Notes from the game, but let's start off with Bielema tenure:
1. 4-0
2. Bielema started 1-4 at Illinois. He is 21-15 since the '21 Charlotte game. That's the most wins in the first 36 games for an Illinois coach since Mackovic.
3. Bielema needs three more wins to enter the top-10 for Illinois football coaches.
4. Winning percentage of Illinois football coaches who've coached in the past 100 years and coached at least 10 games? 1. Mackovic 2. Zuppke 3. Bielema
5. Illinois has spent five weeks in the AP Poll Top 25 in the past 15 seasons without Bielema. Illinois has spent seven weeks in the AP Poll Top 25 in Bielema's 4+ seasons.
Now game notes:
1. That was Lunney's magnus opum. Loved his balanced approach. Loved his narrative of what levers to pull and when to pull them. Constantly putting his QB in a position to succeed this year. I could be stressing about losing him to another program or a HC opportunity, but that's a problem for another day.
2. Wow, I was floored with both Illinois' lines. Let's first focus on the offensive line. Much was made about Nebraska's defensive front and their interior gap guy being a future pro. It was a stressful matchup knowing that Illinois' interior offensive line had been a weak spot going into the week. The run game started as a slugfest but the offensive line really leaned on them as the game progressed. That fourth quarter for the Nebraska front-7 was the epitome of a boxer struggling to stay on their feet. Kreutz and Gesky especially stood out with excellent play.
3. Illinois has been healthy so far but picked up some injuries to Franklin, Priestly (maybe just cramps?), Bray, Arkin (came back) and possibly Cox (might have just been rotated out because of matchups). Bielema seemed optimistic during the post-game but never sure the truthfulness there. I believe Bray has a nagging injury because he's gone down the past three games. Franklin is the most concerning, let's hope the extra day between games will provide what's needed.
4. I'd like to see more consistency on Illinois' fourth-down decision making in the fringes of FG range, especially in earlier game scenarios when you're not letting the score dictating your decision making. Are you punting? FG? Going for it? Those situations need to be dictated by cold data but lots of "feel" seems to be part of the process.
5. A long ways to go but ... Altmyer is on pace for the most efficient passing season in Illinois history. Altmyer (& offensive line) has seen his sack per pressure rate drop from 26.4% (last year) to 17.8% (this year).
6. Happy for Arkin having a career night. I hope that back is healthy because they'll need him for 60+ snaps every week.
7. Most career snaps for Collin Dixon and Malik Elzy and both had important moments.
8. #1 graded defensive player was James Kreutz. What a great game for the brothers.
9. Pat Farrell is consistently providing 20-25 snaps/game right now, which surprised me. Going to be an important piece next year when the defensive staff has to replace almost all the edge rotation.
10. Now's the time for the defensive line love - Nebraska had been running it down team's throats for the first three weeks and everyone had (justified) concerns if Illinois could effectively stop the run. The worrying script was if Nebraska could get five yards/carry and insulate Raiola from having to move the chains. The defensive line had their best night since '22 Northwestern. Completely stonewalled Nebraska's run game and forced a true freshman carry almost the entire load.
11. Loved the gameplan of freeing up run stops by playing more zone and force Raiola string together long drives to "earn" it. Really impressed with Raiola because he had all of their fanbase's pressure on him, plus his run game abandoned him, and he kept them competitive. Finding moments to increase the pressure in the second half was a good but patient adjustment, with things turned to maximum pressure in OT.
12. Matt Bailey isn't loved by PFF but we all know his value to this team.
13. Beatty and Robertson were difference makers in this game. Beatty has shown the best balance of smart fair catches and aggressive returns when there's time. I don't have a spot for tracking yearly average starting fielding position but I believe it's much improved this year.
4-0
