ILLINOIS DROPS Nebraska in Bielema’s debut.
ILLINOIS 30, NEBRASKA 22
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Under a new coach, with fans packed into the stands for the first time since 2019 and its backup quarterback at the helm, Illinois beat Nebraska 30-22 on Saturday to kick off the 2021 college football season.
The Big Ten Conference win didn’t come without a price for the Illini.
Illinois starting quarterback Brandon Peters left the game holding his left (non-throwing) shoulder after being sacked hard near the end of the first quarter. He was 3-of4 passing for 35 yards. He did not return and was replaced by Artur Sitkowski, a sophomore transfer from Rutgers.
Peters’ status wasn’t clear after Saturday’s game.
“No injury updates yet,” first-year Illinois Coach Bret Bielema said. “But as you could see, it was Brandon’s non-throwing arm, so there’s that.”
Sitkowski engineered several long scoring drives using a balanced attack under Bielema’s new system, which he worked to perfection during a successful tenure at Wisconsin. Sitkowski was 12-of-15 passing for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“I can’t say enough about Art,” said Bielema, who was the University of Arkansas head coach from 2013-17. “You know, from day one he just projected a serious, very direct kind of personality. He walks like a quarterback and he talks like a quarterback. When I see our players rallying around a quarterback like that, well, you know you’ve got something.”
Huskers quarterback Adrian Martinez racked up 232 passing yards on 16 completions. He had one passing touchdown and ran for another. Martinez was Nebraska’s leading rusher with 111 yards on 17 carries.
Illinois scored on a defensive gem late in the first half when Keith Randolph Jr. sacked Martinez and knocked the ball loose near midfield. Calvin Hart Jr. scooped it up and scampered 41 yards for an Illini touchdown with less than a minute left in the half.
Illinois led 16-9 at the break and took a 23-9 lead midway through the third quarter on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Sitkowski to tight end Luke Ford.
UCLA 44, HAWAII 10
PASADENA, Calif. — Zach Charbonnet rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns in his UCLA debut as the Bruins rolled to a season-opening victory over Hawaii at the Rose Bowl.
UCLA scored on its first five possessions as it snapped an eight-game losing streak to teams outside the Pac-12. Six of those defeats were under Chip Kelly, who is in his fourth season.
Charbonnet, who was at Michigan the past two seasons, scored all of his touchdowns in the first half as the Bruins roared to a 31-3 lead at halftime. He scored their first touchdown midway through the first quarter on a 21-yard run after great blocks from the right side of the offensive line to extend the lead to 10-0.
The junior’s best run came with 47 seconds remaining in the first quarter when he broke four Hawaii tackles before turning on the speed for a 46-yard touchdown to make it 24-3. He then went over 100 yards on his sixth carry with a 21-yard score on the next possession.
Brittain Brown added 78 yards on 13 carries, including a 1-yard TD to make it 17-0 four plays after defensive lineman Datona Jackson picked off Chevan Cordeiro’s pass deep in Hawaii territory and returned it 11 yards to the Rainbow Warriors’ 9.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson was 10 of 20 for 130 yards. He completed all four of his passes on the opening drive of the second half, culminating in a 44-yard strike to Kazmeir Allen to make it 37-3.
UCLA’s final TD came when Ale Kaho blocked Matthew Shipley’s punt and it was recovered by David Priebe in the end zone.
Hawaii’s lone touchdown came late in the third quarter on a 1-yard pass from Cordeiro to Caleb Phillips.
Cordeiro was 24 of 46 for 216 yards. Hawaii is 4-13 in its past 17 games against Pac-12 opponents, including 10 consecutive road losses.