Top 5 matchups for Week 4 of the 2024 college football season
4. No. 24 Illinois vs. No. 22 Nebraska – Friday, 8:00 p.m. ET, FOX
Illinois and Nebraska鈥檚 Friday night matchup is a relatively unexpected battle between ranked opponents as both teams enter the contest undefeated and have been highly impressive thus far. The Illini and Huskers have met 21 times with Nebraska winning 14 of those matchups. However, Illinois had won three straight games in the series before the Cornhuskers earned a victory in Champaign in 2023.
The stakes will be higher than perhaps any game between these two programs since they have been Big Ten opponents and it is a crucial contest for Illinois as it will play ranked opponents in four of its next five games including Penn State, Oregon and Michigan. The Fighting Illini beat a ranked team, Kansas, a couple of weeks ago while dominating lesser non-conference opponents Eastern Illinois and Central Michigan. Illinois鈥� 33rd-ranked defense has been solid, particularly in the secondary, and its offense has done just enough while taking care of the football behind Luke Altmyer and Kaden Feagin.
Meanwhile, Nebraska has also had three dominant non-conference wins, including a marquee victory over Colorado a couple of weeks ago. The Huskers have been led by true freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola who has already thrown for nearly 700 yards while completing 73.8% of his passes. Nebraska鈥檚 23rd-ranked defense has also been strong to this point. Illinois will need to play better offensively to pull off an impressive road upset, but Matt Rhule鈥檚 defense could ultimately help the Huskers, who are over touchdown favorites, improve to 4-0.
