Brett Bielema and his Illinois squad continue their reign of domination in the Big Ten west with an absolute dismantling of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln. 26-9 was the final verdict in-front of a very irritable 87,000 in Lincoln Memorial Stadium, and to say the Illini made a statement, would be to say the least. The now #14 AP ranked Fighting Illini have won their 6th straight game for the first time since 2011, and have now secured themselves into a definite winning season, and top 15 ranking, which has not happened at the University of Illinois since 2007.
Barry Lunny Jr’s Illini Offense was able to get into the end-zone 3 times Saturday . Red-zone offense was not a neck pain for the Illini, which as stated in the pregame preview, was going to be such a very important part of winning these games going forward in the west. You didn’t quite blow the doors off the stats sheet on offense with 367 yards of total offense, but big players made big plays.
Chase Brown, the nations leading rusher, put on a clinic with 149 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns, one of them being a 12 yard pass from Tommy Devito that left Chase wide open. This is his 8th consecutive 100-plus rushing yard game of this season and his 9th straight dating back to last season. Brown now has 1208 rushing yards this season. This of course places him right in the mix of the Heisman Trophy conversation.
Of course, this also means Bart Millers offensive line unit went to work, and boy did they get the job done in the rushing attack, as they have for the last 8-9 games. This unit has tremendously overstepped the expectations that many had for this unit this season, and players like JUCO transfer Isaiah Adams have been as good as anyone In the Big Ten.
Quarterback Tommy Devito efficiently went to work against the Huskers, going 20-22 passing, 179 through the air, and a pair of passing TD’s. The receiving core had quite the day thanks to Devito, who was able to spread the ball to eight different receivers through the span of the game, including to his Tight Ends, who have been asked to step up and play a bigger role. Of course, Chase Brown was able to cash in on his 12 yard reception from Devito. Isaiah Williams was the first to score a receiving touchdown for the Illini with a speedy 46-yard score on a quick slant pass that Nebraska never was able to catch. Williams finished the day with 94 yards on 9 receptions, and a TD.
The Defense once again dominated vs the huskers, and Ryan Walters is really shaping himself up for a nice extension here in Illinois, if he does not take the head-coaching job elsewhere that is. He will be an intriguing candidate for a lot of head coaching positions, but I believe for now at least, he is confident building his portfolio here at Illinois. Or, as Walters himself said “My home is in Savoy Illinois.”
Walters defense staked up 6 TFL’s, 2 sacks, and 3 interceptions on the day, in a domination that led to the “Boo Birds” coming from a very frustrated 87,000 crowd in Lincoln Memorial Stadium. Safety Sydney Brown, Twin brother of running back Chase Brown, was a big pain in the Huskers side in particular, having what I believe to be his best game of the season, with two interceptions, and 2 tackles for loss. The Huskers were held to only 248 yards of Total offense on the game, with QB Casey Thompson going 7-15 and 2 INT’s due to an injury that forced him to leave the game. Backup QB Chubba Purdy then went 3/8 through the air on the day, with an interception of his own. Just not the day to be a Nebraska quarterback thanks to Ryan Walters and the fire department.
What does it mean?
Illinois is 7-1 and really good at this football thing for the first time in a very long time. You control your destiny in the Big Ten west, and are knocking on the door of making a statement in Indianapolis. Let that sink in for a bit.
This was a game that you were expected to win, so overreacting is not quite the way to go, but you took care of business against a team that you needed to take care of business against and did it handily of course. That’s what good, well coached teams do. Looking forward to Michigan State, I would expect a very near to sellout crowd in Memorial Stadium, with a rocking environment. Great preparation to ready to get this team, ready for a very big game vs Purdue that will most likely decide who will be playing in Indianapolis representing the Big Ten West.
Illini Now on NowBN.com, and Now 100.7 in Bloomington will have coverage of the Michigan State game all week beginning with the Illini Now Michigan State preview dropping soon, and our pregame coverage of the Illini beginning at 1:30 on Saturday NOV. 5.
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