Illinois Pulls Away from Nebraska 24-13 in the Second Half
Nebraska scored first, scored a touchdown with 10:44 left in the fourth, and scored nothing in between. Seven points through three quarters is not going to beat Illinois, which won 24-13 at home behind three Katin Houser touchdown passes.
Mekhi Nelson ran in from 15 yards in the second quarter for a 7-0 Nebraska lead, and that was the only time the Huskers were ahead. Houser found Collin Dixon from three yards with 1:48 left in the half to tie it. He then threw five yards to Jordan Anderson in the third quarter, and went back to Dixon from six yards at 13:38 of the fourth for a 21-7 lead. Nebraska answered with a 51-yard Anthony Colandrea touchdown pass to Jacory Barney Jr., but the two-point pass failed and it was 21-13. Ethan Moczulski kicked a 21-yard field goal with 7:51 left, and the last scoring play of the game was his.
The yardage ran the other way. Nebraska out-gained Illinois 426 yards to 392, with Colandrea going 32 for 43 and throwing for 284. Neither team threw an interception or lost a fumble, and each sacked the other twice. The Illini ran only 26 times for 100 yards, so this was an air show with one touchdown for the other side. Nebraska's 31 carries went for 142. It just never turned into points. Flip the two-point try and it is a three-point game. It was not.
Illinois is 6-3 and Nebraska is 5-4. For fantasy, Dixon had 32.9 points on eight catches and two touchdowns, Houser had 28.7, and Barney was the best Nebraska scorer at 21.3 on one long touchdown.