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Keys and Predictions for Nebraska Football vs Illinois
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Mar 4, 2024
Looking ahead to Nebraska football and its matchup against No. 17 Illinois, we offer some keys for the Huskers to pull the upset and our final score predictions. More Nebraska content: Husker Big Red: https://huskerbigred.com/ Great Cornholio: https://greatcornholio.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/huskerbigred Husker BR Twitter: https://twitter.com/HuskerBr Great Cornholio Twitter: https://twitter.com/NebCornholio
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Hey folks, welcome back to the Husker Big Red YouTube channel. I'm Chris Peterson of
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Husker Big Red dot com and joining me as always is my co-host Danny Gillette of thegreatcornholio.org
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and we're a few days away from Nebraska and Illinois as the Huskers are going to try and
0:16
break their winning streak against the ranked teams or their losing streak, excuse me, against
0:20
ranked teams hoping to knock off number 17, Illinois on Saturday. We're a few days away
0:25
from the game here, Danny, but what are your first thoughts, impressions, how you feeling
0:29
about the Huskers coming off the bye week? Well, you know, we were kind of just talking
0:32
about it before we started recording and I think it's going to be a tough challenge
0:37
You know, Nebraska has the talent to get it done in some areas, in other areas they just
0:41
quite frankly lack. So I think it's going to be, it's not going to be an easy game
0:45
It's going to be an afternoon game, 2.30 my time on ABC. I know you're, for you that would
0:51
be 12.30? 1.30. 1.30, yeah, I don't know. Time zones always mess me up, but no, it's
0:57
going to be a challenge. This, this Illinois team is not a pushover. I don't care if they
1:03
you know, they don't, they're not an offensive juggernaut. They have the talent to win and
1:07
you know, it doesn't matter the scoreboard as long as you find ways to win. And this Illinois team has done a good job of doing just that. Yeah. They've taken kind of, you
1:15
know, the Michigan formula of running the football, playing really good defense and
1:20
you know, they haven't, they're not outscoring. I mean, they are outscoring people, but it's not like they're putting a ton of points on the board. They haven't scored more than
1:28
38 points in a game all year. That was the first game of the season against Wyoming
1:32
But the, at the same time, only one team has scored over 20 points against them, I believe
1:36
So, you know, if you can keep teams under 20, you're going to win a lot of games, especially
1:40
when you've got, you know, Chase Brown, who was the leading rusher in the big 10 and you
1:45
know, defensively there, you know, they're leading the big 10 in rushing yards allowed
1:48
They're leading the big 10 in, you know, rushing yards per game and passing yards allowed
1:52
per game in a, you know, opponent completion percentage, they're leading the big 10 and
1:56
opponent touchdown passes, they're leading the big 10. So, I mean, defensively, you know
2:00
this team has really just come out of nowhere and this Illinois defense has been dominant
2:04
and that's why they're, you know, sitting where they are right now in the top 20
2:08
And, and you know, Illinois is a Brett Bielema coach team. So, you know, it's going to be
2:12
sound fundamentally, you know, it's going to be tough, you know, you know, our Brett
2:17
Bielema coach team is going to be gritty. So I think that's what, I think that's exactly
2:21
what we're going to see on Saturday. And I think it's going to present a real challenge
2:26
to Nebraska. I mean, they're ranked 17th in the country for a reason. Yeah. It's not going to be, you know, like Aiden O'Connell throwing the ball 50, 60 times
2:34
It's not going to be that. And, you know, which is, can be a good thing because Tommy
2:38
DeVito is a solid quarterback, but he's not going to be, you know, dropping dimes like
2:42
Aiden O'Connell. A lot of those passes that O'Connell completed would not have, I don't
2:46
think, you know, Tommy DeVito would have attempted a lot of those passes, frankly, he's just
2:49
not that kind of player. So the key for Nebraska, you know, is going to be trying to make him
2:54
win the game. If Chase Brown, you know, gets up to, if he has the kind of game like, you
2:59
know, Purdue had running the football 170 yards or so, it's, Nebraska is not really
3:03
going to have a chance in this game. So, you know, that's going to be a big factor, but
3:07
you know, the trenches on both sides of the ball, the offense and defensive line, you
3:11
know, man ball, this is a man ball game and Nebraska has to show that they can, you know
3:15
have the toughness to hold up against Illinois. And it's going to be a good test because
3:20
you know, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, you know, Minnesota, all of these teams, Nebraska is
3:25
going to have to play the same brand of football. So I think it's a good way to actually start
3:29
off this last, you know, stretch and we're going to see if this team, you know, can hold up against this type of a football team
3:34
And what you just said kind of scared me. They struggled against a former walk on Devin
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Mockaby and now they have to face Chase Brown and that's no disrespect to Mockaby. I mean
3:46
he is a very good running back and we saw that against Purdue, but Chase Brown is definitely
3:50
on a whole other level. I mean, he hasn't rushed for under a hundred yards in a game
3:56
this season. He was coming off a 41 carry 180 yard effort against Minnesota on October
4:03
