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“I thought the ball was coming out of his hand good, he had stuff. He got the first outs, and then with two outs, he threw a strike and then the guys got on him. You don’t ignore the fact that he had the first few hitters, that he was making pitches and was not (giving up) hard contact. You consider it all.”
Outside linebacker Khalil Mack (foot), wide receiver Darnell Mooney (groin) and defensive back Xavier Crawford (back) were listed as questionable. Mack, who sprained his foot against the Browns, didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday and was limited Friday.
The Huskers had seven plays go for at least 20 yards, and their 657 yards were their most in two years. Their 427 yards rushing, a good amount of them coming on old-school Nebraska triple-option plays, were their most since they ran for 458 against Illinois in 2014.
Games 1 and 2 of the Sox-Astros ALDS are Thursday and Friday at Minute Maid Park, with times to be announced. Game 3 of the best-of-five series is Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field, and Game 4, if necessary, would be Monday at Guaranteed Rate. If the series goes five games, it would wrap up Wednesday in Houston.
The Huskies led 17-3 at halftime and did not give up the lead, although Eastern Michigan’s Ben Bryant threw touchdown passes of 42 yards to Bryson Cannon and 17 yards to Dylan Drummond in the third quarter, sandwiched around Clint Ratkovich’s 2-yard TD run for NIU. The teams traded field goals late in the fourth quarter.
“Each day, especially right now, is trying to deal with the uncertainty and the moving parts that are going and also preparing and getting guys that are showing up to the big leagues and getting to perform, getting them ready and getting them in a situation to succeed,” Ross said. “So my mindset hadn’t really gotten to the end of (Sunday) yet, but one thing I’ve learned about this seat is that there’s something next coming and new that we’ve got to be ready for.”
“When you have a performance like that, times like that, adversity like that, you need those things in life just to slap you in the face and tell you to refocus,” Fields said. “I’m not saying that we were complacent, but really just when you go out there and perform like that, that’s not what we want to do.
“He’s so athletic and the way his feet and his hands work together,” McEwing said. “He’ll set his glove to a certain hop so far away from where the ball is, and I’m like, ‘wow.’ It’s crazy. I saw one other player do that, and it was Rey Ordóñez. He would set his glove to certain hops or even on relay throws. He’d set it early and then throw from that spot. (Moncada) does the same thing and it’s like, wow, that’s how talented this man is.
Ridder and the Bearcats put together their best late in the second quarter, going 80 yards for a touchdown. Ridder was 3-for-4 on the drive, each completion for more than 20 yards, including the 27-yard touchdown pass to Tre Tucker that beat Irish All-America safety Kyle Hamilton.
It stands as the fourth best single-game rushing performance in Illinois history. His 80-yard scoring run as time expired in the third quarter was the longest run of the year for Illinois (2-4). The last Illini to rush for more than 200 yards in a game was Reggie Corbin, who ran for 213 yards against Minnesota in 2018.