#24 Illinois Improves to 4-0 With Overtime Road Win at #22 Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. – No. 24 Illinois marched right into a sold-out, hostile street surroundings at No. 22 Nebraska and left with a win, securing a 31-24 time beyond regulation victory over the ranked Cornhuskers on Friday night time.

Outscoring Nebraska 21-7 after halftime, the Orange and Blue grew to become the primary staff within the nation with two AP Prime 25 wins and improved to 4-0 for the primary time since 2011. Illinois moved to 3-0 in time beyond regulation video games underneath head coach Bret Bielema.

Luke Altmyer went 21-for-27 with 215 yards and 4 passing touchdowns, together with the game-winning rating to Pat Bryant in time beyond regulation. Altmyer recorded his second four-TD sport of the season whereas finishing passes to 9 completely different receivers.

Pat Bryant tallied his third multi-touchdown efficiency by way of the primary 4 video games of the season whereas registering 5 catches for a team-most 74 yards.

Kaden Feagin amassed 12 carries for 69 yards, each of which had been team-best tallies.

Defensively, Illinois totaled a season-high 5 sacks, together with three within the time beyond regulation interval to maintain Nebraska out of the tip zone. 

The Illini protection compelled the Cornhuskers to punt on their first possession for the primary time this season, and the Orange and Blue offense shortly labored their manner down the sector on their first drive of the night time. A 29-yard strike to Pat Bryant on third-and-short moved the chains and introduced Illinois into Nebraska territory for the primary time. 

Three performs later, Altmyer discovered Bryant once more, this time for a 27-yard landing to open the scoring. Needing solely two minutes and 6 performs to march 78 yards down the sector, the Illini held a 7-0 edge simply over 4 minutes into the competition.

The house facet accounted for the following 10 factors because the Cornhuskers went in entrance for the primary time late within the first quarter.

The Illini answered on their third possession of the night time. An eight-play, 62-yard drive noticed the guests tie the sport at 10-10 through a 26-yard subject purpose from David Olano.

With the Cornhuskers in Illinois territory, Torrie Cox Jr. ripped away a would-be Cornhusker landing with eight minutes left within the first half for his second interception of the season. 

Nebraska went into the break with a slim 17-10 lead after the house facet scored a landing late within the second quarter. Six Illini receivers registered a catch within the first half, with Zakhari Franklin (three catches for 37 yards) and Pat Bryant (two catches for 56 yards) main the best way.

After each groups had been compelled to punt on their opening possessions of the third quarter, the Illini discovered extra success on their second drive of the second half. Illinois took benefit of a brief subject following a 37-yard punt return from Hank Beatty, changing a third-and-short close to midfield and a fourth-and-1 contained in the Cornhusker 40-yard line. As soon as within the crimson zone, the away facet used back-to-back completions to Tanner Arkin to seek out the tip zone and tie the sport at 17-17 with underneath two minutes remaining within the third quarter. 

Nebraska retook the lead on the primary play of the ultimate body, however Illinois responded immediately. The Illini leaned on Feagin early, with the sophomore working again recording two runs of at the very least 10 yards to maneuver the Orange and Blue into Cornhusker territory. With Illinois dealing with a fourth-and-2 contained in the Nebraska 7-yard line, Altmyer tallied his third passing landing of the sport, discovering lineman-turned-tight finish Brandon Henderson for a 6-yard rating with 10:36 to play. 

Neither staff might break the tie in regulation, sending the sport to time beyond regulation with the rating knotted at 24-24.  

The Illini, on offense to start the additional interval, wanted solely two performs to seek out the tip zone. Feagin started the possession with a 21-yard rush that moved Illinois contained in the 5-yard line earlier than Altmyer discovered Pat Bryant to provide the guests a 31-24 benefit.