15th. The game before that, a game in which Illinois won by a nine, eight margin over
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Iowa. He ran the ball 31 times for 146 yards. And you look down his statistics sheet and
4:18
you just see a line of 100 yard games. I mean, he is the bell cow for this offense. He is
4:25
a weapon and he's more than capable of taking over a game and being that X factor type of player
4:32
Yeah, he is for sure. And I get, you know, that's one key I think for Nebraska, you know
4:37
we'll just kind of get into it. That's one of my keys is to, I don't think they're going to stop Chase Brown. I'm not, I don't think they're going to hold them under a hundred
4:43
yards, but what they need to do is they need to limit, you know, the plus 20 yard runs
4:48
the explosive runs. They need to make sure that he doesn't rip off, you know, a couple 40 yard touchdowns, because the thing about it is even against a really good running game
4:56
If every once in a while, a couple of series, you know, you can stop them for one or two yards on first down and, you know, get, get Illinois into a third and seven, a third
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you know, it can happen on those run teams that they're not used to throwing it. So if
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Nebraska can just find a way to, you know, contain him and just not let him break off
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you know, the huge runs, force Illinois to drive down the field. You know, I think that
5:17
that will play into Nebraska's hands a little bit in the sense that this Illinois offense
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you know, isn't all that high power, but you know, if Chase Brown, you know, is ripping
5:26
off, you know, those 20 yard runs and stuff like that, I think it's going to be a long day for Nebraska
5:30
I agree, because when you let Chase Brown rip off 20 yard runs, you're playing right
5:34
into his hands. He is an explosive back. And if he starts ripping off 20 yard runs, then
5:41
you know, it's like stopping a train going downhill. I mean, good luck with that. So
5:45
I want to make him work on Saturday. I want Nebraska to try and play well in the trenches
5:51
and not to go off into one of our famous tangents or unrelated segues here. But I think Luke
5:59
Reimer returning at the linebacker position on Saturday, he's going to have to play a big role. It's a tough ask for him to, you know, try to help the running game, but he
6:08
is pretty decent at that. And they're going to need all hands on deck to stop a player
6:12
like Brown. Yeah, right. They definitely missed Reimer, you know, last week, I think, or against Purdue
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you know, two weeks ago, having him back is going to be huge. Of course, you know, Nick Heinrich looks like he's out for the season. So, I mean, there's still going to be some
6:25
shuffling at the inside linebacker position. But I do think that Reimer, you know, has
6:29
he's he's been, I think, their best linebacker for this year. You know, he's done a good job of tackling. He's just been around the football. He's one of those guys that, you
6:36
know, he's not always flashy. He's not the most athletic guy in the world, but he finds
6:41
the football. He knocks the ball down. He knocks it out. You know, some guys just have
6:44
a knack for that. I think Reimer is one of those guys. So I'm, you know, interested to
6:48
see how, you know, some of these other guys can hold up. But yeah, I think Illinois is
6:52
going to, you know, run the football right at us. And, you know, Tommy DeVito, he hasn't
6:57
had to be spectacular this year. His job's to manage the game. And I think he's only
7:01
got like two interceptions. I mean, he's right there with, you know, Michigan's J.J. McCarthy
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in terms of taking care of the football. But at the same time, you know, if Nebraska can
7:10
you know, put the game on his shoulders a little bit, that might change. And I really think that that is going to be the going to be the key, you know, trying to get him into
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you know, long situations, you know, down and distant situations. And hopefully the
7:21
pass rush can get home and Nebraska can, you know, get its hands on a couple of balls
7:25
Because I do think that Nebraska has to win the turnover battle to win this game. I just
7:29
don't see, you know, Nebraska not, I don't see Nebraska winning this game without winning
7:34
the turnover battle. And one of the things that really stood out to me during the Purdue game was the missed
7:42
tackles on the first initial level. I felt like Nebraska missed a lot of tackles defensively
7:50
where they had Devin Mockaby of Purdue in the backfield and they just couldn't wrap
7:54
them up or take them down. You cannot do that against Chase Brown. You need to make sure
7:58
you tackle sound fundamentally and lay a herd on them. Because if you don't, it's going
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to be a long day. It is going to be a long day. So sound tackling kind of goes along
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with stopping Brown. And that's something that they're going to need to do almost at
8:15
a perfect level on Saturday if they want to contain them. And I think, you know, on the flip side, I also think it's going to be really important
8:22
for Nebraska to get Anthony Grant going. You know, he is fifth in the Big Ten in rushing
8:27
yards. So I mean, he's kind of just right below that top tier. But his last hundred
8:31
yard game was against Indiana. He does have two 100 yard games in Big Ten play against
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Northwestern in Indiana. The last couple of games, though, you know, Purdue and Rutgers
