PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB AJ Bush has once again held off true freshman M.J. Rivers, as Bush completed 18-of-25 passes for 216 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception, last week in the win over Minnesota. He also rushed 14 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns. “(The ground game) opened up everything. Honestly, I felt bad for Minnesota because it was kind of like pick your poison,” Bush said. “I honestly felt like we couldn’t be stopped in this game.”
–WR Dominic Stampley, a sophomore, caught a team-high eight passes for 65 yards against Minnesota. This came a week after he made four catches for a career-high 153 yards, including touchdowns of 84 and 61 yards, in a loss to Maryland.
–LB Jake Hansen is tied for the team lead with 74 tackles, including 7.5 for loss. With head coach Lovie Smith taking over the defensive calls for Hardy Nickerson, who resigned last week, Hansen made eight tackles and recovered a fumble against Minnesota.
–PK Chase McLaughlin made both of his field goal attempts last week — from 36 and 48 yards — and is 17-of-22 for the season, including four makes from at least 50 yards.
SERIES HISTORY: Nebraska leads Illinois 11-3-1 and won 28-6 last season.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “Defensively, the guys really showed up. Lots of improvement, and we needed to. … Up front, set the tempo. Linebackers, they played outstanding ball. The secondary, when they were called upon, played outstanding football as well. Disappointing when you give up a couple big plays at the end of the game, but that’s not who we are and we’ll keep working on that.” — Coach Lovie Smith on the defensive effort last week.