LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – The spotlight of the college football world will once again be on Memorial Stadium, and with Friday night’s rare showdown, that spotlight won’t even have to be shared.

No. 22 Nebraska (3-0) takes on No. 24 Illinois (3-0) in the first Big Ten Conference game of the season for both teams.

It’s the first time in more than a decade that two ranked teams have faced off in Lincoln, the last time being in 2013. A win would also be Nebraska’s first over a ranked opponent since 2016.

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PRE-GAME COVERAGE

Nebraska’s 2024 season appears to have that theme: It’s the first time since “insert year here” that the Huskers have done “insert stat here.”

It’s a sign that head coach Matt Rhule is turning the program around — something that’s essentially become his signature endeavor throughout his career. He did it at Temple, he did it at Baylor, and now the Huskers appear to be on a similar trajectory. Some would argue they’re even ahead of schedule.

It is fitting then that this game is the 400th consecutive sold-out game at Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, a milestone the university plans to celebrate Friday night.

“It’s passion and loyalty,” Rhule said. “And it’s not just the selling out, it’s also coming early and staying late. That loyalty, that passion, as I’ve said since day one, is something that we’re humbled by, and we have to make sure we do our job. I feel it all the time. Not as a burden or in a bad way, but a sense of responsibility to make sure we do our part.”

GAME INFORMATION

• WHEN: 7:00 PM, Friday, September 20
• WHERE: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska.
• WATCH: FOX
• LISTEN: Huskers Radio Network
• VEGAS ODDS: Illinois +9, O/U 43.5

The optimism among the Big Red faithful is at a level we haven’t seen in decades, and so far the product on the field is living up to the excitement. A 3-0 record and a Top 25 appearance is certainly a good start, but now the tests become more difficult.

“It’s time for the season to start,” Husker QB Dylan Raiola said after Nebraska’s 34-3 win over Northern Iowa last week. “It’s time for the games to start. You treat those three (non-conference) games like real games, but you really find your identity before you get to those conference games that mean everything. I know our team is excited and it’s finally here.”

Conference play is underway, and what better way to get things going than against a team that embodies the Big Ten’s smash-mouth, “line-it-up-and-show-what-you-got” style of football. In other words, “Bielema Ball.”

Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has constructed what is now his patented model of a football team. A brutally physical squad that will wear opponents down as the game progresses. Bielema demonstrated this for a decade as head coach at Wisconsin and Arkansas before landing at Illinois in 2021 after a brief stint as an assistant for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

“I have a lot of respect for (Bielema),” Rhule said. “His teams, they’re going to play great defense, they’re going to run the ball, they’re going to play great special teams. Obviously, he went on to work with Coach Belichick after an illustrious head coaching career, so I know he understands that mindset and he’s doing a great job at Illinois. I have a lot of respect for him.”

Running back Kaden Faegin has been Bielema’s workhorse this year, having carried the ball 42 times in three games. But Illinois has been more versatile this year than it was in the pass season thanks to the lofty play of quarterback Luke Altmeyer, who has been about as good as anyone in the country so far, completing 70 percent of his passes for 647 yards and six touchdowns without a turnover.

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