8:41
you know, they were able to hold him in check. And it's not all his fault. Obviously, the offensive line has not done a great job opening holes. But it's been a couple of weeks since
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he's had, you know, a 20 yard run. And this would be a great time for him to get one of
8:53
those. I don't expect him again to go off for 100 yards. I mean, Illinois is only allowing
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two point eight yards per carry. I mean, they've played some pretty tough run defenses, although
9:02
I don't know. Looking back at when they played Minnesota, I want to say that Mo Ibrahim might
9:06
have been out for that game, which obviously makes Minnesota quite a bit different. But
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either way, this offensive line is going to have to step up. And, you know, we've talked
9:16
about this before, but one way to help, you know, Casey Thompson and to slow down the
9:20
pass rush is to be able to run the football. And we all want to see Whipple be a little
9:24
more committed to it. But it also has to work, too. So, you know, I really want to see if
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there's some new wrinkles there. And I don't know what, you know, magic could possibly
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be worked with this offensive line over the last couple of weeks during the bye week
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But hopefully some some way they found a way to get those guys playing a little bit better
9:42
because they really need to be able to establish the run on Saturday or it's just I don't see
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Casey Thompson not getting hit a bunch. I mean, if he's in third and ten third and long
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all day, second and long all day, I mean, Illinois is going to have a field day
9:56
One of the things that we talked about, I believe it was the Rutgers game. We talked
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about the first initial drive to start the second half where they were able to get quick
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passes out to Travis Focalik. And I can't remember the other guy. I think it might have
10:12
been Grant, actually. Yeah, it was Andy Grant. It was Andy Grant because he laid the truck
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stick. That's right. I remember now. But, you know, they had those two quick passes
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to start the game and it kind of got things moving. I would love to see more of those
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types of plays and just, you know, get rid of the ball quickly, protect your body if
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you're Casey Thompson and let your playmakers go to work in the open field, open space
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get yards after the catch. Focalik, extremely tough. Anthony Grant, extremely tough. Both
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can bowl over guys and get that extra yard. So I would love to see a little bit more of
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that offensively because I think, you know, Trey Palmer is great, but always looking for
10:53
Palmer is maybe not the best, especially if you want to rest your defense. And by now
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Illinois knows that they have to guard Trey Palmer as well. Yeah, and that's going to be, you know, this is going to be an interesting game for Trey
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Palmer because obviously, you know, getting him going is going to be a key and he's probably
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going to be guarded by Devin Witherspoon, a guy who's just recently been projected as
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a top 10 pick in the 2023 draft CBS sports. So, you know, he's going to get a chance to
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prove himself against one of the best secondaries and one of the best defensive backs in the
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country. I mean, this Illinois team is really good at intercepting the football. I think
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they have like 12 interceptions or something. They're another area which they're leading the Big 10. So, you know, Casey Thompson, as good as he's been throwing the football
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he has, you know, kind of been wayward with it. He had two interceptions against Purdue
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a really costly one in the fourth quarter that I mean, frankly, if he throws a better
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ball there, Nebraska maybe wins that game. I mean, Trey Palmer looked open on the play
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I know he I know the pass rush is there and he's seeing those guys. So, I mean, I know
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that goes into it, but Casey Thompson has to take care of the football and that's going
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to be tough to do against this Illinois defense, which is really a ball hocking secondary
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I am interested to see, you know, if they've got some new wrinkles with Trey Palmer and
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what else they're doing on offense. I mean, they've had a couple of weeks. We keep hearing
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about Tommy Hill. You know, Ramir Johnson is a guy that I still wish I would we could
