#17 Illini Shut Down Nebraska for Sixth-Straight Victory

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Illinois took down Nebraska on the road, 26-9, to move to 4-1 in conference play and remain atop the Big Ten West standings.

The Fighting Illini scored 20 unanswered points while holding the Cornhuskers scoreless through the final 39 minutes of play.

The Illini defense stepped up on Saturday, recording four takeaways in the victory, with Sydney Brown making two interceptions and Jartavius Martin notching an interception and forcing a fumble.

Illinois took control in the second half,  possessing the ball for nearly 21 minutes and holding Nebraska to just 29 yards after the break.

Chase Brown recorded his ninth-straight 100-yard rushing game with 149 yards on the ground alongside two total touchdowns. Tommy DeVito went 20/22 with 179 yards and two touchdowns, and Isaiah Williams made nine catches for 93 yards and a score.

Illinois opened the scoring on its first possession of the afternoon, needing five plays to march 75 yards down the field. Williams hauled in his third touchdown of the season, cutting across the field for a 46-yard score to put the Illini up 6-0 less than three minutes into the game.

The Illini grabbed two interceptions in the first half, with Martin making his third interception of the year on Nebraska's first drive of the game and Sydney Brown recording his second interception of the season with under seven minutes to play in the second quarter. 

Brown's takeaway set up the Illinois offense at the Cornhusker 11, and the Illini capitalized. After Chase Brown took the ball down to the 1-yard line, he then punched it in as Illinois retook the lead, 13-9, with six minutes to play in the opening half.

The Illini defense then forced its second three-and-out, and the offense went right back to work. Carries from Chase Brown and Reggie Love III moved the ball down the field before DeVito found Chase Brown on a wheel route for a 12-yard touchdown reception, giving Illinois a 20-9 advantage at halftime.

Illinois recorded 225 total yards of offense in the opening 30 minutes, while DeVito went 12/13 with 143 yards and two scores and Chase Brown registered 15 carries for 80 yards and both a rushing and receiving touchdown.

Sydney Brown recorded his second interception of the afternoon early in the third quarter with Nebraska deep in Illinois territory, the Illini's third takeaway of the game. 

Illinois then used over seven minutes to move 70 yards down the field, putting together a 13-play drive before Caleb Griffin converted a 36-yard field goal to extend the Illini lead to 23-9.

The Illini then forced its fourth turnover on Nebraska's first possession of the fourth quarter, with Martin forcing a fumble and Jer'Zhan Newton recovering it to bring the Illinois offense back on the field deep in Cornhusker territory. Three short plays later, Griffin hit his second field goal of the day, this time from 41 yards, to give the Illini a three-possession lead, 26-9, with just over 11 minutes to play.

Newton and Kenenna Odeluga each recorded a sack on Nebraska's final possession of the game to seal the road victory and push Illinois to 7-1 on the season and extend the team's winning streak to six games.

Nebraska's three quarterbacks combined to go 11/24 with 188 yards, one score, and three interceptions, and the Illini held Nebraska's leading receiver, Trey Palmer, to one catch for one yard.

Illinois returns to Memorial Stadium on Saturday to open a two-game homestand against Michigan State.

Highlights

Press Conference

Quotes

Bret Bielema

On Nebraska:

"I give a lot of credit to Nebraska and (head coach) Mickey Joseph. When I popped on the film and saw the way they played against Indiana coming out of a bye week, I knew we would get their best shot. Obviously, the crowd here was what the Nebraska crowd always is, so I give Mickey and his staff a lot of credit. Our guys, we knew we were going to get their best shot. I thought they weathered the storm." 

On the road game:

"I just kind of preach it to them. One thing I'll say as these guys take everything in that we talked about, I talked all week, 'You have to buckle up, buttercup.' This is going to be a tough game, going to be a road environment. I've been over here. I understand how hard it is to win here. The bye week, they did what they did against Indiana, and I knew they were going to come out. I've known (Nebraska offensive coordinator Mark Whipple) for a long time. Some of those play concepts and designs were really, really well designed to take advantage of looks that we gave them. I just think our guys prepared all week." 

On Sydney Brown and his performance:

"Great question. I know Chase (Brown) gets a lot of attention, but (Sydney), what he brings to our defense is tenacity and power. When I talk to the NFL scouts, I talk a lot about I had a player in my past, when I was at Iowa by the name of Bob Sanders. Bob had a unique ability to generate a lot of power in a short amount of space, and that's what Sydney does. Sydney can make a lot of power in tight windows. He can play the high ball. I put him on more and more special teams. He's very, very opportunistic. He's got all the same gene pool. Sydney and Chase, you take them out of the game of football, and they're everything that you want. It just happens to be that they're both great players." 

On Devon Witherspoon guarding Nebraska WR Trey Palmer:

"(Witherspoon) is one of those guys. (Witherspoon) loves competition. We go good on good. You either go ones versus ones, or you go ones versus twos. If I yell ones versus twos, he's always screaming at me. He's like 'no, no, no, ones vs ones' and I'm like, 'shut up, Spoon.' He's just competitive. I remember there was a play in fall camp where I got after him a little bit because he shoved Isaiah (Williams) on the sideline. He and I got into it, and then he was mad at me for like two days. I said, 'we good yet?' That's just his competitive nature. He just loves to compete, and today was a great example of that." 

