Illinois Football: Nebraska game has huge implications

The Illinois football team takes on the Nebraska Cornhuskers tonight. The game will be under the lights at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

There is something about a night game that gets me excited as a fan. The bright lights shining down making the helmets glisten as the fans roar. There is not a much better feeling than seeing all of this happen on a Friday night.

But, this game isn’t just a regular Friday night contest. It is much more to the Illinois football team and their fan base. This is a game that will set the tone for the rest of the 2017 campaign.

Illinois is currently 2-1 on the season with the two wins being Ball State and Western Kentucky at home. The Ball State win was ugly but the Western Kentucky game was a victory to have a little pride in. The Illini then went down to South Florida to play the Bulls. This was a good game for the first half but they just had too much firepower on their offense.

Now the Illini have Nebraska at home. The reason this game is so big is because if Illinois comes away with a loss, that would drop them to 2-2 and a bowl game is very much in doubt at that point. They would have to do some impressive things to get back to a point where they will win four more games.

But, if Illinois comes away with a win against the Cornhuskers, this season could end up being a bowl appearance. Nebraska is a down program and the Illini need to take advantage of this fact. Come away with a win and you move to 3-1 on the season. They will likely lose to Iowa next week and then they have Rutgers at home. That means if they beat Nebraska, there is a real possibility this Illinois program can be 4-2 at the halfway point of the season.

I want to remind you, the schedule is back-loaded with talented teams but a 4-2 start would be impressive. It would be a nice jump in progress as a program and recruits would see that and really start getting onboard with what is happening in Champaign. All Illinois would then have to do is find two more wins in the following six games of at Minnesota, home against No. 10 Wisconsin, at Purdue, home against Indiana, at No. 11 Ohio State and home against Northwestern.

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If Illinois has four wins through the first six games, that means their confidence will be high and you never know, they could get to that bowl game. But, everything depends on how they play tonight. If they fall, the bowl bid could be in jeopardy. But, if they rise tonight, it could give the program the strength it needs to exceed expectations and prove the doubters wrong.