LINCOLN, Neb. _ Illinois traveled to a tough place to try to regroup.
The Illini's attempt to rebound from a rough start after their off week took them to undefeated Nebraska. They were not only kicking off their Big Ten season, but playing their first road game of the season. And they were 21-point underdogs.
Tough task.
The Illini led in the fourth quarter, but eventually fell 31-16 to the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb., before a crowd of 90,374.
Nebraska took a 17-16 lead midway through the fourth quarter when it put together an 18-play, 10 minute, 42-second, 75-yard drive that resulted in Terrell Newby's 3-yard touchdown run.
The drive was sustained with a fourth-and-1 conversion after Illinois' spot challenge failed. Two Illinois penalties also kept that drive alive _ a blatant Chunky Clements horse collar on the sideline and a fourth-down pass interference call on Darius Mosley.
The Illini had hung in well before that, keeping the Cornhuskers out of the end zone since the opening drive of the game.
But the Cornhuskers scored the second of it's back-to-back touchdowns to go up 24-16 edge after a 6-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Armstrong Jr. to Trey Foster with 4:32 left.
After coach Lovie Smith put much emphasis on takeaways heading into this game, the Illini came up with a Rob Bain fumble recovery and a Mosley interception.
But the Illini could convert only field goals after those turnovers as they were kept out of the end zone on two drives driving to the 10- and 4-yard lines.
Still, the Illini still had a 16-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Chase McLaughlin kicked a 43-yard field goal with two seconds in the half to give the Illini the edge. Mosley's interception set it up after he returned the pick 24 yards with 28 seconds left before the break.
McLaughlin had kicked a 24-yard field goal on the previous possession.
Nebraska came out strong, marching 75 yards on its first drive to score on Armstrong's 1-yard run. The Illini tied the game 7-7 in the second quarter on a 31-yard run by Kendrick Foster, who eluded three tacklers to burst into the end zone.
The Cornhuskers took a lead on a 29-yard field goal.
Illinois redshirt freshman running back Reggie Corbin led the way with 72 yards on nine carries, while previous starter Ke'Shawn Vaughn ran for 46 yards on seven rushes.
Quarterback Wes Lunt connected on 13 of 22 passes for 133 yards.