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see more of him in that short passing game. He had like a 16-yard run against Purdue. So
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I mean, he still looks like he's got some movement. I've never understood why they didn't
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try to get him involved. Just him. He's a different kind of back then, you know, Anthony
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Grant. So I just think that, you know, they've kind of misused his talents and this seems like
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a perfect time to, you know, get him involved or at least they need to find some new wrinkles
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whether it's Tommy Hill or whatever. They can't just, you know, throw it up to Trey Palmer
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this game and hope it works. Maybe it will. I don't know, but I just I don't think that's
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going to happen on Saturday. And it's not something that you want to constantly force
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or you want to consider a guarantee either, right? Because, you know, you see quarterbacks
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they fall in love with their favorite receiver and sometimes they go to their favorite receiver
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too much and defenses catch on to it early in the game. That puts the quarterback at a
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disadvantage as the game goes on and then, you know, the quarterback looks a little rattled
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You know, another guy, and I know we've talked about before, but I would like to see Marcus
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Washington continue to play solidly on Saturday. Nebraska is going to need that second weapon
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because I think Illinois will, you know, have their defensive backs watching Palmer closely
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Washington had three catches for 30 yards against Purdue. I'd love to see a little bit more
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output on his part. I'm not saying he's, you know, slacking or not playing well, but I just
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would like to see him kind of be more involved in the offense. And that starts with Casey getting
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him the ball because I think Nebraska is really going to need their complementary weapons
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I'll call them, to really step up. And, you know, that's definitely not a bad thing. I think there's
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playmakers in this receiving room other than Trey Palmer, but I think they're going to need
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to play a big role on Saturday, especially now that Trey Palmer, I believe he is the
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top wide receiver in the country in terms of yards, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, he is. And over the last five games, he's got 550 yards. I mean, he's been
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and that doesn't even include his 60 yard run. That's just receiving. So basically
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you know, his last four games, he's created over 600 yards of total offense. I mean
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that's pretty incredible. We'll see if that continues. I mean, I think he is going to
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you know, get some, I don't think he's had fewer than like, you know, 70 yards receiving in a game
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this year, kind of like Chase Brown. So I don't think it's, Illinois is going to stop Trey Palmer
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It's a matter of, you know, can they prevent him from getting one of those big 50 yard plays
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You know, and if I'm Nebraska, I mean, I definitely think you want to keep trying that
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you know, it worked out against Purdue. It almost, you know, you almost found a way to win that game. So it's kind of like, you know, keep it close. And then, you know
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it's like that old tweet, you know, I know Trey, Trey Palmer's down there somewhere, you know, just hang around, give yourself a chance in the fourth quarter and then throw it up to Trey and
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see what happens. I mean, that's kind of, that's kind of what I feel like the formula is for this
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game, you know, keep it close, get into the fourth quarter and then, you know, see what can see what
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happens. You know, I feel like if Nebraska does that, I think that they are, I think this team's
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going to be really motivated for this game. I think they want to end that, you know, rank losing
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streak. And frankly, I think that these players, you know, they're not stupid. They know what's
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at stake. They know that, you know, if Mickey Joseph doesn't win, that he's not going to be
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back as the head coach. I mean, they know that everybody knows what's at stake here. They don't
