5 massive observations from the Illinois football win over Nebraska

5. I have no issues with the Illinois defensive backs

Someone might wake up this morning and look at the box score and think the Illinois defensive backs got torched on Friday night. In my opinion, that wasn’t the case at all.

Did Dylan Raiola have a good game? Sure, he is a five-star quarterback who has a ton of talent. The broadcast wouldn’t stop talking about him, his potential, and how he is the next Patrick Mahomes.

Raiola finished the game completing 68.6% of his passes, and he threw for 297 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. With that being said, I like how Illinois’ defensive backs played.

There was an obvious huge play by the Illinois secondary. It looked like Nebraska could have had a touchdown, but Torrie Cox Jr. ripped the ball out of the wide receiver’s hands and got the interception touchback.

A lot of Illinois’ pressure on Raiola came from the defensive backs playing such good coverage. This made Raiola hold on to the football too long.

I was encouraged by Terrance Brooks getting more involved in the defense. He played a ton and was able to shut down his man quite a few times.

Kaleb Patterson was able to make a few big hits and tackles. I loved the ability of Xavier Scott too. He can do his thing in coverage, but he was left on an island multiple times against Nebraska, and each time he would come through with a big stop or tackle.

Honestly, giving up 24 points to Nebraska is a pretty solid feat. That is the fewest points they have scored this season, and they had extra time to put up more points too. So, on paper, it looks like Illinois’ defensive backs struggled, but I think they played a solid game that helped us get the win.