If the Nebraska football team has any chance of beating the 17th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday it’s going to need to play near error-free football. There are some questions that the Huskers are facing and will need to answer in order to win.
That’s easier said than done for an Illini team that has shocked most of the college football world by looking like easily the best team in the Big Ten West. Granted, the B1G West might be the weakest Power 5 conference division in football these days.
That’s good news for the Cornhuskers, considering they still have a shot at taking the division crown. Of course, in order to have a real shot, they need to bounce back from their loss to Purdue with a win in a game where Illinois is 7.5-point favorite. If the Huskers have real, positive answers to these questions, they may have a shot at the upset.
Can Nebraska Football Bottle Up Chase Brown?
Yes, the first question on this list is the most obvious. Can the Huskers stop the best running back in college football? Yes, it’s obvious and no we won’t know the answer until game time. “Bottling up” also seems like it might be too much to ask.
After all, Brown hasn’t rushed for less than 100 yards in a game yet this season. Weirdly enough, his lowest output of the year was against Chattanooga. While his workload was diminished a bit, he still got 20 carries but just 108 yards and a touchdown.
Did the FCS provide any kind of blueprint for holding the all-world back down? It doesn’t seem so since he ran for 129 yards, 146 yards, and 180 yards in the three games after.
It seems the best way to try and stop Brown is to indeed try and limit his touches. That’s going to mean finding away to either put Illinois behind big, quickly or get them off the field quickly when they get the ball. While he went for 180 against Minnesota last week, he needed 41 carries to do it. Normally, this would be where I’d say there’s a chance he’ll be tired, but like the Nebraska football team, Illinois had a bye week, so he’s all rested up.
Can Nebraska football keep Casey Thompson upright?
The kneejerk reaction to this question is likely “you cannot be serious.” The fact of the matter is the Huskers’ offensive line actually took a big step back this season from last year, when the same unit was so bad that it got its position coach fired.
The Huskers have allowed 20 sacks (19 of Casey Thompson) and the Illini have recorded 23 through seven games. Quick math shows that the Huskers are allowing almost three sacks a game, while Illinois is recording more than three sacks per contest.
So how in the world do the Huskers keep Thompson from getting sacked early and often? That’s a question that offensive coordinator Mark Whipple is going to have to answer from the first drive.
Sacks don’t even tell the whole story. Any Nebraska football fan who has watched their games this year can tell you that some of the most vicious hits on Thompson have come when he’s gotten the ball away.
Nebraska has allowed 92 total quarterback pressures, according to PFF. Only Indiana is worse in the Big 10, and Iowa is really the only other B1G team close to that number. Meanwhile, Illinois has generated 142 quarterback pressures. That’s third in the conference, behind only Michigan and Penn State.
The good news is that like Brown, Thompson was able to go a week without taking any hits, allowing his body to reset at least a little. The question now is can the Nebraska football team find a way to keep him on his feet and in the game? If they can’t it’s hard to imagine the Huskers doing much of anything offensively.
Can Nebraska Football Limit The Damage In The Red Zone
Illinois’ defense is the reason that the Illini are 6-1 and ranked 17th in the country. That’s not even a question.
Head coach Bret Bielema’s squad is ranked first in the country in fewest points and and fewest yards per game. They’s also second in the nation in both rushing and pass defense.
It would be foolish to think the Cornhuskers are going to be able to put up 39 points against Illinois the way they did against Purdue. The Illini have allowed two touchdowns in a game twice all year.
If the Huskers want to have a chance on Saturday, they’re going to need to bow up and play defense of their own. One area where Illinois might be especially weak is actually putting the ball in the end zone.
The Illini have scored in just 26 of their 33 trips (78.8 percent) inside the 20, That tanks as10th in the conference and 96th in FBS. Illinois also turns the ball over at a fairly regular clip. While quarterback Tommy DeVito has limited interceptions (he’s only thrown two), that’s largely because he hasn’t been asked to throw much.
However, Illinois does have a fumbling problem. They’ve fumbled nine times this season; that’s second most in the Big Ten behind only Northwestern’s nine.
If the Nebraska football team can force Illinois to come out of the red zone without a score, whether by forcing a turnover on downs, or just a turnover, the Huskers might have a shot.