Nebraska-Illinois Preview: Cornhuskers beat writer fears Chase Brown

Carson Gourdie and Josh Pietsch zoomed with SBNation beat writer Jon Johnston, previewing Illinois’ matchup with the Nebraska Cornhuskers this Saturday.

Despite sitting at 4-3 on the year, the Nebraska Cornhuskers are an upset victory over Illinois away from jumping into first place in the Big Ten West Division. A terrible conference loss to Northwestern has been offset by victories over Indiana and Rutgers, and Cornhuskers’ passing game has provided teams like Purdue trouble this season.

The Daily Illini Podcast recently previewed the game with SBNation beat writer Jon Johnston, who covers the Nebraska football program. Johnston, although he highlights the impact of wide receiver Trey Palmer, is worried that the Illini will be too much for the Cornhuskers.

‘Huskers offense can be productive if the line play improves

“If (Nebraska) can get the ball to Trey Palmer and he can outrun (Illinois’) defensive backs, he’ll score in 30 seconds every time with the ball.

“But, you know, that means that (Nebraska) protects our quarterback and if you’ve seen Nebraska’s offensive tackles there, I don’t mean to be mean to these guys, but you could put a box on the field and it would at least be in the way of a defensive player sometimes.

“We do have good running backs. We just don’t have a line that can block for him. And we do have good receivers. But it’s a matter of whether Casey Thompson, who has a pretty decent quarterback in terms of reads and being able to find receivers. If he has time to throw the ball and he isn’t getting hit and hit and hit he you know will make some yardage.”

Palmer’s presence can open up opportunities for other pass catchers

“I think it was a surprise to everybody that Mickey Joseph, who was formerly at LSU and recruited (Palmer), brought him to Nebraska.

“I do think he runs good routes. Against Purdue, he just basically outran everybody and Casey Thompson was able to get him the ball and get him enough yards and keep Nebraska in the game.

“Mark Whipple can scheme (plays to get Palmer) open. And the problem with that is, everybody knows who (Palmer) is now, so he’s probably going to see a lot of double coverage and a lot of press off the line and a lot of stuff to try to keep him from getting down the field.

“We do that the good thing is the other name, you should know that Travis Vokolek is probably one of the big threats, and he’s our tight end. He’s a big guy. He’s got decent hands. And you know, if you’re all everybody’s paying attention to Trey Palmer all the time, he can hurt you.”

Stopping Illinois running back Chase Brown, quarterback Tommy DeVito

“In order to stop Chase Brown, you have to have a good front seven, and Nebraska honestly doesn’t have a good front seven. (They) lost Nick Henrich for the year he was one of (the) better linebackers. Our defensive line doesn’t have a lot of depth.

“Scott Frost thought that it was a good idea that you never tackled during practices. So our defense went for four years never really tackling very much during practice. Well, you can’t tackle somebody if you’re not tackling in practice, because you’re not used to the physicality of it, and you’re not used to the angles, and you’re not used to that stuff.

“It goes back to the front seven, if (Nebraska is) going to get pressure on DeVito. It’s going to be through scheme (and not the talent of the defensive line) which means we’re probably going to have to bring a defensive back up (and have them blitz).”

Illinois could control the clock

“Bret Bielema is just happy running the ball 83 times a day. That’s really what he is. And you know, the key here is Nebraska gonna slow that down.

“I could see (Illinois) being perfectly happy to go on four drives that last 12 minutes a piece. (Illinois) score 28 points, (Nebraska) scores maybe 17 because we don’t get the ball very much.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t think (Illinois is a) great team, but I think that they’re a well put-together team. They’re well coached, they don’t make a lot of mistakes and they fill in all the blanks. They have a great running back. They have a pretty decent quarterback — 10 touchdowns the two interceptions.

“That’s a pretty good ratio. The receivers don’t terrify anybody but they do enough to be productive. And I think that’s a winning team. You know you got a good defensive line. You got a good offensive line. Congratulations, you won the Big Ten West.”

Score Prediction from Johnston:
35-21 to Illinois

Analysis:
Johnston doesn’t have much faith in the Cornhuskers being able to compete at the line of scrimmage. The defense has allowed nearly 200 rushing yards a game, and the offensive line has done a poor job at times of protecting Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson.

This seems to be a favorable matchup for Illinois. If the ‘Huskers can’t slow down Brown, the senior running back can control the game and keep players like Palmer off the field — like how the Illini kept Minnesota running back Mohamid Ibrahim from registering a big game.

The Illini defense line has also performed very well this season, rattling quarterbacks like Tanner Morgan and Brennan Armstrong throughout the season. This is vital as giving Thompson time in the pocket could allow Nebraska to hit on deep shots — like what Indiana did to the Illini in September.

The Illini, winners of five straight, are 7.5-point road favorites, which originally opened at 5.5 points. Illinois has proven they don’t sleepwalk through games under Bielema, and I expect the Illini to ride Chase Brown and Josh McCray to a gritty road victory.

Illinois 27 – Nebraska 20

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