Illinois Football: Prediction for the season opener against Nebraska

For the first time since the 2019 season, the Illinois football team will be playing in front of a full crowd as they host the Nebraska Cornhuskers this Saturday at 12:00 PM CST.

Entering the 2021 campaign with a brand new head coach in Bret Bielema, a revamped coaching staff, and many key returning upperclassmen, the Illini look to bounce back from a disappointing 2020 season. They would ultimately finish that campaign with a record of 2-6 and miss out on a bowl game.

On Saturday, Illinois will get the opportunity to turn things around. A week zero win would start the Bret Bielema era off right and would give the Illini some early season momentum.

When these two teams met last season, this game had “Orange and Blue” written all over it from the get-go. Illini captain, linebacker Jake Hansen, recovered a Cornhusker’s fumble on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Illinois scored on the following drive and never looked back.

Illinois ultimately came out on top by a score of 41-23.

The Illini were clicking on all cylinders, especially on the defensive end.  Nebraska quarterback Luke McCaffrey could not get anything going against the Illini defense, finishing the game with three interceptions.  Illinois’ defense forced a total of five Nebraska turnovers in the contest.

Illinois football is going to experience a different Nebraska offense this go-around.

Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez will be the team’s starter this season.  In the two starts against the Illini, Martinez has been able to pick apart the Orange and Blue.  In both games, Martinez threw for three touchdowns and led the Cornhuskers’ offense to 54 points in 2018 and 42 points in 2019.

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Fortunately, Martinez will be going up against a more experienced Illini starting defensive unit, which includes two graduate transfers, five seniors, and a junior.

Notably, the Illini’s front seven, which is comprised of four seniors and a graduate transfer, should give Martinez and the Nebraska offensive line much trouble.

Hansen, the leader of this unit, should have a huge impact on this game – much like last season where he finished the contest with 7 total tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, a fumble recovery, and an interception.

When looking at Illinois’ offense, the Cornhuskers could not stop the run game. Mike Epstein and Chase Brown each finished the contest with over 100 yards on the ground.  Epstein racked up 113 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.  Brown ran for 110 yards and rushed for two touchdowns.

The good news for the Illini is that Nebraska will need to try to contain both Epstein and Brown again on Saturday, as both are returning to the offense as experienced upperclassmen.

Prediction: Illinois defeats Nebraska by a score of 31-16.

Hungry to start the Bret Bielema era off victorious, I predict Illinois to win this one commandingly. Building off of last year’s contest, the Illini run game will, again, be the difference in this one.

The success of the run game will open up the passing game for quarterback Brandon Peters. Expect to see a lot of scoring from the Illini offense.

As far as the Illini defense goes, Martinez has had his way with Illinois too many times now.  This time around, he will be facing off against a far more experienced Illini defense.