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Illinois’ FBS-leading statistic increased in win over Nebraska
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No team in college football has been better at scoring touchdowns off of turnovers than Illinois. That trend continued on Saturday.
Just before halftime of Week 0’s matchup between Nebraska and Illinois, defensive end Keith Randolph Jr. delivered a hard hit on Huskers’ quarterback Adrian Martinez, jarring the ball free. Calvin Hart was there to collect the loose football and raced 41 yards to the end zone to give the Illini the lead at 16-9.
Illinois never looked back. The Fighting Illini built a 30-9 advantage in the second half then held on for a 30-22 victory to get the Bret Bielema era off on the right foot. That defensive score by Hart was pretty significant in another way, too.
Since 2019, Illinois has scored 8 defensive touchdowns. That statistics leads all college football programs at the FBS level. Quite an accomplishment for the Fighting Illini.
Below, Big Ten Network shared the highlights of all those defensive scores in the past two-plus years:
No FBS team, since the start of 2019, has more defensive TDs than @IlliniFootball.
Relive all 8⃣ of the scores 👇. pic.twitter.com/QMBsNBGgFg
— Illinois on BTN (@IllinoisOnBTN) August 29, 2021
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB