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Tuesday notebook: Huskers haven't forgotten 2015 Illinois loss

Having already suffered a Hail Mary loss and an overtime defeat through its first four games of 2015, it seemed hard for Nebraska to come up with another way to endure a gut-wrenching loss when it traveled to take on Illinois for its Big Ten opener last October.

As it turned out, the Huskers were able to do just. Leading by six with less than a minute to play, NU allowed the Fighting Illini to march 73 yards with no timeouts and score the game-winning touchdown with just 10 seconds left on the clock in a 14-13 defeat.

Nebraska was either tied or led for 59 minutes, 50 seconds, in that game, but a curious decision to pass on a third-and-7 with under a minute to play helped give Illinois the ball with at its 27-yard line with 55 seconds remaining.

That would be all the time the Illini needed to had the Huskers yet another crushing defeat.

As NU gets ready to face Illinois once again this week, memories of that missed opportunity still linger, no matter how much the Huskers have tried to forget.

“I don’t really look back on it,” senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong said. “We have just got to put ourselves in the right situation to win the game. Last year we kind of kept those guys fighting and kept giving them chances early on. We have just got to make sure we take care of the ball and put ourselves in the right situation to win the game.”

For the coaching staff, that loss served as one of several key learning points during a rough first season in Lincoln. Head coach Mike Riley said they went and reviewed every game from 2015 over the offseason, especially those like Illinois, to see how they could have done better.

With a much firmer grasp on their personnel and a much stronger trust between the coaches and players, Riley said he’s confident the Huskers would handle themselves far better in those game-deciding situations than they did a year ago.

“We certainly spent a lot of time studying all of our situations and taking other teams’ situations and looking at them,” Riley said. “So this thing about football, whether you’ve coached a few years or 40 years, there’s still an awareness learning process that has to take place for me personally and for what is passed onto your team, so you react better.

“But I think having been in those situations and the number of guys we have returning, I think they’re now actually tools and can be helpful for us. Because I think there’s a special emphasis to how important those seconds are, how important that execution is, and those critical situations like that. So I think that the emphasis and the preparation has probably been the best thing that’s come of that since that happened.”

- Robin Washut

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NU leaning towards resting injured Moore

Alonzo Moore has been dealing with a lingering shoulder injury that at times has been so painful his entire arm goes numb, but even that hasn’t kept him off the field the past two weeks.

However, the senior wide receiver re-aggravated the injury once again in Saturday’s win over Northwestern, and with one more game to go before Nebraska reaches its bye week, the training staff might finally insist Moore give himself time to heal.

“I’d say Alonzo is doubtful because he has played two games like that, so our initial thing is let’s just get him healthy so he doesn’t have to play like that,” Riley said. “He still does a good job, and I wouldn’t rule him out totally. But our inclination is to get him healthy.”

While Moore hasn’t officially been declared out for this week’s game vs. Illinois, he did not practice on Tuesday and looks highly unlikely to suit up this week.

Giving him a game off might be the best decision, as the numbers the Louisiana product has put up despite playing with a bad shoulder have been extremely impressive.

Moore leads the team with 12 catches for 310 yards and two touchdowns this season, including posting the three longest catches of his career over the past four weeks. With three receptions of 57 yards or longer (57 vs. Fresno State, 63 vs. Wyoming, 59 vs. Northwestern), Moore is currently averaging 25.8 yards per catch, ranking fifth nationally.

- Robin Washut

Illinois' defensive line ranks among that national leaders in sacks and tackles for loss.

Illini front four 'the best one' Huskers have seen yet

It didn’t take very long of watching Illinois’ game film from this season for Riley to realize his team would be up against a formidable challenge in one particular area.

While Nebraska has faced some quality defensive lines over the first four weeks, Riley said none would be quite as difficult of a test as what they would see from the Illini on Saturday.

“Their defensive front is the best one that we will face so far,” Riley said. “We had trouble with their defensive end, (Dawuane Smoot), last year. They have two defensive ends that are good. They have defensive tackles who are good. So their front will be tough.”

Smoot led Illinois in tackles for loss (15) and sacks (8) last year and came into 2016 as a Preseason All-Big Ten selection. His counterpart, senior end Carroll Phillips, has been even better through three games, leading the nation with 3.0 tackles for loss per game and ranking fifth nationally with 1.33 sacks per game.

On top of them, senior Gimel President is averaging 1.7 TFLs per game to rank third in the Big Ten and 15th in the nation. As a team, the Illini are tied for the NCAA lead in sacks per game (4.33) and rank third in TFLs per game (10.7).

- Robin Washut

Lovie Smith knows challenge Memorial Stadium presents

Illinois head coach Lovie Smith still remembers the last time he was inside Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, no matter how much he’d like to forget.

It was 1988 and Smith was in his first season as the linebackers coach at Arizona State. The Sun Devils came to Lincoln and left with a lopsided 47-16 defeat.

“I do remember,” Smith said during his weekly press conference on Monday. “I don’t choose to remember it an awful lot… It didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to.”

The only other time Smith coached against the Huskers was three years later in 1991, when NU came to Tempe, Ariz., and again handed Arizona State a 18-9 loss.

Despite his two unpleasant experiences with Nebraska in his career, Smith said he was looking forward to taking his Illini squad to Lincoln for another shot at a win in Memorial Stadium.

“I think as you look at college football, the University of Nebraska is a storied program,” Smith said. “It’s a sellout most times, a lot of great games have been played there… There’s a lot of history behind going there, and I know we’re excited about going there.”

- Robin Washut

No. 2 quarterback Ryker Fyfe was not in attendance for Tuesday's practice. (Associated Press)

Quick hits

***As expected, right guard Tanner Farmer (ankle) did not practice on Tuesday, as he is considered doubtful to play against Illinois. Farmer wore a protective boot on his left foot.

***Senior backup quarterback Ryker Fyfe was a no-show for Tuesday's session. Because Riley nor any offensive coaches were available for interviews after practice, no update will be given on Fyfe's status until Wednesday.

***Defensive coordinator Mark Banker said Mick Stoltenberg has really bounced back well after his knee surgery earlier this season. Banker said Stoltenberg was much better against Northwestern than he was against Oregon, where Banker said they may have rushed the defensive tackle back a little too soon.

***Banker said Carlos Davis has done a great job filling in for Stoltenberg the past two weeks. Banker said Davis has matured quite a bit from where he was last season, and paired with his “world-class” athleticism, Davis is really starting to come into his own.

***Banker said Illinois has been flipping its offensive line from side to side during games this season, meaning the left guard and tackle will switch with the right side on a given play. Banker said he’s heard some grumblings from Illini players and coaches that they don’t really like that strategy, and that it tends to be an “indicator” of certain plays, such as identifying “strong side” and “quick side” looks up front.

***Banker said Nebraska played eight different defensive linemen against Northwestern, and that added rotation was something they want to continue to do to keep the front four fresh.

***While Nebraska’s defense only gave up two “explosive plays” against Northwestern, Banker noted that both of those resulted in touchdowns by the Wildcats. Banker said the Blackshirts had to continue to eliminate those big plays, especially against an Illinois team that thrives on big plays.

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