On the talks of coach of the year or other coaching jobs:

"Great question. During the bye week, I was on the road on Sunday and Monday. I got back Tuesday, worked with our guys Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I got back on the road on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I had a lot of time on the plane, and I said, 'You guys work on Nebraska. I'm going to work on Illinois.' We went, and we had some success this week in recruiting, and I really have to forecast what our roster is. When Josh (Whitman) and I first got together, literally the first phone call was about sustained success. Not just success, it's sustaining it, and I think that's what we're clawing at right now. Everybody wants to focus on this year. And believe me, I'm focused on this year, but it's really exciting to think about where we can go. There are guys that we have in our program that are young developmental guys. There are guys we're signing right now, that I think when we bring them in – like last year when we got Isaiah Adams and we got Zy Crisler to commit, I knew what those guys could be. That's the stuff as we start to add people. I think we'll get one here in the next 24 hours. Those are the people that I'll be like, 'These guys are going to change Illinois, hopefully for a long time.'"

Team Notes

• Illinois is off to a 7-1 start, tied for its best start since starting 7-0-1 in 1951. This season is the fourth time Illinois has started 7-1 since the undefeated season of 1951, joining 1983, 1989 and 2001.
• Illinois is 7-1 for the first time since 2001. 
• Illinois is 7-1 or better for the 13th time in program history.
• Illinois is 4-1 in the Big Ten and leading the Big Ten West. 
• Illinois has won five straight Big Ten West games.
• Illinois is on a six-game winning streak for the first time since 2011, when the Illini started 6-0. 
• Illinois is on its 15th six-game winning streak in the last 100 years and the seventh in the last 50 years. 
• Illinois completed its first undefeated October since 2001 (3-0). 
• Illinois won four games in October for the first time since 1990. 
• Bret Bielema's four Big Ten road wins in first two seasons are the most since Lou Tepper won five Big Ten road games in his first two seasons 1992-93.
• Illinois is 10-3 in its last 13 games dating back to Oct. 23, 2021. Illinois has the third-fewest losses in the Big Ten during that span (MICH 2, OSU 1).
• Illinois has seven wins for the first time since 2011.
• Illinois has defeated Nebraska for the third-straight season and have now won each of the last two matchups in Lincoln.
• The Illinois defense has recorded at least one interception in each game this season. They also have an interception in 11-straight games dating back to last season.
• The Illini defense forced a season-high four turnovers (3 INT, 1 FR)
  • The Illini defense recorded at least three turnovers for the fifth time this season. The defense has also forced at least two turnovers in seven of eight games this season.
• Nebraska rushed for 60 yards in the contest. It is the first time since Oct. 14, 2007, that the Huskers rushed for 60 yards or fewer at home.
• In eight games this season, the Illini have only allowed 17 points in the second half and with just seven of those points coming in the fourth quarter.
• After allowing 219 total yards in the first half, the Illini defense allowed just 29 total yards on 20 plays (1.5 yards per play) in the second half.
• Illinois had the ball for 10:51 in the fourth quarter. The Illini have held the ball for 10 minutes or more in the fourth quarter in seven of their eight games.

Illinois Notes

• Today's captains: WR Isaiah Williams, LB Tarique Barnes, DB Sydney Brown, OL Alex Palczewski.
• OL Alex Palczewski started for the 60th time in his career, extending his Illinois record for career starts. Palczewski has now started the most games in Big Ten history.
• Chase Brown ran for 149 yards and one touchdown on 32 carries, bringing his nation-leading season total to 1,208 yards
  • Brown has now rushed for over 100 yards in nine-straight games, extending his program record.
  • He is the first running back in program history to open a season with eight-straight 100-yard games.
  • Brown has now rushed for 2,771 yards in his Illini career, passing Rocky Harvey for fifth-most all-time.
  • Brown's 14 100-yard games is second-most in program history. He trails only Robert Holcombe (16) for the most all-time.
  • Brown also caught three passes for 13 yards and one touchdown.
• Tommy DeVito completed 20 of his 22 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
  • His 90.9 completion percentage sets a program record and set a Memorial Stadium record. It was the second-best mark by an opponent against Nebraska overall.
• WR Isaiah Williams caught his third touchdown pass of the season in the first quarter. The 46-yard score was his second-longest reception of the year.
  • Williams caught nine passes for 93 yards. He has recorded four games this season with nine receptions.
• TE Tip Reiman caught two passes for 39 yards, a season high.
• DB Jartavius Martin recorded an interception for the second-straight game. He now has three interceptions this season.
• DB Sydney Brown recorded two interceptions, his second consecutive game with a pick. He now has three interceptions this season.
  • Brown intercepted his second pass of the game in the third quarter. He is the first Illini defender to intercept two passes in a game since he performed the same feat on Nov. 9, 2019, at Michigan State.

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