Illinois 30
Nebraska 22

Aug. 28, 2021 • 12:20 p.m. Central
Memorial Stadium •Champaign, IL • Fox
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Nebraska097622
Illinois21414030

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First quarter
ILL: Safety, Taylor-Britt down in end zone on punt return, 4:07
Second quarter
NEB: Stepp 2 run (kick failed) 14:25
NEB: Culp 27 field goal, 9:15
ILL: Epstein 1 run (McCourt kick) 2:51
ILL: Hart 41 fumble return (McCourt kick) 0:37
Third quarter
ILL: Ford 2 pass from Sitkowski (McCourt kick) 6:56
ILL: Williams 1 pass from Sitkowski (McCourt kick) 4:01
NEB: Martinez 75 run (Culp kick) 3:48
Fourth quarter
NEB: Martin 4 pass from Martinez (kick failed) 2:41

                          NEB      ILL
First Downs .............. 19       18
  Rushing ................. 8        9
  Passing ................ 10        8
  Penalty ................. 1        1
Rushes-Net Yards ..... 39-160   48-167
Net Yards Passing ....... 232      159
  Comp-Att-Int ...... 16-32-0  15-19-0
Total Offense ........ 71-392   67-326
Fumbles-Lost ............ 2-1      1-1
Penalties-Yards ........ 5-67     3-40
Punts-Avg ............ 5-34.4   6-45.3
Punt Returns-Avg ...... 2-0.5    1-7.0
K.O. Returns-Avg ..... 2-15.0    1-9.0
Fumble returns-Yds ...... 0-0     1-41
Possession Time ....... 25:05    34:55
3rd Down Conv. ......... 5/14     6/13
4th Down Conv. .......... 1/2      0/0

RUSHING
NEB: Martinez 17-111; Ervin 12-33; Johnson 4-11; Stepp 3-10; Toure 2-9, TEAM 1-minus-14.

ILL: Epstein 16-75; Love 12-45; Brown 5-24; Norwood 3-16; Hayden 4-12; Williams 2-8; Sitkowski 3-4; TEAM 1-minus-2; Peters 2-minus-15.

PASSING
NEB: Martinez 16-32-0 232.

ILL: Sitkowski 12-15-0 124; Peters 3-4-0 35.

RECEIVING
NEB: Martin 6-103; Toure 3-37; Stepp 1-30; Manning 2-26; Allen 2-23; Liewer 2-13.

ILL: Williams 6-41; Ford 3-30; Washington 2-13; Spann 1-45; Navarro 1-21; Norwood 1-7; Epstein 1-2.

Attendance: 41,064

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Huskers can’t overcome flubs in loss to Illini

Nebraska rallied from a 21-point deficit late in the third quarter and had the ball with a chance to tie in the game’s final minute, but Illinois held on for a 30-22 season-opening victory.

The Huskers produced more yards of total offense (377-326) than the Fighting Illini, but a pair of pivotal second-quarter plays contributed to the outcome. A roughing-the-passer penalty wiped off a Nebraska defensive interception, and a Nebraska fumble late in the second quarter led to a 41-yard scoop-and-score touchdown that provided the momentum Illinois used to build a 30-9 lead late in the third quarter.

However, just 13 seconds after Illinois took its three-touchdown lead, Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez sprinted 75 yards into the end zone to spark a late Husker rally.

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2021 schedule
05/01White 21, Red 20
08/28@ IllinoisL 22-30
09/04FordhamW 52-7
09/11BuffaloW 28-3
09/18@ OklahomaL 16-23
09/25@ Michigan St.L 20-23
10/02Northwestern*W 56-7
10/09MichiganL 29-32
10/16@ MinnesotaL 23-30
10/30PurdueL 23-28
11/06Ohio St.L 17-26
11/20@ WisconsinL 28-35
11/26IowaL 21-28

Commentary

Stryker

Try to wrap your head around this: Nebraska captains were personally responsible for at least 12 negative points.

Tad Stryker
HuskerMax
Axson

Nebraska was again done in by a bevy of poor decision-making and even worse execution.

Scooby Axson
USA Today
Henry

The Blackshirts were as good as advertised for most of the first half. ... But all of that pressure was neutralized in the second half.

Kaleb Henry
KLIN/AllHuskers
Christopherson

This wasn’t the ‘downhill’ talked about so much in this Husker camp. Rather, Huskers beat Huskers – again.

Brian Christopherson
Husker247
O'Gara

After an offseason full of hype about this being a different Nebraska entering Frost’s 4th season, this is what the Huskers do?

Ryan O'Gara
Saturday Tradition
Fornelli

Nebraska is a poorly coached football team

Tom Fornelli
CBS Sports
Callahan

It was a disaster. Everything that we expected to be fixed in 2021 showed back up again.

Sean Callahan
HuskerOnline
McKewon

Inconsistency is a durable Husker brand, as is a kind star-crossed mood that inhabits the program.

Sam McKewon *
Omaha World-Herald
Sipple

Frost’s program tests the patience of even the most loyal Husker fans. The sloppiness is startling at times.

Steven M. Sipple *
Lincoln Journal Star
Shatel

These Huskers still don’t make enough plays that win games and make too many plays that lose them.

Tom Shatel *
Omaha World-Herald
Chatelain

The harder the Huskers chase their destiny, the harder they fall.

Dirk Chatelain *
Omaha World-Herald
Husker Mike

Last year, Illinois was dead last in the Big Ten in rushing defense. Did Nebraska regress badly up front, or did Illinois improve tremendously?

Husker Mike
Corn Nation
Vogel

A butterfly isn’t going to flap its wings somewhere and fix the Huskers’ maddening inability to not be maddening.

Brandon Vogel
Hail Varsity
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