect the quarterback?

Illinois has allowed five sacks through three games and they have been credited with five sacks through three games. On both sides of the ball, the Huskers should have the advantage.

Nebraska football has allowed just one sack this season and has been one of the best teams in college football in that category. Part of that is the offensive line, while part of that is Raiola getting rid of the ball.

On defense, Nebraska has nine sacks. They only had one last week, which was discouraging, but hopefully, the Huskers crank up the pass rush this week because they can’t give Luke Altmyer all day to throw.

The other quarterback is good too

Raiola will be the storyline but pay attention to Luke Altmyer of Illinois. He’s off to a great start and is completing 69 percent of his passes, averaging 225 yards per game, and has six touchdowns compared to zero interceptions.

Altmyer has been sacked a few times this season, which has hurt his rushing numbers, but make no mistake, he’s a threat to run and we just saw Aidan Dunne give Nebraska trouble with QB scrambles last Saturday.

The secondary will be tested too with Pat Bryant (15 receptions, 235 yards) and Zakhari Franklin (16 receptions, 193 yards). Bryant has four touchdown receptions this season and it feels like he will get treated to 60 minutes of Tommi Hill. If Hill can win that matchup, it should help the Huskers limit the effectiveness of Altmyer.

Avoiding a one-dimensional offense

Every quarterback is better with a running game and now that we are into Big Ten play, that becomes even more important. So far this season, Illinois has run the ball well, averaging 4.6 yards per attempt. They are also allowing teams to rush for 123 yards per game (4.2 yards per rush).

Raiola might be the focal point for Illinois and all the TV people, but make no mistake, Nebraska needs to run the damn ball. Dante Dowdell, Emmett Johnson, Rahmir Johnson, and Gabe Ervin could all get their opportunities.

But it would be great to see Dowdell carry the ball 20 times for around 100 yards. It would also be great to see the Blackshirts shut down the Illinois run game, which is exactly what I think will happen. If that prediction comes true, it will put a ton of pressure on Altmyer.

That’s also why Nebraska should want to run the ball. It doesn’t want to throw 40 times against a talented secondary known for disguising its coverages and taking the ball away.

Raiola gets the headlines, but Nebraska is winning games in the trenches and the team that wins the battle of the trenches will win the game on Friday night.

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