Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

September 20, 2024

#24 Illinois at #22 Nebraska

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, Sept. 20, 2024: 7 p.m. CST, Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska

Surface: Field Turf

Capacity: 85,458

Records: Illinois 3-0; Nebraska 3-0

Betting Line: Nebraska by 8.5

Series notes: Nebraska leads all-time series 14-6-1. The Huskers have won seven of the 11 meetings between the schools as conference foes, but the Illini have been victorious in their last two trips to Lincoln. Friday's game will mark the 400th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium. The sellout streak began on Nov. 3, 1962, when Nebraska took on Missouri. The Huskers are 324-75 at Memorial Stadium during the sellout streak. Illinois head coach Bret Bielema is 4-2 all-time in his career against Cornhuskers.

TV: FOX; Tim Brando (play-by-play), Devin Gardner (analyst), and Josh Sims (reporter)

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Carey Davis (analysis), Michael Martin (sidelines) & Steve Kelly (Pre/HT/Post). The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio, SiriusXM and at FightingIllini.com.

Dylan Raiola courtesy Nebraska Athletics

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When asked what the difference is between last season’s version and the 2024 edition of the Nebraska there was no hesitation by Illinois head coach Bret Bielema or defensive coordinator Aaron Henry - the opposing quarterback.

Dylan Raiola, a former five-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, has been impressive in leading Nebraska to a 3-0 start. Raiola, who is the nephew of former All-American Nebraska offensive lineman and current Cornhuskers offensive line coach Donovan Raiola became just the second true freshman Nebraska quarterback since World War II to start a season opener, joining Adrian Martinez in 2018.

Raiola is the first true freshman since former Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota in 2012 to complete at least 70 percent of his passes in each of his first three games of college football and it’s that level of efficiency that No. 24 Nebraska (3-0) hasn’t had in nearly three decades. And they certainly didn’t have it last season in Matt Rhule’s first year leading the Cornhuskers program to a 5-7 record. In the 2023 campaign, Nebraska lost five games by a one-score margin and in those games, they had 17 turnovers where 14 of those miscues were a result of the quarterback. In his collegiate head coaching career Rhule is 31-5 in games where his team’s win the turnover battle.

“(Raiola) just brings a different element to this game entirely,” Bielema said Monday. “He’s just got incredible awareness when he’s playing and a great deep ball throw. They maximize and utilize him so very well. Whether it’s early downs or third downs, you can literally see him process and get better on every series.”

Through three games this season, Raiola, who famously flipped his verbal commitment from Georgia to Nebraska late in the recruiting process, has just one interception. Raiola earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors for his play in his first ever college football game against the University of Texas at El Paso. He has backed that up by completing 23-of-30 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown vs. Colorado, and hitting on 17-of-23 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns against Northern Iowa.

Clearly No. 24 Illinois (3-0) is the best defensive secondary and front he’ll face in this 2024 season but through 180 minutes of college football, Raiola has quickly been the answer Nebraska has been looking for to guide an offense to more efficient numbers.

“We’re not going to slow down and call a game, not passively, but less aggressively because Dylan is a freshman,” Nebraska offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said. “Dylan works his butt off, and he can handle a lot of stuff. The other guys around him need to pick it up and they need to start learning and working as hard as, not just Dylan, but we had a couple of guys on offense that worked their butts off with the film. We’re pushing guys to not just match, but it’s our standard. Our standard on offense of film study, learning the playbook, of execution, which is one of our three pillars – a culture of execution.”

In Champaign, the Illinois coaches aren’t assuming that because they’re about to face a true freshman that they’ll be lining up against a quarterback still waiting to be rattled by a power conference defense.

“He’s a five-star for a reason, right? Yes, he’s a freshman but you can throw all of that out of the window,” Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry said. “Football is football, and this cat has been playing at a high level for so long now. With five-star prospects, if you didn’t tell people how old they were, people would assume they were two or three-year starters on your team. (Raiola) plays like that.”

The first three games have showcased Nebraska's many offensive weapons where 13 players have carried the ball through two games, while 15 players have caught a pass. The Illini defense, which ranks third in the nation in passes intercepted (6), fifth in turnovers gained (9), 10th in fumbles recovered (3), 11th in passing efficiency defense (87.98), 14th in fewest defensive touchdowns allowed (2), and 14th in scoring defense (8.7), is designed to get pressure on the quarterback but it’ll be interesting to see how Henry’s defense approaches the early parts of this contest. Nebraska has scored on its opening drive in each of the first three games. Those scoring drives have covered 72, 49 and 75 yards so the one thing Raiola hasn’t dealt with this season is a deficit. Nebraska has controlled its first three games from start to finish. The Huskers have not trailed in any of their three games and have outscored the opposition by a total of 102-20.

“We’re now realizing is that we’re no longer like the hunter, we’re no longer the unranked team that people are like ‘who are we playing this week? Our guys have to understand that when you start putting numbers in front of your name, people want to beat a ranked team,” Rhule said. “There’s three levels of ready you have to be – you have to be physically ready; you have to be mentally ready; you have to be emotionally ready.”