The Orange and Blue protection registered sacks on the primary two performs of the time beyond regulation interval, pushing Nebraska again to a third-and-42 state of affairs whereas needing to attain a touchown to increase the sport. With the Illini making use of strain on the quarterback on all 4 performs of the Cornhuskers’ possession, Illinois closed out the ranked street time beyond regulation win to maneuver to 4-0 on the season. 

No. 24 Illinois (4-0, 1-0 B1G) stays on the street subsequent week, touring to tackle No. 10 Penn State on Sept. 28 underneath the lights at both 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. CT. Broadcast info has but to be introduced.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

POSTGAME NOTES

Crew Notes

• Illinois has began a season 4-0 for the primary time since 2011.
  • Is simply the second 4-0 begin since 1951.
• Illinois is the one staff within the nation with two AP Prime 25 wins this season.
• Illinois has two AP Prime 25 wins throughout September for the primary time in program historical past.
• Illinois has two AP Prime 25 wins in a single season for the primary time since 2007, when the Illini beat three AP ranked groups.
• Illinois picked up its first ranked win as a ranked staff since #12 Illinois defeated #25 Ohio State on Nov. 17, 2001.
• Bret Bielema is 8-6 in Large Ten street video games as head coach at Illinois. 
  • Bielema’s eight Large Ten street wins are the fourth-most ever by an Illinois head coach in his first 4 seasons, behind solely Mike White (11, 1980-83), Lou Tepper (10, 1992-95), and John Mackovic (10, 1988-91).
• Bielema is 4-5 (.444) towards ranked groups (AP/Coaches/CFP) as Illinois’ head coach. His .444 successful share towards ranked groups is the second-best in Illinois historical past, behind solely John Mackovic (8-8, .500, 1988-91). 
• Bielema’s 4 ranked wins (AP/Coaches/CFP) throughout his first 4 seasons are tied for the third-most in program historical past, behind solely John Mackovic (8, 1988-91) and Mike White (5, 1980-83).
• Bielema tied this system document for street ranked wins (AP/Coaches/CFP) throughout his first 4 seasons. He’s the second coach in Illinois historical past to win three ranked video games on the street throughout his first three seasons, becoming a member of Lou Tepper (1992-96).
• Bret Bielema is now 3-0 in time beyond regulation video games as Illinois head coach.
  • Is 2-0 vs. ranked opponents on the street in time beyond regulation.
• Bret Bielema has improved to 22-19 in his Illinois profession with tonight’s win.
  • He’s the primary head coach in program historical past to start out .500 or higher by way of their first 41 video games since Lou Tepper began 21-19-1 from 1992-95.
• Since 1942, Illinois has compiled an 82-50-2 (.619) document when ranked in the AP Prime 25.
• The Illini have gained three-straight video games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, extending their program-long streak.
• Illinois grew to become the primary staff to carry the Nebraska offense with no landing on its opening drive this season.
• The Illini offense was the primary staff this season to attain a landing on the Husker protection on their opening drive this season.
  • Was additionally the longest scoring drive Nebraska has allowed this marketing campaign.
• The Illinois protection has recorded at the very least one interception in every sport this season and in five-straight total relationship again to 2023.

Participant Notes

• Luke Altmyer accomplished 21 of his 27 passes for 215 yards and 4 touchdowns.
  • Matches his profession excessive with 4 landing passes.
    • Additionally did so on Aug. 29, 2024, vs. Jap Illinois.
  • First Illini QB with a number of video games with 4 landing passes in a single season since Nathan Scheelhaase in 2013.
• Pat Bryant caught 5 passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns.
  • Caught his fifth landing of the season within the first quarter on the Illini’s first drive of the sport.
  • Caught his sixth landing of the marketing campaign in time beyond regulation.
  • Now has 15 touchdowns in his profession, tied for fourth-most all-time in program historical past.
  • Third sport this season with at the very least two touchdowns and second-straight such efficiency.
• Zakhari Franklin caught 5 passes for 50 yards.
  • Has at the very least 5 receptions in three-straight video games.
• Tanner Arkin caught 4 passes for 28 yards and a landing.
  • Set a brand new profession excessive in receptions (4) and yards (28).
  • Recorded the third landing reception of his Illini profession within the third quarter.
• Kaden Feagin rushed 12 occasions for 69 yards.
• Josh McCray carried the ball 9 occasions for 38 yards.
• Aidan Laughery rushed 4 occasions for 30 yards.
• Brandon Henderson grew to become the primary Illinois offensive lineman to attain a landing since Corey Lewis on Nov. 9, 2013, at Indiana, along with his landing reception within the fourth quarter.
• Torrie Cox Jr. recorded his second interception of the season within the second quarter.

