Tad Stryker: Market Correction for Husker Football

Blackshirts’ inability to stop the run late dooms Nebraska in overtime loss to Illinois

Sep 20, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer drops to throw against Nebraska Cornhuskers linebacker MJ Sherman during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Talk about a case of reverting to the mean.

It turns out that the likes of FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt and many of his sports TV brethren who were advising the nation to “buy stock in Nebraska” were a bit premature.

The Huskers (3-1) are a better team than they were last season, but in a rare Friday night home game, it became painfully obvious they’re not ready to play a four-quarter game just yet. They fizzled badly down the stretch in a 31-24 overtime loss to an unbeaten Illinois team that will not set the world on fire, although the Illini likely will finish in the top half of the Big Ten. One thing’s for sure: it was physical enough to give the Nebraska offensive and defensive lines all kinds of problems.

On the bright side, those of you who were worried that Matt Rhule or Tony White might get poached by (fill in the name of school here) might be able to relax for at least a week.

The Huskers lost their fifth consecutive Big Ten opener and fell to a rated team for the 27th consecutive time, dating back to 2016. All this despite coming out plus-one in turnover margin.

It might’ve been different. The Huskers could have — and very likely would have — won the game if Dylan Raiola hits wide-open tight end Luke Lindenmeier in the end zone on third-and-three from the 21-yard line with about three minutes left in regulation.

Nebraska receiver Isaiah Neyor fights with Illinois' Torrie Cox Jr. for a catch in the end zone in the second quarter. It was ruled an interception. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Or the Huskers win it if Isaiah Neyor could’ve hung onto what appeared to be a touchdown pass thrown beautifully by Raiola and high-pointed in the end zone by Neyor midway through the second quarter. Instead, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior receiver let defensive back Torrie Cox wrestle away the ball as the two players hit the ground, giving Raiola his second questionably-ruled interception in two games. It was an effective but frustrating game for Raiola, who three plays earlier failed to notice Neyor all alone down the middle for an easy touchdown, and threw an incomplete pass to a different portion of the field. The true freshman fell below the 70 percent mark for the first time, completing 24 of 35 passes for 297 yards, three touchdowns and the one interception, bringing his season totals to eight TDs and two picks.

Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry spent much of the night flooding the box with tacklers and gambling that Raiola couldn’t consistently beat him with his arm. It turned out to be a winning move. The Husker rushing game was disappointing, generating only 48 yards on 33 carries, when five sacks of Raiola for 46 yards were subtracted from the total. If a largely effective passing performance can’t get a Big Ten defense to loosen up against the run, the Nebraska offensive front will have to ramp it up a notch. Is the veteran Husker line able to do that? Not on this night.

Defensive back Tommi Hill and left tackle Turner Corcoran left the game with injuries that were not specified after the game. Hill’s injury, if serious, would be very costly. As for Corcoran, the Huskers moved the ball as well or better with redshirt freshman Gunner Gottula filling in, but they are now paper-thin at that position if Corcoran cannot return.

The main problem for the Big Red was that as the second half wore on, they started absorbing body blows instead of handing them out. The Illini started doing to Nebraska exactly what Rhule said he wants to do to other teams.

“We didn’t seem to be the more physical team,” said Rhule in the understatement of the evening. “The moment showed up and we didn’t make the plays you need to make to win the game.”

Sep 20, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini offensive lineman Brandon Henderson scores a touchdown against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the fourth quarter at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

It was not a proud night for the Blackshirts, who gave up more than 24 points for the first time in 10 games and could manage only two tackles for loss. Illinois ran the ball down their throat in the fourth quarter, getting an astounding 100 of their 166 rushing yards down the stretch. Four different Illinois ball carriers gashed the Huskers for gains of 11, 16, 7, 9, 8, 21 and 21 yards as they ran the ball 15 times in the fourth quarter and once more in overtime.

The outing against Northern Iowa that supposedly helped prepare Nebraska for a physical team turned out to be fool’s gold. The Huskers could not run the football Friday night against Illinois, and they could not stop Bret Bielema’s crew from running the ball, either, at least not when the game was on the line.

It was uncanny. It wasn’t a matter of Illinois wearing down the Blackshirts. Nebraska actually had a slight advantage in time of possession at the end of the fourth quarter. It was more an erosion of confidence and will. Never was it more apparent than the first play of overtime, when Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer sent three receivers to the right side of the field, sent one in motion to the left who sealed off defensive end Ty Robinson, who got sucked inside on a simple outside zone handoff, which Kaden Feagin carried 21 yards to the 4-yard line, just before Altmyer hit a wide-open Pat Bryant for his second touchdown catch of the evening, giving Illinois the win. Child’s play for Bielema and his offensive staff.

When Illinois turned up the pressure late in the game, the Huskers had no answer. One short completion, three sacks and a penalty was all they could bring to the table when they got the ball the final time. It was the worst in a long series of ugly overtimes for Nebraska football, which has now lost eight consecutive overtime games since Bo Pelini was dismissed. The Husker offense, defense and coaching staff took turns looking utterly confused.

It might have been the heat. It might have been the bright lights. It might have been the pressure. Whatever it was, the result was this: in the biggest moments, the Huskers folded. Try as they might, the 86,936 fans who sold out Memorial Stadium for the 400th consecutive time could not coax their Huskers into making big plays on defense in big moments. That will have to wait for another day.

It was not only a breakdown of physicality, it was a breakdown of discipline for Nebraska, which committed nine penalties for 89 yards. Two major fouls set up a first-quarter field goal for Illinois, A personal foul helped along a third-quarter touchdown drive for the Illini. A facemask penalty extended the Illini’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive as the Blackshirts simply could not get off the field when they needed to.

Nebraska placekicker John Hohl attempts a 39-yard field goal during the fourth quarter against Illinois. The kick was wide left. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The Huskers don’t have an dependable field goal kicker right now. John Hohl, who filled in for an apparently injured Tristan Alvano, had a chance to give the Huskers a lead but he pulled his 39-yarder from the left hashmark about 12 inches too far left, leaving the game tied with 2:59 left and the Huskers never got another realistic chance in regulation.

And other pieces of the Husker kicking game fell flat as well. Besides missing the potnential game-winning field goal, the Huskers couldn’t cover a 50-yard Brian Buschini punt that sailed to the Illinois 6, giving up a 37-yard return to Hank Beatty to set up a 57-yard touchdown drive that tied the game at 17 late in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Nebraska had no punt return yardage.

Right now, despite a highly visible mishap at the end of the game, a true freshman quarterback seems the most prepared Husker for the rigors of Big Ten play. It shouldn’t be that way. It’s not healthy for the Huskers’ overall portfolio.

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MORE: Gallery: No. 22 Nebraska Falls to No. 24 Illinois in Overtime

MORE: Carriker Gut Reaction: Nebraska's Gut Punch of a Loss

WATCH: Nebraska Football Quarterback Dylan Raiola Postgame; Cornhuskers Fall to Illini in Overtime

MORE: WATCH: Nebraska Football Coach Matt Rhule Postgame; Cornhuskers Fall to Illini in Overtime

MORE: No. 24 Illinois Tops No. 22 Nebraska in Overtime

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