Game day central | Nebraska 9, No. 17 Illinois 6; 9:38 left 2nd quarter

Proceed to observe together with beat author Scott Richey the remainder of the afternoon from Memorial Stadium:

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Right here are some things I will be on the lookout for at the moment in Lincoln, Neb.: 

– Because the kickers are the one gamers out proper now, let’s begin there. Caleb Griffin is wholesome once more after a leg damage price him the Iowa and Minnesota video games. Fabrizio Pinton made all seven of his subject aim makes an attempt in these video games, whereas Griffin was 7 of 11 on the season earlier than his damage.

So will Griffin get his spot again? He is on the market proper now simply hammering informal 50-yarders. Or will Pinton preserve the sphere aim kicking duties? He is been extra environment friendly. We’ll discover out as quickly as Illinois kicks a subject aim as a result of it is clearly going to occur.

The one job Griffin has 100% not misplaced is his kickoff duties since neither Pinton nor Will McManus can ship common touchbacks. Kickoffs to the 10-yard line are usually not very best.

– I am going to even be watching the working backs, after all, with Chase Brown angling for his ninth straight 100-yard sport and Josh McCray most likely out there. One fascinating notice i.e. working again depth is that Jordan Anderson made the journey as an alternative of fellow freshman Aidan Laughery. 

One other notice on Brown. He hasn’t had a type of 200-yard monster video games but this season after placing up two in 2021. Going through the worst protection within the Large Ten may create that chance.

– Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson has been sacked 19 instances this season. The Illinois protection, at the least since after the Indiana sport, has succeeded in recurrently placing opposing quarterbacks on their backs. The Cornhuskers’ offense offers off some actual Virginia vibes (i.e. liking to hit huge performs within the passing sport). Should you recall, Brennan Armstrong spent a superb chunk of that sport working for his life (if he wasn’t getting hit).

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The extra casual warmups forward of the particular pregame warmups are underway on Tom Osborne Area. Illinois working again Josh McCray was out early and did not appear to be carrying the brace on his proper knee that he had for the Minnesota sport the place he dressed however did not play.

Including McCray again within the fold will not change the truth that Chase Brown is the No. 1 working again on the nonexistent Illinois depth chart (Nebraska truly offered one!), however the huge bruiser of a sophomore might nonetheless play a pivotal function.

All these brief yardage scoring alternatives close to the aim line that wound up being subject objectives as an alternative of touchdowns? It isn’t a stretch to suppose the 6-foot-1, 235-pound McCray may be capable of punch a type of in.

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I heard precisely zero chants of “Go Large Pink!” within the first half-hour I used to be in Lincoln, Neb., this morning. Sort of disappointing for my first journey right here for soccer. Both the massive crowds had been elsewhere aside from subsequent to Memorial Stadium or the Cornhuskers have given up on this season.

I child. It is simply extra the previous. Even after the disastrous begin to the season, there appears to be renewed hope in what interim coach Mickey Joseph can do. That is the jist of what I gleaned from spending time in Omaha, Neb., on Friday evening. Something could be higher than Scott Frost, proper?

That is what makes this an fascinating sport for Illinois. The Illini have a division title legitimately of their sights for the primary time since divisions began within the Large Ten. And Nebraska is not simply in a “play the spoiler” function. Illinois hasn’t locked this factor up simply but, and the ‘Huskers definitely aren’t out of the chase (together with Purdue and Wisconsin).

How course of pushed this Illinois workforce has been this season, which is a direct results of coach Bret Bielema’s strategy, ought to bode nicely to this turning into some sort of lure sport. As an apart, it is nonetheless wild to suppose Illinois soccer can have lure video games. This season is way completely different than every other I’ve coated in my time in Champaign.

How far the Illini will take this factor, after all, remains to be to be decided. A win at the moment in Lincoln would clearly be one other sturdy step in the proper route.

Scott Richey is a reporter masking school basketball at The Information-Gazette. His e-mail is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you’ll observe him on Twitter (@srrichey).