The DN’s soccer protection is introduced by Celerion
Quarterback: A-
Freshman Dylan Raiola was slinging it proper from the beginning.
He threw two 17-yard completions to junior tight finish Thomas Fidone II and sophomore broad receiver Jaylen Lloyd on the primary drive, and didn’t cease there. Raiola completed the sport with 297 passing yards and three touchdowns, finishing 23 of his 34 passes.
His greatest play of the evening got here on the finish of the second quarter when he threw throughout his physique to senior receiver Isaiah Neyor on the left fringe of the top zone for an 11-yard landing. He did throw his second interception of the 12 months, however it was a 50-50 ball to Neyor ultimately zone that the defender ripped away from him.
Raiola did miss a crucial cross within the fourth quarter to wide-open sophomore tight finish Luke Lindemeyer that may have scored a landing, however that is the precise type of efficiency that has followers enthusiastic about Nebraska soccer this season, even when the outcome wasn’t what followers needed.
Working Backs: B
Sophomore Dante Dowdell and senior Rahmir Johnson had been the 2 backs, and each had been serviceable within the recreation
Johnson was his typical shifty self, though he solely ran the ball 4 occasions for 17 yards and had two receptions for 14 yards. Dowdell was the primary man on the bottom, carrying the ball 20 occasions, however just for a median of three.6 yards per contact for 72 yards. There have been additionally a number of occasions Dowdell missed open lanes the offensive line was giving him, one thing he might want to work on because the season progresses.
Extra was anticipated of the bottom recreation, as the 2 backs didn’t attain 100 dashing yards. If Nebraska desires to win video games within the Huge Ten, it should want extra from the bottom recreation.
Receivers: A-
Senior Jahmal Banks had a day.
Banks hauled in eight catches for 94 yards, as he had his fingerprints all around the recreation. Nebraska made an emphasis to get the ball to the massive receiver, and he made all his alternatives rely.
He wasn’t the one one, nonetheless, as Neyor additionally had 4 receptions for 90 yards, two of them scoring six. Whereas Neyor did get the ball stripped from him on a 50-50 ball within the endzone, he made up for it on an insane landing catch on the sting of the sector. Fidone additionally lastly began getting downfield, as he had two catches for 46 yards.
Whereas there have been some factors within the recreation when receivers struggled to create separation, they made sufficient performs on the evening to win. Nevertheless, different elements of the crew didn’t observe swimsuit.
Offensive Line: B
Heading into Huge Ten play, head coach Matt Rhule stated this recreation can be the actual check of how good the offensive line is, and so they had been somewhat inconsistent.
They did hand over 5 sacks on the evening, however two of these got here on the finish of the sport when Raiola was making an attempt to purchase time to get the ball downfield. The cross blocking total was adequate to permit Raiola to push the ball downfield, however the run blocking was a bit subpar.
The offensive line might want to up the ante as Nebraska will get into the guts of convention play, however they had been respectable given the truth that senior Turner Corcoran went down with an harm early within the recreation.
Defensive Line: B-
The line of defense got here in anticipating a fist-fight, and so they had been prepared for it.
Illinois struggled to seek out consistency at occasions on the bottom all evening however averaged a stable 4.3 yards a carry. The road struggled to strain the quarterback at occasions, however the entrance three wasn’t the actual drawback on the defensive finish for the Huskers.
Seniors Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher and junior Jamari Butler are large items up entrance, and they need to bounce again towards Purdue subsequent week.
Linebackers: A-
Senior John Bullock is a dude.
Illinois was up 7-3, and was on the verge of driving the ball all the way in which down the sector to push the result in 11 factors. After a 14-yard catch by Hank Beatty, Bullock stripped the ball, forcing a fumble on Illinois’ second drive. This wasn’t his solely nice play although.
Bullock completed the sport with a team-leading 9 tackles, six solo, together with a sack and a cross breakup. Junior Mikai Gbayor and senior MJ Sherman had been additionally each stable within the recreation, each recording six tackles within the recreation, because the tackling by the linebackers was good.
The one factor holding this grade again was simply the general efficiency by the protection, however the linebackers performed nice within the recreation.
Secondary: C-
Let’s simply say, this was a tough evening for the secondary.
It was simply an unpleasant recreation from begin to end for this group. It solely took Illinois two minutes to attain on its opening possession, as junior quarterback Luke Altmyer went 4-for-4 for 73 yards to rapidly take a 7-0 lead. It didn’t get any higher after that, as he amassed 215 passing yards and 4 touchdowns on 21-for-27 passing.
The secondary additionally struggled with tackling on the perimeter all evening, permitting the Combating Illini to get some large runs on the perimeter. Junior cornerback Ceyair Wright did play properly after senior Tommi Hill left the sport with an harm, as he made an enormous play in stripping Altmyer to provide Nebraska the ball again within the fourth quarter with the rating tied at 24 a bit.
The secondary has loads it has to repair, or it should be a protracted season for this group.
Particular Groups: D+
Particular groups as soon as once more proved to be an enormous hindrance for the Huskers.
This was headlined by freshman kicker John Hohl, who was filling in for injured sophomore Tristan Alvano, lacking a 39-yard discipline purpose within the fourth quarter to take a 27-24 lead. That wasn’t the one unhealthy play, nonetheless, as Nebraska gave up 60 punt return yards on the evening, with the longest one going for 37 yards.
This group has loads to wash up, particularly within the kicking recreation. The Huskers are going to be in loads of dogfights this season, and so they can’t afford to be lacking these sorts of discipline objectives.
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