The Cornhuskers take on the mighty Fighting Illini today in a clash of the Titans game! Both teams stand on a 3-0 and are at par on the points table of the Big 10 Conference and today’s match will settle one team’s superiority over the other. The Cornhuskers seem to be on a whole new trajectory this year with a strong squad that proved its mettle by squashing over their longtime rivals, the Colorado Buffaloes. Moreover, with Dylan Raiola at the helm of the Nebraska team, the Illinois Fighting Illini will have a hard time stopping their offense in the Memorial Stadium Lincoln, the home of the Cornhuskers. Yet, there might be a way to overcome Raiola’s explosiveness against Illinois, as per Greg McElroy.

On the 19th September episode of the ‘Always College Football with Greg McElroy’ show, the host dove deep into the predictions and the matchup for the Week 4 game between Nebraska and Illinois. McElroy commented on how Raiola will be a force to be reckoned with and laid out a few important tips for Illinois to improve its performance.

McElroy emphasized the phenomenal stats that Nebraska has recorded in their offense this season but went on to reveal the “one” thing Illinois can do to put up a challenge. He said, “They don’t have a ton of plays that are being made behind the opposing line of scrimmage but one thing that they can probably do, just looking at how Nebraska’s kind of working right now, a lot of Nebraska’s throws are kind of catered around the line of scrimmage against quality competition. I do think when you watch Raiola at times against lesser competition, they’ll try to get things going down the field but right now, 61% of Nebraska’s receiving yards are coming after the catch and 41% of their throws have been at or behind the line of scrimmage, that’s the fourth highest percentage in the sport.” Thus, Illinois will have to be very tactical about how they prevent Raiola from making those touchdown passes, and seeing how the HC of the Fighting Illini himself had high praise for the freshman QB, it is evident that he will be a tough challenge to beat on 20th September.

Bret Bielema and his admiration for Dylan Raiola

The Fighting Illini will face 11 players from the Nebraska team along with over 80,000 of the most passionate fans of the Cornhuskers. Additionally, the talents of Dylan Raiola will prove to be the thorn in their side as they try to make it up the Big 10 ladder. The Illinois head coach, Bret Bielema, has talked about how the intensity of the fans and the noise will be a challenge that the team can’t wait for.  Most importantly, here’s what Bielema had to say about his opinion on Raiola from last year and this season.

Bielema spoke about Raiola and said, “The preparation from last year’s game – a lot of the same coaches – but he brings a different element immediately. He’s a very talented young man that’s got incredible awareness. Very talented, got a great deep ball throw… they maximize him and use him pretty well. There’s some things you can literally see him getting better on every series.” Plus, seeing how he will be the biggest contender against their win today, Bielema hopefully has the plan to stop Raiola in his tracks since it’s plausible that he is able to lead the Cornhuskers to a smooth victory.

If you’re interested in knowing more about college football and the current NIL landscape, do check out this ES Think Tank episode with Doug Sanders.