Who is the best bet for Nebraska at Illinois?
The college football season is here and we are ready to rock and roll with our preview of the lone Big Ten game for week zero. There are only a few games on the slate for this weekend, but if you have missed college football as bad as I have, you will be watching every second.
Unfortunately there is only one Big Ten game on this weekend, but it will feature two extremely intriguing teams. Although this game won’t be in Ireland, where is was originally scheduled to be held, Scott Frost will have to show he has built some progress with this Nebraska squad in Illinois.
Breaking Down the Nebraska Cornhuskers
Adrian Martinez is entering his fourth season as the starter for Nebraska and he is flat out not good, but he is experienced and last season he completed a school record 71.5% of his passes. He is improving as a passer and has always been a solid runner as evidenced by his team leading 521 rushing yards last season. Against a good team, Martinez maybe viewed as a liability, but he can torch a team like Illinois.
The Cornhuskers were a disappointing 3-5 last season and 2020 marked the third consecutive losing season under Scott Frost and his seat is anything but frosty. With that said, Frost can run an offense and with the defense looking to be the strength of this squad, things should start to turn around for Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers have won four of the last five against Illinois and during their last visit in 2019, the Cornhuskers victory marked their 900th win in school history, which only six programs have accomplished that feat. Despite dominating that game with 375 more yards and 18 more first downs, in true Nebraska fashion they were -3 in turnovers and barely beat Illinois 42-38. The Cornhuskers were favored by 13 going into this game.
Cornhusker to Watch: JoJo Domann, OLB
This Nebraska defense is expected to be the best they have had in years and JoJo Domann is a big reason why. He is a sixth-year senior who the Cornhuskers place all over the field due to his tweener nickel/linebacker abilities. It would not be surprising to see him hear his name called over and over on Saturday.
Breaking Down the Illinois Fighting Illini
Unlike Martinez, Brandon Peters is actually good and deserves a shot in the NFL. Peters has been a godsend to the Illinois program as he was expected to be a one-year transfer from Michigan and is now entering his third season as the starter, but the problem is he doesn’t play defense.
Illinois was bad last season at 2-6 and they will now be breaking in a new head coach in Brett Bielema. Now I think that was an excellent hire, but it will take Bielema a few years to get this program at a competitive level.
Last season, the Fighting Illini was a 16 point underdog to Nebraska and earned the upset victory 41-23, snapping a four game losing streak to the Cornhuskers. Last season was their first victory in Lincoln, Nebraska since 1924 and they earned it by racking up 490 total yards and forcing five turnovers.
Fighting Illini to Watch: Brandon Peters, QB
I mentioned how important Brandon Peters was earlier and the fact is if Illinois wants to win this game, Peters needs to bring his A game. The former Michigan transfer has NFL talent, but I don’t know if he can carry this team enough to squeak out a victory.
Spread: Nebraska -6.5 Illinois
With the spread still sitting at under a touchdown, my bet is the mixture of Scott Frost coaching for his job and the Cornhuskers having a more competitive defense that they can defeat Illinois with ease.
