Game Week: Illinois
NEBRASKA vs. ILLINOIS
Sept. 20, 2024 | MEMORIAL STADIUM
LINCOLN, NEB. | 7 PM CT
HUSKERS
Record: 3-0, 0-0 B1G
Last Game: vs. UNI (W, 34-3)
Rankings: AP – 22/Coaches - 22
Head Coach: Matt Rhule
Career/NU Record: 55-0 (9th Year)/8-7 (2nd Year)
vs. Illinois: 1-0
FIGHTING ILLINI
Record: 3-0, 0-0 B1G
Last Game: vs. Central Michigan (W, 30-9)
Rankings: AP – 24/Coaches - RV
Head Coach: Bret Bielema
Career/ILL Record: 118-77 (16th Year)/21-19 (4th Year)
vs. Nebraska: 4-2
SERIES HISTORY
All-Time Series: Nebraska leads, 14-6-1
At Lincoln: Nebraska leads, 9-3
Last Game: Nebraska, 20-7 in Champaign (2023)
Win Streak: Nebraska, 1 game
BROADCAST INFO
TV – Fox (Tim Brando, Devin Gardner, Josh Sims)
RADIO NETWORK – (Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning, Jessica Coody)
INTERNET AUDIO – Huskers.com
APP AUDIO – Official Huskers App
The Matchup
Nebraska opens Big Ten Conference play and finishes a four-game season-opening homestand on Friday night when the Huskers take on 24th-ranked Illinois at Memorial Stadium. The game will mark Nebraska’s 400th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium, a streak which dates back to 1962. Aside from its traditional Black Friday game, Friday will also mark Nebraska’s first weekday home game since 2001. FOX will provide the national television coverage and the game can be heard on the Huskers Radio Network and Huskers App.
The Huskers enter the game with a 3-0 record following a 34-3 victory over Northern Iowa on Saturday night in Lincoln. The Huskers limited the Panthers to just a first-quarter field goal and held a third straight opponent to 10 or fewer points. Offensively, Nebraska showed its explosiveness by averaging nearly nine yards per play and producing points on six of eight drives in the game. The Huskers were not forced to punt in the contest.
Illinois also enters Friday night’s game at 3-0 following a 30-9 victory over Central Michigan last Saturday in Champaign. The Illini have relied on an opportunistic defense through three games, producing nine takeaways and a +8 turnover margin, which ranks second in the nation. Coach Bret Bielema’s team allows just 277.3 yards and 8.7 points per game. Offensively, Illinois features a balanced attack, rushing for 153.3 yards per game, while producing 225.3 passing yards per contest.
Friday’s contest is the Big Ten opener for both teams and marks the 12th straight year Nebraska and Illinois have met on the gridiron. 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 Memorial Stadium.
Series History: Nebraska vs. Illinois
Friday’s meeting between Nebraska and Illinois will be the 22nd all-time matchup between the schools and the 12th consecutive season the teams have met on the gridiron. Nebraska has a 14-6-1 edge in the all-time series, including a 7-4 advantage since Nebraska joined the Big Ten.
• Nebraska won six of the first seven meetings as conference foes, before Illinois won three straight. Nebraska ended that streak with a 20-7 win last season in Champaign.
• Nebraska owns a 9-3 edge in games played in Lincoln, including 5-3 at Memorial Stadium.
• The Huskers won 54-35 in Lincoln in 2018, marking Nebraska’s first 50-point outburst in a Big Ten Conference game.
• The only meetings between 1953 and 2013 came in 1985 and 1986 when Nebraska won both ends of a home -and-home series.
• Nebraska defeated Illinois and Red Grange, 14-0, in 1925, marking the only time in Grange’s career he was held scoreless in a home game.
Big Ten Friday Night Lights
Nebraska will be playing on a Friday night early in the Big Ten season for the third consecutive year and the second straight year against Illinois. Nebraska played at Rutgers on a Friday night in 2022. Overall this is Nebraska’s fifth Friday night conference game (non-Black Friday) since 2017, including three games against Illinois.
• Nebraska played Friday night road game at Illinois in 2017 and 2023, winning 28-6 in 2017 and 20-7 last season. Nebraska also won Friday night road games at Rutgers in 2020 and 2022.
