I didn’t think I would be saying this, but after Friday night, the Illinois football program stands at 4-0.

Entering the 2024 campaign, I predicted that the Illini would go 8-4. But a part of that 8-4 finish was the program starting 2-3 due to the tough early-season competition.

Illinois has blown through those expectations, though. We have now won multiple games that I didn’t think we would win.

The victory over Nebraska on Friday was incredible. There were so many points in the contest where momentum would shift. Illinois ended up persevering and coming away with a huge 31-24 win in overtime.

This was not your Nebraska of the 2010s. The Cornhuskers are a good program that I believe will finish the season in the top 25.

The Nebraska offense is going to only get better as the season goes on and Dylan Raiola gets more reps under his belt. On Friday night, the Illinois defense, specifically the front seven, was able to get into the backfield and make things uncomfortable. They were a huge reason the Illini came away with the victory.

I was extremely impressed by how Illinois shut down Nebraska’s running attack. They had some moments where they broke off a few solid runs, but no one ran wild. Dante Dowdell finished the game as their leading rusher with 20 carries for 72 yards. That is 3.6 yards per carry.

If you told me pregame that the best running back for the Cornhuskers would average 3.6 yards per carry, I would have been blown away. Players like Seth Coleman and Gabe Jacas were in the backfield constantly stopping both the run and giving Raiola issues in the pocket.

Coming into the game, Nebraska had only allowed one sack in the first three contests of the season. The Illini ended the game with five sacks of Raiola, three of those sacks coming in the overtime period. Alec Bryant, Dennis Briggs Jr., and Dylan Rosiek each teed off against Raiola to end the game. It was one of the most impressive games from an Illinois front seven that I can remember.