Written by Jeff Griesch
Lincoln - In a prime-time showdown between unbeaten top-25 teams, No. 24 Illinois made plays on both sides of the ball in overtime to hand No. 22 Nebraska its first loss of the season on Friday night.
Playing in front of the 400th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium with 86,936 fans on hand and a FOX national TV audience, the Huskers suffered a 31-24 loss after taking a 24-17 lead on the opening play of the fourth quarter. Nebraska slipped to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten, while Illinois improved to 4-0 and 1-0 in the conference.
Dylan Raiola's one-yard touchdown pass to Janiran Bonner was Raiola's third scoring strike of the night, as the freshman completed 24-of-35 passes for 297 yards, including a pair of touchdowns to Isaiah Neyor. The transfer wide receiver finished with four catches for 90 yards in the game, including a 44-yard catch on NU's final scoring drive.
Fellow transfer Jahmal Banks led the Big Red with eight catches for 94 yards, while tight end Thomas Fidone II added two catches for a career-high 46 yards, including a career-long 29-yard catch on NU's go-ahead drive to open the final period.
Following Nebraska's go-ahead score, the Illini answered with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by a six-yard pass from Luke Altmyer to Brandon Harrison with 10:36 left.
Nebraska's ensuing drive was filled with mistakes, but the Blackshirts stepped up as Ceyair Wright forced a fumble by Altmyer that was recovered by Mikai Gbayor on the Illini's next drive.
Raiola and the offense moved the ball 41 yards to the Illinois 21, thanks in part to 18 yards on four carries from Dante Dowdell early in the drive. Dowdell led all rushers in the game with 72 yards on 20 totes.
The Huskers faced a 3rd-and-3 at the Illinois 21, when Raiola saw Luke Lindenmeyer come free behind the Illini defense in the end zone, but Raiola's pass was too long for Lindenmeyer to reach. The Huskers attempted a 39-yard field goal, but John Hohl missed the kick wide left to leave the game tied at 24 with just under three minutes remaining.
The Illini took over and picked up two quick first downs on the ground, before the Blackshirts stiffened to force a punt on 4th-and-9 from the NU 48. Nebraska started deep inside its own 10-yard line with 26 seconds left and chose to run out the clock and head to overtime.
Nebraska won the toss and chose to defend, but the Blackshirts surrendered a 21-yard run by Kaden Feagin on the first play of overtime. The next play resulted in Altmyer's fourth touchdown pass of the game with a four-yard connection to Pat Bryant. For Bryant, who led Illinois with five receptions for 74 yards, it was his second touchdown catch of the game.
Altmyer finished the game with 215 yards on 21-of-27 passing, while adding 10 carries for 21 yards, despite a pair of Husker sacks. Feagin led the Illinois rushing attack with 69 yards on 12 carries, while Josh McCray contributed 38 yards on nine carries.
Nebraska's attempt to answer in overtime was unsuccessful, including a false start and three sacks of Raiola, as the Huskers lost their eighth consecutive overtime game dating back to 2014. Raiola had only been sacked twice in regulation, matching the two sacks suffered by Altmyer and the Illini.
After an entertaining first half, Nebraska took a 17-10 lead to the locker room following Raiola's 11-yard touchdown pass to Neyor with 16 seconds left. It was the second touchdown grab of the half by Neyor, who also scored NU's first touchdown in the middle of the end zone to put the Big Red up 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Neyor's highlight reel catch on the Husker sideline in the end zone capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive that consumed 3:06 and also featured a 27-yard pass from Raiola to Banks to convert a crucial 3rd-and-6 from the Illinois 38.
It was the fifth catch of the half by Banks, who finished with 61 receiving yards in the opening 30 minutes.
Raiola finished the half with 156 yards while completing 16-of-23 with two touchdowns. He and Neyor both had a third touchdown wiped off the books midway through the second quarter. Raiola hooked up with Neyor on a 36-yard strike that was ruled a touchdown initially on the field after Neyor was in possession of both the ball across the goal line and his foot down in the end zone as he was falling to the turf. However, the Illini's Torrie Cox Jr. continued to fight for the ball as Neyor went to the ground in the middle of the end zone near the Husker sideline. Cox took the ball from Neyor and replay overturned the touchdown, keeping the game tied at 10 until Raiola and Neyor's final connection of the half.
Dowdell also had a strong first half, carrying 13 times for 54 yards to power a Nebraska running game that put up 79 yards on the ground, including 13 from Neyor to set up his first touchdown catch. Rahmir Johnson added three carries for 13 yards in the opening half.
Illinois looked sharp to open the game, stopping Nebraska's opening drive after allowing one first down, before marching 78 yards in just eight plays capped by Altmyer's 27-yard touchdown pass to Bryant. The scoring strike gave the Fighting Illini a 7-0 lead just over three minutes into the game.
Raiola and the Huskers answered with an 18-play, 72-yard drive that chewed up 8:39 on the clock, but Nebraska settled for a 21-yard field goal by Hohl to cut the Illinois lead to 7-3 with 3:15 left in the first period.
The Blackshirst then came up with a big play, as John Bullock forced a fumble after Altmyer's 14-yard completion to Hank Beatty. DeShon Singleton recovered the fumble to set Raiola and the offense up at the Illinois 37. Bullock led the Blackshirts with nine tackles, while Singleton, Wright, Gbayor and MJ Sherman all added six stops.
Dowdell quickly chewed up 18 yards on two carries, before Neyor's 13-yard run to set up Raiola's six-yard scoring strike to him to give NU a 10-7 lead. Illinois answered with a 26-yard field goal after an eight-play, 62-yard drive to tie the game at 10.
For the game, Nebraska finished with 345 total yards, but was set back 25 yards in overtime after closing regulation with 370 yards. The Huskers finished regulation with 86 yards, but the three sacks of Raiola went for minus-38 rushing yards. The Huskers were also flagged nine times for 89 yards in the game, compared to just three penalties for 20 yards by Illinois.
Illinois finished with 381 total yards after producing 356 in regulation. The Illini produced 166 rushing yards.
Nebraska makes its first road trip of the season next Saturday, when the Huskers travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to face Purdue. Kick-off against the Boilermakers is set for 11 a.m. (CT).