Former Georgia RB Todd Gurley in attendance for Nebraska vs. Illinois top 25 matchup

The surprise guest of the evening for the Illinois and Nebraska matchup is none other than former Georgia running back Todd Gurley.
Vanderbilt v Georgia
Vanderbilt v Georgia / Mike Zarrilli/GettyImages
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One of the safest bets of the season would probably be venturing a guess that nobody had former Georgia Bulldog and NFL star Todd Gurley attending a matchup between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Illinois Fighting Illini, with both teams being ranked in the top 25 on their 2024 bingo card.

If you did expect this to happen, go to Vegas, now.

Nonetheless, the man who spent six years in the NFL, ran for over 6,000 rushing yards, and scored a whopping 67 touchdowns on the ground is in Lincoln for the Big Ten game.

One of the stronger connections tying Gurley to the game is Cornhusker strength coach Corey Campbell who played for Georgia around the same time as Gurley, overlapping for three years.

While Gurley may be a surprise guest at the game, the fact that both Nebraska and Illinois are ranked in the top 25 maybe even more shocking. However, so far this year, the Cornhuskers have taken down UTEP, Northern Iowa, and, most notably, Colorado. On the flip side, Illinois has defeated Eastern Illinois, Central Michigan, and then-No. 19 Kansas.

Gurley was seen on the sidelines pregame, a little over an hour ahead of kickoff between the two Big Ten opponents.

Over all time, the Cornhuskers have a massive advantage over the Fighting Illini. Nebraska has won 14 of the 21 matchups between the two teams or 66.7 percent of their meetings. Nebraska and Illinois are scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

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