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need to, you know, they don't need to have us or the media or anybody else telling them they've
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been around this game long enough. They know what's at stake for Mickey. They want to win for
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him. He wants to win for himself and then they all want to win for Nebraska too. I mean, but I do
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think that there is that. I think that this team is invested in, in trying to turn this season into
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a successful one and when this game would be a huge catapult in that direction
15:52
Absolutely. And, you know, it's kind of interesting just to follow up on your point. There's a lot of
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parallels in terms of the defensive game plan for Nebraska and Illinois in the sense that
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you know, Illinois wants to stop Trey Palmer. We want to stop Chase Brown. So, you know
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it's going to be interesting to see the strategies that both teams use to try to
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nullify the playmakers on offense. And I, I quite frankly think that's going to be a huge subplot
16:21
within the game. There's a lot of interesting subplots, as you mentioned, you know you know
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Mickey Joseph, you know, if he wins this game, that's a huge win for him, the program and quite
16:32
frankly the state. And so, you know, that's, that's an interesting subplot. I mean, if the
16:39
offensive line can hold up, that's an interesting subplot. I mean, there's a lot of games within
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the game, so to speak. And I honestly think it starts with nullifying the playmakers for both
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programs. Yeah, which is going to be, you know, tough for Nebraska. I think it's easier said than
16:54
done. Yeah. Easier said than done. Yeah. It's, you know, they got a tackle and, you know
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the secondary has to tackle. It's just, it's really going to be a team effort. You know
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Bill Bush though has done a pretty good job, you know, as defensive coordinator. I know the
17:07
Purdue game that gave up a ton of yards, but overall I really, I didn't feel like the defense
17:12
played that badly against Purdue though. I thought Aidan O'Connell made some really
17:16
really good throws. I mean, they had them in third and long. I mean, I don't know how many times, you know, I think they can, it was like 12 third down conversions. It was some ridiculous number
17:24
So, I mean, you have to be able to get off the field on third down, but you know, the quarterback
17:29
just made a lot of great plays too. And, and it, it, it was kind of a, a bad situation for the
17:35
defense that Trey was scoring so fast because they were out there for 102 plays. I don't care who you
17:39
are, if you have to, if you have to face, you know, you put this Illinois defense on the field
17:43
for 102 plays against Aidan O'Connell and they're going to give up, they're going to give up a lot
17:48
of points. I mean, that's just the way it is. Illinois hasn't faced Purdue yet. And that is
17:51
a one thing too, is Illinois has put up a lot of really great statistics, but I think it's safe to
17:57
say they have not faced a pass offense like Nebraska's. I mean, Indiana was the best pass
18:03
offense that they faced and, you know, they're not that great. I mean, we, we saw those guys and
18:07
Indiana beat this Illinois team, which is pretty crazy. So, you know, it's not like this Illinois
18:12
team is, is they're not like Michigan in the sense that, you know, they're just that much more
18:17
talented than Nebraska. They are very talented. I'm not saying that, but Nebraska has got the
18:21
talent to hang with these guys, but they've got to get Illinois out of this kind of perfect
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formula that they've had. And, and so far nobody's been able to do that, but you know, Nebraska
18:31
we'll see. I think that emotion and all that stuff is going to help though. I mean, you look at
18:36
you know, Illinois only scored nine points at Iowa. So, I mean, I think that that
18:39
and Iowa does have a very good defense. I mean, let's not joke about that, but I think it does
18:44
show that, you know, Illinois isn't a team that's going to come into Lincoln and score
18:48
40 and win this game. You know, I don't see that happening. They're not going to score 40
18:54
but they're not going to make it easy either. It's kind of an interesting, kind of an interesting
18:59
parallel or paradox, whatever you want to call it. It's, it's early in the morning over here
19:04
but one thing I will say is, you know, what you saw with Purdue was a very good quarterback
19:11
who had very, very good understanding of his offense and very, very good timing with his
19:19
receivers. Not to go back into the Purdue game a little bit, but I'll just say this, that curl route that he was able, O'Connell was able to execute with Charlie Jones. The timing was
19:30
absolutely brilliant on that. And I don't think you're going to see that level of precise execution
19:37
when, you know, Nebraska takes on Illinois. I mean, that Purdue offense was very, very
19:45
well executed. Jeff Rom is a good play caller and that's not to say, I'm not saying Illinois is bad
19:50
and to take them lightly, but I think the Purdue game to try to compare this one to the Purdue
19:56
game, I think that's doing a little bit of disservice to Purdue, to be quite honest with you
