OMAHA, Neb. — The Illinois travel party arrived at the Embassy Suites in suburban La Vista on Friday a bit later than expected. It ran into traffic on the bus trip from Eppley Airfield.
No problem for Illinois coach Lovie Smith.
“That time of day,” Smith said.
Saturday, Smith makes his Big Ten debut against the No. 15 Cornhuskers. It is the first road game of the season for the Illini.
“The only difference is the crowd, the noise. Most of the people aren’t going to be cheering for us,” Smith said. “We prepared for that.