Nebraska’s offense has put up points in bunches through its first nine games, but also too often went into prolonged slumps.
The Huskers scored on six of their eight first-half possessions, rolled up 356 yards of offense and put 38 points on the board in the first 30 minutes of a 54-35 win over the hapless Illini.
Even when the Nebraska offense did falter, UI handed the ball back twice by muffing punts that turned into 10 points. In all, the Huskers scored 17 off three first-half turnovers by the visitors.
Freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez completed 12 of 17 for 126 and three touchdowns in the first half — including scoring strikes of 37 and 32 to Stanley Morgan and a 12-yard, third-down dart to tight end Jack Stoll with :03 remaining before halftime — and added 67 yards and a score to NU’s potent rushing attack.