20:02
Yeah, they're just a different, you know, offensive, although they did, you know, they, they fell along with the same curse and lost to Wisconsin after beating Nebraska. So
20:10
they did, we'll see, but that just shows it's tough to win on the road in the big 10. It is
20:14
tough to win on the road and that's something, you know, to keep in mind and look, if Nebraska
20:19
wins this game, they're tied for first in the big 10 West again, you know, with, with Purdue losing
20:23
And if Illinois has one loss, but there'd be a three-way tie. And I know that the end of the
20:28
schedule is still really difficult, but that would still be a great place for Nebraska to be in and
20:33
to finally end that losing streak, that losing streak against ranked teams. I mean, six years
20:38
without a win over a ranked team, that's just insane. And Nebraska needs to end that. And I
20:44
I don't know, I feel like they've got a shot. I don't necessarily think they're going to pull it
20:47
out. I just, I don't think this is a great matchup for them, but I do think it's kind of a good
20:52
matchup to, you know, have it be a somewhat close game. I don't think Illinois is going to, I mean
20:57
unless they just totally manhandle Nebraska physically, you know, I think this is going to be
21:01
a, a one or two score game throughout. And, you know, I've really, and I've said this before
21:09
and I'm going to keep hammering home the point until Mark, Mark Whipple listens to me. But I
21:14
really want them to kind of slow down a bit on offense. Like I think you said earlier, slowing
21:20
down on offense is going to be key, if nothing else, to give the defense a rest. I would have no
21:26
problem if this game was 7-3 Nebraska, because I believe clock management and effective clock
21:31
management is going to be important for this game. Keeping the defense fresh, not trying to force
21:39
quick plays or quick drives. If the quick plays and quick drives are there, then absolutely go
21:43
get them. But I'm not opposed to kind of, you know, taking, thinking, dunk, three and four yard
21:49
passes, running the ball, taking some time off the clock. And again, if the deep throws are open
21:55
absolutely take them. But don't make that the focal point of the offense. I mean, because I
22:01
think this defense is going to need a ton of rest. And, you know, I don't want to see them out there
22:05
for 102 plays on Saturday. I'll say that right now. That's been, yeah, they do need to do a
22:10
better job of that. I think Nebraska hasn't done a great job of playing that complimentary football
22:15
and they need to do a better job of that, of just recognizing that this defense could use
22:20
a rest sometimes. You know, we've seen, you know, that Oklahoma game was a great example of, you
22:25
know, was three and out punt, you know, and they would have the ball for sometimes less than a
22:29
minute, it seemed like, of actual time, you know. And that's just, that's asking a lot of your
22:33
defense to constantly go out there without rest and, you know, get the football run at them. And
22:38
you know, if that happens, that's a perfect recipe for Illinois. So Nebraska does need to
22:42
sustain drives. And I think it's going to be key and they've been pretty successful at it
22:47
You know, most of their drives this year of scoring early, and I think they really need to
22:51
do that on Saturday and kind of set the tone and just hang around, just hang around, be within
22:56
three, within seven, half a lead or whatever. But as long as this is a one score game going into the
23:01
fourth quarter, no matter how you make that happen as Nebraska, that's got to be the goal. And then on the defensive side, you know, putting Illinois in third and longs and stopping Illinois
23:13
on third and long is going to be extremely important. You know, you don't want to give
23:17
this Illinois team new lights on drives with first downs, you know, because we mentioned Chase Brown
23:24
and, you know, the type of element that he brings to the program, you know, getting off the field
23:29
quickly defensively is also important because the offense absolutely has to play complimentary
23:35
football. The defense can also help itself by, you know, making sure that, you know, it's three and
23:41
out and, you know, making sure that they can, you know, execute their plays at a high level. I mean
23:50
you know, I think it's going to be extremely important for them that they force Illinois
23:56
to get uncomfortable. They make them punt and, you know, they get the offense back out on the
24:02
field because I don't want to give us Illinois team new life and first downs, in my opinion
24:07
for this game, our new life for Illinois. Yeah, they definitely need to do a better job on third
24:13
down, you know, on third down defense, especially because they did have, they did force Purdue into
24:18
a lot of, you know, third and I mean, a lot of them were medium situations, but they just needed
24:23
to get off the field more. And that's ultimately, you know, why they lost the game. I mean, the last
24:26
drive Purdue converted a couple of third down longs to, you know, to run out the clock. So
24:31
you know, that's going to be key is when you get them in those situations, third and eight, third and nine, whenever you have to get off the field and Nebraska, like I said, I think you're
24:39
going to have to, you know, come up with a couple of turnovers in this game. I just don't see
24:44
Nebraska winning this game without a couple of turnovers. And I don't see him winning this game
24:48
If, you know, chase Brown rushes for, you know, over 150 yards or whatever. I mean
24:52
maybe that barometer is even a little high, you know, I think they probably need to keep them under like one 20, but you know, those, those are a couple of kind of my keys, I guess
