CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Scott Frost’s eyes followed the ball out of Artur Sitkowski’s right hand and into the waiting arms of junior defensive back Cam Taylor-Britt.
The Fox broadcast showed junior outside linebacker Caleb Tannor hit Sitkowski and start to drive him to the ground, but not much after that.
The end result of the early second-quarter play changed the complexion of Illinois’ 30-22 win over Nebraska on Saturday.
The interception was wiped off the board when Tannor was flagged for unnecessary roughness and also for taunting. The 30 penalty yards set up Illinois at the NU 24 and the Illini evened the score at 9-9 seven plays later, the first of 28 straight points for the home team in the middle of the game.
“I didn’t get an explanation of either of the 15-yard penalties on the same play,” Frost said afterward. “On the replay, I didn’t think the hit was late at all. It was bang-bang, so I don’t know what it was for, but it certainly was a big play.”
Tannor appeared to be flagged for driving Sitkowski into the turf. Before the broadcast shot cut away, Sitkowski’s feet appear to come off the ground and Tannor’s shoulder pads tilt down.
Then he got another penalty called for taunting. At one point, he stood near Sitkowski and three flags pock-marked the turf around him.
“It caught me off guard on how much penalty yardage they actually got off of that. It is what it is,” junior tight end Austin Allen said. “It’s football. Caleb Tannor is going to get after the quarterback and he did. He was maybe a hair aggressive, I don’t know what the thought process was there from the refs.”
Said senior defensive lineman Ben Stille, “Obviously hindsight it was a huge swing in the game, but present moment for us, we all have Caleb’s back, and Caleb was playing lights out. Caleb played a great game. Whether that was a late hit or not, I don’t know.”
Special teams blunders, again: It was almost too surreal to be true.
After an offseason of talk about Nebraska improving its special teams, there was Cam Taylor-Britt fielding a punt on NU’s 2-yard line, then compounding the sin by drifting back into the end zone and throwing the ball away when Illinois punt coverage team closed in.
Another special teams disaster, this one from one of Nebraska’s best players.
“We’ve just got to eliminate some of the mistakes. That’s what we harped on in camp. Just got to play smart,” NU receiver and punt returner Oliver Martin said. “That was probably the biggest difference.”
Martin called Taylor-Britt “a frickin’ great” punt returner.
“I’m not going to say anything bad about him,” Martin said.
That’s why several Huskers were seen on the sideline after the play trying to pump Taylor-Britt back up after the mishap.
“He’s a dude. He’s a special athlete, a special player, and we know he’s way better than that play,” Martin said. “So we just didn’t want him to get down at all.”
That was the first of a day full of miscues that featured two kickoff returns that came up short of the 25-yard line, a 13-yard punt on a fourth-and-16, a 34-yard punt with the wind when Nebraska was pinned deep in its own territory and a pair of missed extra points.
Historic debut for Ervin: When Gabe Ervin trotted onto the field for Nebraska’s first offensive series, he became a footnote in Husker history.
The Georgia native took a handoff on NU’s first play from scrimmage, making him the first true freshman running back to start a season opener for the Huskers in the modern era.
Ervin said he was ready for the moment.
“During fall camp, Coach (Ryan) Held (NU running backs coach) was getting me a lot of reps, getting me a lot of experience with the ones, because he knew this time was coming,” Ervin said. “It was a good first college game. Once I got my first hit, it was pretty real.”
Ervin became only the seventh position player to start a season opener as a true freshman, joining wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson (2019), quarterback Adrian Martinez (2018), linebacker Dedrick Young (2015), offensive tackle Tyler Moore (2011), wide receiver Terrence Nunn (2004), and cornerback Ralph Brown (1996).
Another mystery starter was revealed on defense, when cornerback Quinton Newsome got the start opposite Cam Taylor-Britt. Newsome, a sophomore, finished with five tackles.
Burned by the backup: College football can be a long and winding road for many players.
Quarterback Artur Sitkowski committed to Miami out of high school. Then he flipped to Rutgers. Then he struggled for the Scarlet Knights, eventually getting supplanted by Nebraska transfer Noah Vedral last season.
Then Sitkowski transferred to Illinois. The first team he faced as a member of the Illini? Nebraska.
Sitkowski came off the bench to replace Illini starter Brandon Peters after Peters left the game holding his left shoulder late in the first quarter. The player who once went 2-for-16 with four interceptions against Maryland proceeded to connect on 11 of his first 12 throws against Nebraska’s defense.
Sitkowski finished 12-for-15 for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Against a Nebraska defense on which the secondary was thought to be a position of strength, he and Peters combined to go 15-for-19 for 159 yards.
Debuts: The following Nebraska players made their debuts with the program, according to the school’s participation chart: freshman defensive back Marques Buford, freshman receiver Ty Hahn, freshman running back Gabe Ervin, junior running back Markese Stepp, junior linebacker Chris Kolarevic, redshirt freshman linebacker John Bullock, freshman punter Daniel Cerni, freshman linebacker Grant Tagge, redshirt freshman offensive lineman Ian Boerkircher, sophomore offensive lineman Nouredin Nouili and freshman kickoff specialist Brendan Franke.
