McKewon: Nebraska’s defense rediscovered its edge on an ugly Big Ten West Friday night

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The red strip ran all the way up the lower bleachers at Memorial Stadium. And that strip of Nebraska fans were yelling full throat. On the road. During a key third down. For the Husker defense.

Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer threw the ball. He had a guy open. NU linebacker Chief Borders stuck up a hand and batted down the pass.

“YAH!” yelled that red strip of Nebraska fans.

“Booo,” responded Illinois fans, whose offense was just slightly more frustrating than a Nebraska attack that absolutely refused, Friday night, to finish off its opponent.

And in a Big Ten West battle of stubbed toes, missed field goals, injury timeouts and second half gaffes, the Huskers were able to survive their miscues and stumble into a bye week with a 3-3 record, reasonable hope of a bowl berth and an outside shot at winning its division. Their breakfast will taste pretty good Saturday.

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They have a defense. Still. Even if DeShon Singleton and Luke Reimer are banged up. Even after Michigan snatched their heart for a week. They came back with hard practices and a pulse. Just like coach Matt Rhule hoped when, with his jaw set and his eyes on fire, he set the mood and the tone earlier in the week.

“We are a defensive football team,” he said. “The defense has to learn that we’re a defensive football team.”

No days or nights off. No drives where, hey, maybe it’s cool to a cut a corner and play with lousy leverage or have your eyes in the wrong place.

Not with this Husker offense, which remains in the young colt stage of managing the option and has a center spearing a defender for an unsportmanlike conduct penalty in the fourth quarter. That has back-to-back lost fumbles on fourth quarter drives. Body blows? Only if Nebraska is punching itself in the gut. It’s bound to give NU fans a bit of a sour taste. It dampened the mood afterward. Too many penalties. Too many missed blocks. Too many balls rolling about on the field. Not enough playmakers who are both healthy and reliable.

So long as this offense remains young and inconsistent, burns timeouts like bingo cards and loses wideouts at the rate I do headphones, the Husker defense has play at a master level.

And for about 11 plays to start Friday night, those defenders looked like novices. A dysfunctional Illinois offense moved briskly down the field with tempo and quick throws, down to the NU 3. Second and goal there. Time for the Illini to take a touchdown lead while moving the ball into the teeth of the wind.

Nebraska bowed its back. Three plays, three stops. The last two came from inside the Husker 1. On third down, the Illini tried the push sneak, and Nebraska submarined it so well that Altmyer landed right where he started. On fourth down, Reggie Love darted to his right and appeared to have a hole.

Until a true freshman, Riley Van Poppel, shed his block and met Love just inches from the goal line. He stood up Love and forced a stalemate. NU’s D had its first stop.

And it’d get a lot more. After Illinois’ initial drive, NU forced three straight three-and-outs, a key in helping the Huskers’ messy offense get its act together for a 14-play, 79-yard touchdown drive midway through the second quarter. While Nebraska corner Quinton Newsome got beat for a 46-yard touchdown late in the second quarter — he’d get his revenge later — Nebraska was able to stop an Illini drive just before halftime thanks to Princewill Umanmielen’s sack.

NU’s second half was close to a defensive masterpiece, given the circumstances. Phelan Sanford forced a fumble. Nash Hutmacher stuffed another fourth down at midfield when Nebraska led 20-7. Borders knocked down a pass. And Newsome, as Altmyer threw a pass into coverage, got his first career interception.

Illinois got 58 yards on its first five drives of the second half. That’s where the Huskers won the game.

The offense certainly didn’t. NU goes into the bye week with a win. It could have gone into bye week with a blowout.

How many points should have Nebraska scored? Forty? That sounds about right. Not sure I’ve ever seen five drives reach an opponent’s territory in the second half and produce … three points. Four of them got inside the Illinois 20. If you want proof that NU’s offensive line can’t quite deliver, you can point to Nebraska’s sheer inability to mash when a defense is demoralized and facing its 60th play. Rhule can’t sit Anthony Grant and Emmett Johnson when they both lose fumbles, can he?

Questions for the coach — and his staff to ponder in a bye week. Nebraska’s offense might make them pull their hair out. But that defense is putting hair on NU’s chest.

All of the Huskers’ realistic goals remain within grasp. They have a defense. And that might be enough.

Photos: Nebraska football takes on Illinois

Nebraska’s Heinrich Haarberg (10), center, celebrates a touchdown with his teammates during the second quarter of a college football game against Illinois at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023.