Ozigbo, Huskers run wild in blowout victory over Illinois | Football

The Huskers scored on six of their eight first-half possessions, rolled up 356 yards of offense and put 38 points on the board in the first 30 minutes of a 54-35 win over the hapless Illini.

Even when the Nebraska offense did falter, Illinois handed the ball back twice by muffing punts that turned into 10 points. In all, the Huskers scored 17 points off three first-half turnovers by the visitors.

Freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez completed 12 of 17 passes for 126 yards and three touchdowns in the first half — including scoring strikes of 37 and 32 yards to Stanley Morgan and a 12-yard, third-down dart to tight end Jack Stoll with :03 remaining before halftime — and added 67 yards and a score to NU’s potent rushing attack.

Nebraska averaged 14.2 yards per carry over 16 attempts in the opening half, including carries of 30 by Martinez, 49 by freshman Maurice Washington and a 66-yard touchdown for senior Devine Ozigbo.

That scoring run propelled Ozigbo, the resurgent veteran, past 2,000 rushing yards for his career. His 162 on the afternoon moved him to 958 on the season. 

While any Husker who carried the ball ran wild, though, a former Husker did the same. Illinois starting quarterback AJ Bush, who started his career in Lincoln before stops at Iowa Western Community College and Virginia Tech before a graduate year with the Illini, rushed 17 times for 128 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, befuddling the Blackshirts with deft ball-handling, shifty moves and a long stride.

Special teams, though, cost Lovie Smith’s team dearly and changed the game in a positive way for the Huskers one week after NU coach Scott Frost said it cost his team a game at Ohio State.

NU’s first three drives covered 75 yards, 89 and 75 yards, each ending in touchdowns, before the Huskers were forced to punt early in the second quarter. Freshman returner Carlos Sandy fumbled the punt return, and Husker long-snapper Chase Urbach recovered it, leading to a field goal.

NU senior safety Tre Neal forced a fumble on Illinois’ next possession, but the visitors had a chance to turn around a 31-14 deficit when they scored with 58 seconds left in the first half and promptly forced a three-and-out. At 31-21, they could have threatened for one more score, and at least, were in position to get the ball back to start the third quarter. Instead, Jordan Holmes muffed another punt and Jeramiah Stovall recovered it at the Illini 7 for Nebraska. Three plays later, Martinez hit Stoll for a game-changing score.

The second half started in similar fashion. 

Bush was intercepted by NU senior safety Aaron Williams when a receiver dropped the ball, causing it to fall right into the Atlanta native’s lap. The Huskers mounted perhaps their best drive of the season from there, marching 82 yards on 17 plays over 7:48 to take a 45-21 lead with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter. The drive included three fourth-down conversions, the last of which featured a 20-yard rocket from Martinez to JD Spielman over the middle on fourth-and-9 that immediately preceded a 4-yard scoring run from Ozigbo. 

The special teams onslaught continued in the fourth quarter when sophomore safety Marquel Dismuke blocked a punt that rolled through the back of the end zone for a safety. 

Morgan finished the afternoon with eight catches for 131 yards and now has 852 receiving yards on the season.