• The Huskers do have a long history of playing on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Nebraska has played on Black Friday every year since 1990.
• Aside from its traditional Black Friday games, this Friday’s home game is Nebraska’s first weekday game in Memorial Stadium since a Sept. 20, 2001 game against Rice. The Rice contest was rescheduled from Saturday, Sept. 15, 2001, following the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
Nebraska Set to Celebrate 400th Consecutive Sellout
Nebraska will celebrate its 400th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium on Friday night. The Huskers have sold out every game at Memorial Stadium for more than six decades, beginning with a game against Missouri on Nov. 3, 1962.
• During the sellout streak, Memorial Stadium has expanded several times and capacity has grown from 31,080 in 1962 to the current capacity of 82,841.
• Nebraska has been victorious in each of the milestone sellout games in the series, defeating Penn State, 42-17, in 1979 in sellout #100, knocking off second-ranked Colorado, 24-7, in 1994 in sellout #200, and shutting out Louisiana-Lafayette, 55-0, in 2009 in the 300th consecutive sellout.
• Nebraska has a record of 324-75 during the sellout streak. Friday’s game against No. 24 Illinois is the 89th matchup against a ranked opponent during the sellout streak, with Nebraska owning a 47-39 mark in those games.
Huskers Return to National Polls
Nebraska is 3-0 after completing non-conference play undefeated for the first time since 2016. The Huskers returned to the national polls after their victory over Colorado and are ranked 22nd in both this week’s Associated Press Poll and USA Today Coaches poll.
• The national ranking is Nebraska’s first since 2019. The Huskers were ranked No. 25 in both polls after the 2019 season opener, but lost the following week at Colorado. The Huskers did not return to the rankings until this year’s win over Colorado.
• The last time Nebraska was ranked higher than this week’s No. 22 AP ranking was in 2016, when Nebraska was ranked 17th entering the regular-season finale at Iowa.
• With Illinois checking in at No. 24 in the AP poll and just outside of the top 25 in the coaches poll, Friday’s game represents the first time Nebraska has played a game involving two ranked teams since Nov. 5, 2016 at Ohio State. It is the first AP ranked vs. ranked game at Memorial Stadium since No. 23 Nebraska hosted 16th-ranked UCLA on Sept. 14, 2013. The last five ranked vs. ranked teams involving Nebraska have been on the road or in a bowl game.
• Friday’s game will be the first matchup of AP ranked Big Ten teams at Memorial Stadium since 2011 when 13th-ranked Nebraska defeated No. 9 Michigan State.
• The Huskers’ most recent victory against a ranked team was a 35-32 victory over No. 22 Oregon on Sept. 17, 2016.
Nebraska Controlling Games from Start to Finish
Nebraska has controlled its first three games from start to finish. The Huskers have not trailed in any of their three games, and have out-scored the opposition by a total of 102-20.
• Nebraska has won each of its first three games by at least 18 points. It marks the first time NU has won three straight games by at least 18 points since the middle of the 2014 season, when the Huskers defeated Northwestern (21), Rutgers (18) and Purdue (21).
• Nebraska has scored on its opening drive in each of the first three games. Those scoring drives have covered 72, 49 and 75 yards.
• Nebraska out-scored UNI 14-0 in the second quarter. In three games this season, Nebraska has out-scored the opposition 51-0 in the second quarter. In 2023, Nebraska was out-scored 81-66 in the second quarter.
• Opponents have had very little success early in games. Dating back to 2023, Nebraska has allowed just one first-quarter touchdown in its past 10 games. Nebraska has not allowed an opening drive TD in 10 straight games and has allowed only one opening drive TD in the last 16 games.
This Week’s Numbers
400 - Friday’s game will mark the 400th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium. The sellout streak begin on Nov. 3, 1962, when Nebraska took on Missouri. The Huskers are 324-75 at Memorial Stadium during the sellout streak.
20 – Nebraska has allowed just 20 points through three games, its fewest since allowing 16 points through three games in 2005. It also marks the first time since 2009 the Huskers have held each of their first three opponents to 10 or fewer points.
7 - Nebraska is playing its Big Ten opener at home for the first time in seven seasons. Nebraska last opened conference play at Memorial Stadium in 2017, when the Huskers defeated Rutgers.