Illini Nipped by the Huskers, 42-38
By LDN Staff

[September 23, 2019]  It was all there. All the ingredients were in place to show that Coach Lovie Smith’s bunch had turned the corner. They just fell a little bit short. Sometimes you’ve got to learn to win and that is certainly the case right now.

But that doesn’t take everything away from what was a wildly entertaining game won narrowly by the Nebraska Cornhuskers 42-38 over the Illini Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. I could break down the fact that the Huskers had nearly 700 total offensive yards to only 300 by the Illini. Or, I could talk about how great Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez really is and how much Illini quarterback Brandon Peters will have to improve for this season to end on a positive note. But the biggest takeaway is this. The Illini are improving. [IF you need some evidence-there’s this from the SIDs office= Illinois' four-game streak of scoring 30+ points is tied for the third-longest streak in program history.]

For a few years maybe several, the Illini just weren’t competitive. When that is the case, they are hard to watch. But after enjoying the Illini’s early success in this one, even the casual fan has to admit, this Illini team is better than the most recent editions.

Take this game for example. This game boiled down to a battle of attrition. The Huskers are very deep, the Illini are not. When the Illini needed a push and some execution in the fourth quarter, there wasn’t enough left in the reserve tanks. The Illini battled and wouldn’t quit, but they just couldn’t quite get over the hump.

Will the Illini get to the coveted 6 win plateau to make bowl eligibility this season? Nobody knows. However, if they can bring the same offensive output every week, make some adjustments on defense, and clean up some of the mistakes, there really is no reason they couldn’t win six. We’re not saying that we guarantee six wins we’re just saying it’s possible. And if they get to six wins, they may well look back to this game as the night they began to learn how to win.

[By LDN Staff]