Illinois gives Nebraska its 25th consecutive loss against a seeded opponent

LINCOLN, Nebraska – Luke Altmyer threw four touchdowns, including a short pass to Pat Bryant in overtime, to give No. 24 Illinois a 31-24 victory over No. 22 Nebraska on Friday night.

The Illini (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) beat two higher-ranked opponents in the same season for the first time since 2007 and started 4-0 for the first time since 2011. The Illini beat the Cornhuskers in Lincoln for the third straight time, spoiling their celebration of their 400th consecutive sold-out Memorial Stadium.

“I told our players the other day that they control the atmosphere in the stadium,” Illini coach Bret Bielema said. “We thought if we could turn the game into a four-quarter game, it would be to our advantage. I didn't plan on it going to overtime, but I wasn't mad when it happened.”

Nebraska (3-1, 0-1) has lost 25 consecutive games against top-25 teams since 2016. That's the second-longest active streak among current power conference teams, behind Rutgers' 40 in a row, according to ESPN Research. The Huskers are 8-31 single-possession games since 2018.

The teams scored touchdowns in the second half before the Illini drove 75 yards in nine plays to tie the game at 24-24. Altmyer threw 6 yards to tackle Brandon Henderson on a fourth-and-2 attempt and scored the touchdown with 10:36 left in regulation. It was the 6-foot-5, 330-pound Henderson's first career pass.

“We replayed that pass this week and as a team we kind of voted to throw it and catch it and we all voted yes,” Bielema said. “Little did we know it was going to be a fourth-down call that would put us in position to win the game. Kudos to our offensive coaches and players for making that happen.”

Nebraska punted and missed a field goal on its final two possessions of regulation when backup John Hohl, kicking for the injured Tristan Alvano, missed wide left from 39 yards with 2:59 left.

Illinois fumbled and punted, and Raiola went to his knees, sending the game into overtime.

Illinois' Kaden Feagin ran 21 yards on the first play of overtime before Altmyer found Bryant for a 4-yard touchdown.

“This was a Big Ten game — a typical game where it comes down to the last play,” Nebraska defensive lineman Ty Robinson said. “It hurts because we really beat ourselves, especially on defense. Next week we can come back and fix a lot of mistakes.”

Nebraska's possession in overtime was a disaster, as Raiola was sacked three times, including on the fourth attempt to end the game.

Altmyer threw for 215 yards and Bryant had five catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns.

Altmyer completed 21 of 27 passes against the Huskers and has completed 75 of 102 passes (74%) with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions this season.

“The best is probably yet to come [for him]said Bielema.

Raiola threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns and was intercepted once. Jahmal Banks caught eight balls for 94 yards and Isaiah Neyor had four catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns.

“As I told our guys, the motto was to win all these games. Mine was to play 1-0 every week. We can learn a lot from that,” said Nebraska coach Matt Rhule.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.