QUOTES

Opening assertion:

“I am very excited for our gamers, our coaches, and our fan base. To participate in one thing like tonight, you will have two ranked groups taking part in on a Friday night time on nationwide TV, and it performed out like that. I give a variety of credit score to Nebraska. Matt (Rhule) has clearly executed a very good job to construct this surroundings. You do not come to 400 straight sellouts by likelihood, so there’s lots of people that made tonight occur earlier than this. 

“I can not say sufficient about these guys. The perspective they work with, the perseverance, the humility, the gratitude, and all they’ve executed has made this even larger. We’ll take ourselves again to Champaign and get an opportunity to have a restoration day tomorrow. We will not contact our gamers. As coaches, we’ll put this one to mattress. I believe Penn State performs at 2:30, and it is clearly an ideal alternative for us to exit to State School, one other nice venue, one other nice alternative.

“I believe we got here out of it fairly wholesome. Zakhari (Franklin) got here out, however he was cleared to return in there on the finish; we simply felt good about Malik (Elzy). There are a pair different guys who acquired banged up and went again in. Tanner Arkin is OK; he tweaked his again just a little bit. There was large perseverance by our guys: offensively, defensively, and with some actually good particular groups performs. I am excited for these guys to go ahead.”

On solely having three penalties:

“I would not have the three penalties, however I believed we preached on all of it week. My ears had been blaring. We blasted these guys fairly onerous on our two largest work days within the stadium. We knew it was going to be loud in the present day. This can be a very clever crowd. I first performed these guys once I was a younger assistant at Iowa. I came visiting right here once I was at Kansas State and knew this surroundings. We clearly got here right here two years in the past. They’re very clever followers. They know when to be loud: third downs, crimson space, backed up. I knew that that was going to play out, and it did in the present day, however our guys actually took in every thing in the course of the course of the week, and clearly took benefit of it in the present day.”

On Illinois’ defensive strain within the backfield after halftime:

“First off, they’re superb. I believe their quarterback is an effective participant. Their huge receivers are good gamers. They’re opportunistic. There have been some zone issues that they had been settling in behind our linebackers. We form of dumped them proper excessive. You’ll be able to actually see this quarterback get higher each play. When you’re a Nebraska fan, clearly, the unhealthy information is you misplaced tonight, however the excellent news is you have acquired a quarterback who in all probability will get higher each observe. From every thing I have been advised about him, his demeanor, his work ethic – simply listening to Matt (Rhule) speak about him. Normally, the pinnacle coach would not go excessive the best way he does. If he is saying that, that makes me assume he believes in him. They’re placing their entire program behind him.”

“These are levels you play soccer for. We made subsequent week even larger with this (Nebraska) win.”

“Be ok with ourselves for 20 minutes, then on to Penn State.”

“You need to play towards good groups, nice competitors. That makes the sport enjoyable. An enormous crowd like (Friday), we’ll go to Penn State and they are going to have a fair higher crowd. Nothing’s higher than coming into anyone else’s residence and getting a victory.”

“It is the primary sport of Large Ten play. Simply going on the market and making a press release that we’re a hard-fighting staff. We’ll struggle to the tip it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are.”

“I’ve acquired a variety of religion on this staff.”

