Nebraska Football: 3 reasons why Huskers will beat Illinois

Nebraska football opens the season Saturday against Illinois and here are three reasons why the Huskers will win. 

It’s Week 0 of the 2021 college football season on Saturday and one of the marquee games is a Big Ten battle between Nebraska football and Illinois.

This game means two completely different things for both programs. For Illinois, it’s the first game under first-year head coach Bret Bielema, a guy who knows a thing or two about winning games in the Big Ten West as a head coach.

Bielema and Illinois certainly want to win this game at home on Saturday and it’s essential for the Fighting Illini if they want to reach a bowl game.

But for Nebraska football and head coach Scott Frost, this feels like a must-win game.

Frost is just 12-20 in three seasons on the job and not once has he won three consecutive games. A win against Illinois, followed by home wins against Buffalo and Fordham might provide his best chance.

All offseason, the talk has been that Nebraska is finally ready to take a step forward or at least get back to playing in a bowl game, which incredibly, it hasn’t done in four years.

Those nine-win seasons Frank Solich and Bo Pelini used to routinely rack up are looking pretty good now, aren’t they? Husker fans would kill for a nine-win season and some sort of relevance again.

A win Saturday would be a step in the right direction, while a loss would make the hot seat for Frost even hotter.

Here are three reasons why Frost and the Huskers will avoid that fate.