I wrote this bit in the Q&A for our Illinois site. It’s the biggest difference maker between the teams.

Nebraska has five playmakers on offense; Adrian Martinez, JD Spielman, Devine Ozigbo, Maurice Washington, and Stanley Morgan Jr. I find only one on Illinois – Reggie Corbin. Illinois doesn’t seem to have improved as much as I expected the season, although the game against Minnesota was amazing. I expect Nebraska to score a lot of points. I don’t see Illinois scoring a lot unless our special teams gives up three points.

Corbin won Co-Offensive Big Ten Player of the Week this week. He ran 13 times for 213 yards and two touchdowns against Minnesota. That’s a 16.38 yard per carry average. The second play of the game went for 72 yards, and he had a 77 yard run in the third quarter.

You can dismiss this as being “against Minnesota”, but our defense has given up some pretty hefty yardage this season.

I don’t see Illinois as having improved as much as I expected this season. Saturday will tell me if I’m wrong or not.

News

Huskers Downed by Drake - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site

In a back-and-forth battle between 2018 NCAA Tournament teams, two-time defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Drake made the plays down the stretch to steal an 83-77 win over the Nebraska women’s basketball team on Wednesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

WBB had a hard start of the season.

Scouting Report: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Nebraska Cornhuskers - The Champaign Room
Illinois is 1-4 against Nebraska since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten.

What Needs to Happen: Nebraska - The Champaign Room
What do the Illini have to do to beat a rapidly improving Nebraska team

Illinois vs. Nebraska Fearless Prediction, Game Preview
With the season slipping into the abyss, and after losing five of six games, the Illini came out against Minnesota and ripped it up with 430 rushing yards and five scores. It was breathtaking, coming up with big dash after big dash.

Alabama fan dead after bar fight with two LSU fans over Tide-Tigers game – CollegeFootballTalk
The 46-year-old man had been on life support since early Sunday morning; 24- and 27-year-old males in custody.

They’re gonna sell tons of these spinner mouthguards because of unpaid college athletes - SBNation.com
It’s a small part of the pie, but it is part of the pie the players are still not able to eat.

45 Kansas head coaching candidates, based exclusively on who the AD followed on Twitter - SBNation.com
It’s as good a place to start as any.

42 Random Thoughts on Michigan - Black Shoe Diaries
Random last words on...whatever that was

Northwestern, Iowa and a strange “rivalry” - Inside NU
Are these teams rivals? Kind of.

Playoff

I’m not sure anyone can really stand with Alabama. They are so good it’s pretty damned boring. Maybe Michigan’s defense could stop them from scoring. Maybe.

Clemson is starting to dominate like Alabama, per the numbers - SBNation.com
Since the Tigers got their QB situation figured out, they’ve been tearing apart teams like the Tide have. How can they close the remaining gap?

Ian Book injury update: Notre Dame starting QB could miss FSU game - SBNation.com
This could be huge news for the Irish and for the Playoff race.

Then There’s This

How the people behind ‘The Waterboy’ created a cult classic - SBNation.com

On the 20-year anniversary of the movie hitting theaters, let’s talk with writers, directors, and actors who worked on it.

This is fun.

The Unbearable Weight of Emptiness - Off Tackle Empire

Stop Honoring The Troops. Please.

This is not so fun, but well written and has good points. Worth your time.