25:01
you know, is they've got to limit the sacks on Casey Thompson, keep chase Brown under like 120
25:06
or so. And they've got a fourth one, probably two turnovers. I'm going to say Nebraska has to get
25:10
two takeaways to, to win this football game. Keep chase Brown under wraps, you know, convert
25:19
if convert defensively on third and long, I want to see the Illinois punter out a lot. And then I
25:24
guess my last key is to have the offensive line, just tread water. I mean, at this point, I'm not
25:32
expecting any more good games from them, but just tread water offensively, because that will also
25:38
help get into the grant going, even if they can just get a little bit of a push, you know
25:44
that would be better than what has been going on recently. And I guess
25:48
I'll just add a fourth key. We just talked about it, you know, make sure to have longer drives
25:55
offensively because the defense is going to need the rest. I know that that kind of messed up the
25:58
three keys to the game, but there are a lot of keys if Nebraska wants to win, because this Illinois
26:04
team is an extremely tough opponent. And I, yeah, and I think you hit some key points there
26:10
for the, about the offensive line just has to not lose this game. Basically. That's my, that's my
26:14
opinion. Like you said, tread water. They just need to not, yeah, get, they just need to not
26:18
drown the offense basically. And be like, you know, that kid that doesn't have the life jacket
26:23
that's drowning, that pulls the other people down in the pool. Like that's the offensive line right
26:27
now. Casey Thompson's trying to swim away in this guy and the offensive line, just like grabbing his
26:31
feet and pulling them under. So just leave, just stop it and tread water. And if they can do that
26:36
if they can just not be horrible, then I think this team has a chance because Nebraska has got
26:40
playmakers, Casey Thompson, Trey Palmer, Anthony Grant, you know, Marcus Washington. I'm waiting
26:45
for him to, you know, hit a deep pass because he, he did it at Texas with Casey. And I think
26:50
you know, I think he's an X factor, Tommy Hill. I'm going to say Ramir Johnson again, but Nebraska
26:55
has got the pieces to make this an interesting matchup, but they do have to play, you know
27:00
they have to play the perfect chess match, so to speak. They can't make mistakes. They got to
27:04
they got to do everything right. And the offensive line can't drown the entire offense. That's what
27:08
I'm worried about. Tommy Hill really, really intrigues me because he is fast. We saw him on
27:13
kick return against Purdue a little bit. He did play wide receiver in high school. So he is a
27:19
really intriguing option to me. Hopefully he can, you know, make an impact at the position and kind
27:26
of give Nebraska that third weapon offensively. I honestly don't know what to think about Ramir
27:32
I know we talked about earlier. I don't think he's going to be a big part of the offense. I mean
27:38
at this point in the season, but I'd like to see him, you know, at least get the chance to make
27:43
an impact. I'm not exactly sure why he hasn't this year after they hyped him up so much in preseason
27:50
but you know, it's just one of the many mysteries of talents that Nebraska football has had over the
27:56
past couple of years. Yeah, it is pretty strange, but we'll see what happens with that on Saturday
28:02
So now I guess we'll transition to our predictions part of the show here. We're going to, you know
28:06
put out some bold predictions later on in the week, and then we'll offer another kind of score
28:10
prediction probably then. But as of right now, we're sitting here on Tuesday, so we still got
28:15
a few games, but the spread, I don't know if you've checked it out, but it's about seven and a half points favoring Illinois. It started at six and a half on Saturday, went up another point or
28:23
so. Essentially, Nebraska would needs to, you know, lose by a touchdown or less to cover the spread
28:30
You know, it seems pretty basic about right. You know, I'm not in terms of, you know, predictions
28:35
I'm not willing to say that, you know, I think Nebraska is going to win this game, but I do
28:39
think that they're going to cover the spread. I do think this is going to be a close matchup
28:43
and I'm going to say that Illinois wins 24-17. I was going to say 27-17 Illinois, but yeah
28:51
I think I just think this defense might be a little bit too much for Nebraska
28:56
not because they don't have the playmakers, but because Illinois is just a sound defensive team
29:00
And then I think honestly, Chase Brown is going to absolutely have a field day with the run defense
29:06
because if Devin Mockaby can do it, then Chase Brown can do it too. I mean, I don't know. I just
29:11
don't have high hopes for the run defense, but we'll see. I hope I'm wrong. As always, I hope I'm
29:16
wrong with every single prediction I have. Yeah, well, I hope I'm right when I pick Nebraska
29:21
but it just, there wasn't, you know, when you look at everything, it just, it doesn't look like a
29:26
great, you know, you talk about Nebraska's run defense has struggled while they're facing the
29:29
best run running back in the Big 10. You, you know, you talk about, you know, them being able
29:34
to run the football and how they need to do that. Well, this is the number one run defense in the
29:38
Big 10. And, you know, they're only allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete 48% of their
29:43
passes. And so there's just a lot of, there's a lot of things statistically that make you think
29:47
that Illinois is not going to be a great matchup for Nebraska, but you never know. I mean, sometimes
29:52
you know, all that stuff just completely gets thrown out the window and, and we might see
29:56
