Oct. 04--Without much reason to believe it to be true, Illinois players continued their mantra on the sideline in the dwindling minutes of Saturday's Big Ten opener against Nebraska.
"We're going to get our shot," wide receiver Geronimo Allison said the players told each other. "We're going to get our shot."
Illinois got its chance and made a statement as quarterback Wes Lunt connected with Allison for a 1-yard game-winning touchdown pass with 10 seconds left for a 14-13 victory over the Cornhuskers.
The Illini (4-1) snapped a three-game losing streak in conference openers, including losses at Nebraska the last two seasons.
"I told them to envision what it's going to be like with 0:00 on the clock and when you walk off the field, the band's playing and the fans are cheering you on," interim coach Bill Cubit said. "We talked about performing in the moment."
Illinois had a few difference-making playmakers.
After sputtering much of the day on offense, Illinois drove 72 yards on six plays in 41 seconds to win the game.
Lunt threw five passes in the same spot to Allison from first-and-goal. Nebraska defensive backs twice were flagged for interference on Allison, keeping Illinois alive.
"Go to your playmaker," Lunt said of the strategy.
Malik Turner, who had struggled throughout the game with drops, set up the score with a 50-yard catch.
"I was down a little bit," Turner said. "But (teammates) just lifted me up and told me we're going to come back and I have to be ready."
Illinois offense had sputtered most of the day, failing to score in two previous trips inside Nebraska's red zone. The Illini turned the ball over twice on downs, and Taylor Zalewski also missed two field goals -- from 51 and 41 yards -- before making amends with the extra point to secure victory.
Illinois defense was at its best. The Illini limited Nebraska (2-3) to a season-low 292 yards and held the Big Ten's top passing quarterback Tommy Armstrong to 105 yards on 10 of 31 pass attempts.
"We wanted to make sure we held up our end of the bargain," defensive coordinator Tim Banks said. "It's great pride because playing a dual threat quarterback is always a challenge and Armstrong is probably one of the best in the country. Keeping those guys contained for the most part was priority No. 1."
For a team that has prided itself on its resiliency, there may have been no more obvious symbol of that than the victory against Nebraska.
"With every obstacle we've had in our way, we've responded," Lunt said.
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2-minute drill
Officially bad: Big Ten officials made a major blunder in the third quarter, prematurely moving the sideline chains to start a fresh set of downs for Illinois. That resulted in the Illini calling a fourth-down pass on what they thought was third down. Instead of getting a chance to convert on fourth-and-inches from their 44, the ball was awarded to the Cornhuskers after a review.
Ferguson out: Running back Josh Ferguson left the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury and did not return. Coach Bill Cubit said his status was unclear after the game.
Riley's decision: Nebraska fans will question coach Mike Riley's decision to throw instead of chewing time off the clock with a run with 55 seconds left and a six-point lead. Riley said there was miscommunication with quarterback Tommy Armstrong, who was supposed to execute a bootleg run.
Punter change: After a 27-yard punt by Ryan Frain gave Nebraska excellent field position, Illinois switched to David Reisner for the rest of the game.
Looking ahead: Illini travel to 5-0 Iowa on Saturday.