“Working towards onerous every week has been our essential purpose. Final week was the perfect observe we have had since I have been right here. Coach B gave us a time without work simply so we might get our our bodies again.”

“I really feel like this has an enormous chip on our shoulder.”

“This has been a fruits of my faculty expertise. Failures and defeats and never attending to the place I need to go. However belief within the Lord’s timing. He is at all times good (to) me in nice positions.”

“Melvin stood up in entrance of us and advised us, ‘That is going to be that week,’. Melvin’s a really enormous chief, whether or not it is along with his bodily or vocally. He actually set the tone for the week. He advised ’em, ‘Guys it ain’t no person actually stopping us however us.’ So that they went on the market, had an actual onerous combating observe, after which I really feel like they simply translated to the sport and made the sport even simpler.”

“I truly made (Brandon Henderson) keep after observe one time so he might catch a pair additional balls so he might simply be prepared for his second. However B-Hen, he is an ideal man. He is performed each place on the o-line. So I really feel like what he did in the present day was very earned.”

“That is why you come out right here (and play) in these large video games. It may be an thrilling ambiance.”

“It is particular. We discovered a manner.”

“I am passionate in regards to the sport. I dreamed about being on this place. It is onerous to comprise these emotions.”

On the Henderson TD…
“We actually did not go on the market and that was the primary time we did it. We practiced it period of time, and Coach Lunney with a tremendous name there and superb calls all through the night time. It is at all times cool to see a big-man TD. I am so pleased for Brandon too. He is been so unselfish all through actually his profession right here that I’ve seen; taking part in heart, guard, deal with, tight finish, catching touchdowns. He is a man who’s going to make a variety of performs, possibly catching the ball however actually in that inside.”

“I requested (Brandon Henderson) after, ‘Had been you nervous?’ He mentioned, ‘Not one bit. I advised him I used to be. A very good name, and actually nice execution throughout. I actually tried to provide him ball.”

“I am undecided what labored so nicely late however, on the sector, you felt like the important thing was to simply hold urgent the run. I believe Nebraska truly confirmed a variety of strain seems and because the sport wore on, they really blitzed themselves out of the run gaps as a result of they had been playing on large stops. We simply caught with it as a result of the one factor about this staff is now we have to lean on our offensive line and our run sport. That is who we’re.”

“I knew I needed to execute it. Coach Lunney was scared. He did not assume I used to be going to catch it. He had me catching passes for 2 days straight. He advised me once I catch it make sure that I am securing it. I am like, ‘I acquired you coach.’ Coach Miller was telling me I higher not eff it up. I am like, ‘I acquired us coach. I’ll do what y’all need me to do. I’ll get the job executed.’ It ended up in a crucial play within the sport.”

“I used to be huge open. I did what I used to be speculated to do. I used to be huge open. I circled, the ball was coming to me, I simply know I needed to catch and safe it. It was a crucial play within the sport.”

“I wasn’t nervous. I dwell for moments like this.”

“Melvin stood up on the entrance of the room and advised us we aren’t taking part in adequate offensively, the o-line. We weren’t taking part in adequate. We weren’t working the ball how we needed to run the ball. He was telling us we have to decide it up. He mentioned he’d set the tone it doesn’t matter what manner he needed to do it. He simply needs to be dominant within the run sport. I really feel like this week we took a giant step.”

“I had a celebration deliberate, however I did not get to do it as a result of all people attacked me and I needed to get again on subject purpose.”

“The offensive line was blocking and we had been form of tiring the defensive position out just a little bit. The runs had been beginning to hit in the direction of the tip of the third quarter so we knew we had been going to bust a number of of them.”

“You possibly can see as the sport was happening we had been beginning to tire out the defensive position so it was only a matter of time after we would simply begin to bust a number of of them. I really feel like as tailbacks we have been making an attempt to do an excessive amount of with our runs. If we depend on our rules, the yards can be there.”