you know, Illinois might be coming into a buzzsaw with this Nebraska team. You know
30:00
you just never know. And, you know, with interim coaches and, you know, road games and college
30:05
football, there's just a lot of different variables. So, I mean, I do have hope. I think
30:09
this is going to be a competitive game, but I just haven't seen anything from Nebraska this year that
30:13
shows me that they can beat a team like Illinois. Yeah. I mean, either with that being said
30:19
I do think this team will be ready to play. I just don't know if they have enough
30:24
weapons on both sides of the football to get the job done. And I'm not sure that they are as
30:30
fundamentally sound as Illinois. And, you know, that will ultimately, I think Nebraska may hang
30:37
around, but I think when push comes to shove, Chase Brown is going to wear out the defense
30:43
And I think, you know, Illinois will be able to kind of scamper away, if you will, with this win
30:51
Yeah. I think, I think the offense will get, you know, a couple of big plays, but, you know
30:55
I think Illinois will probably come out ahead or even in the turnover battle. So
30:59
you know, that's where I think the difference will be. I think Nebraska will have some chances in the fourth quarter to tie it at this thing. It'll be the same, you know, kind of the same
31:06
thing as Purdue. They just weren't quite able to get it done, but, you know, that doesn't mean that
31:10
it's going to come totally ruin the momentum of the season that will drop. If they do lose this
31:15
game, it'll drop Nebraska to three and five, which, you know, is not really where you want
31:19
to be. We've talked about this before of that goal, trying to get to four and four, you know
31:23
for that bowl game going into November and the prospect of, you know, basically, you know
31:28
with you look at Michigan on the schedule, you know, if you lose this game to Illinois
31:32
you have to essentially sweep Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Two of those games are at home
31:36
but you have to sweep those three games in order to make a bowl game. And that is, that's a, that's a tough task, I think, for Mickey. So this is, this is really is a must win game
31:44
I think for, for Mickey's chances of, of being the permanent replacement, the permanent long-term
31:50
head coach. I think if he wins this game, he's going to be the head coach eventually. That's
31:54
just kind of how I view it. I think this is the fork in the road. If they lose this game
31:58
I don't think they're going to make a bowl game. I think they're going to end up five and seven. And I think we'll have a new head coach. If they win this game, I think they're definitely going
32:05
to finish six and six, maybe seven and five. And I think we'll, we'll still be on the Mickey train
32:10
next year. So I know that's a lot to put on this game, but you know, that that's where we're at
32:14
with Nebraska football right now. Yeah. And you know, it's going to be interesting to see
32:20
win or lose the fallout from this game, but you know, I think it's going to be a good game
32:26
I think Nebraska will be ready to play. You know, and I think we're, we're, we're back at home
32:33
this Saturday, right? Yep. Yeah. That's what I thought. We're back home. So, you know, I know
32:38
the fans will be ready. I know. I think the team will be ready. I think they're going to want to
32:43
put Purdue behind them. So we'll see. I hope my prediction's wrong, but I just think that Illinois
32:50
when it comes down to it, is going to make one or two more big plays that really kind of swing
32:55
the game in their favor. Yep. I agree. I do think we're going to be, I think we'll be proud
33:00
of the Huskers for their effort, but just, just not quite there, but I mean, there's no, you can't
33:04
debate it. Mickey Joseph does have this team playing better and you know, they, they played
33:09
pretty well after the first bi-week with him. So I'm excited to see, you know, what changes and
33:13
adjustments have been made and, and I have hope, you know, he's, he's given me hope. So there
33:18
definitely is some optimism going into Saturday, but it is going to be a really tough task at the
33:22
same time. The Huskers are due for a big, big win. So, you know, maybe the universe will
33:27
will finally get rid of all this heartache and give us something to really, really be happy
33:31
about on Saturday. I don't know. It's been a long time coming, so that would certainly be nice. I
33:35
mean, two happy Saturdays in a row with the Coleman commitment this past Saturday and an
33:39
Illinois win, that would be great. I mean, I don't want to say this, but frankly, college football
33:45
gods, you owe us a little bit of karma. So come on, come on. I mean, we haven't gotten it yet
33:50
and we've suffered enough. So I don't know if they're ever going to come around and help us
33:53
but maybe, maybe Saturday is the day. Maybe Saturday is the day. So, all right, folks. Well
34:00
as we'll wrap it up here, you can find all of our content here on the Husker Big Red YouTube
34:05
channel. So make sure that you like, and comment on our videos, subscribe to our channel, you know
34:10
so that you don't miss any of our Nebraska content, you know, get in and interact with us
34:13
You know, that's why we're here is to build a community of hardcore Nebraska football fans
34:19
You can always check out, you know, my content at huskerbigred.com. We'll have lots of previews
34:23
and stuff about this Illinois game. There's going to be lots of great content from Danny
34:27
over at thegreatpornholio.org. And we will most likely be back on Friday. We'll look into some
34:32
bold predictions and kind of our final thoughts on this Illinois matchup. So let us know what
34:37
you think. And as always go big red. Go big red
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