al key defensive backs off last years team. He is tied for second in the country with six interceptions, including one last weekend in West Virginias 24-20 win at Texas.Saturday, hell face off against Ok

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska is in the middle of a stretch of playing four of five games against teams it lost to last year.Call it the Big Red Redemption Tour.It feels like that to me, coach Mike Riley said.The 15th-ranked Cornhuskers (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten), who last week avenged a loss to Northwestern, will host an Illinois team on Saturday that beat them 14-13 in Champaign last season.The loss was among the most excruciating of several close ones in 2015. The Huskers squandered a 13-0 fourth-quarter lead, hurt themselves with questionable play calling, and lost on the extra point that followed Wes Lunts short touchdown pass to Geronimo Allison with 10 seconds to play.Lunts still the Illini quarterback , but Allison is now on the Green Bay Packers practice squad, and Lovie Smith is in his first season as head coach.Its a whole different team, whole different year, Nebraska linebacker Michael Rose-Ivey said. We cant think about last year. We look forward to playing this years version of Illinois and playing as this years version of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.Illinois (1-2) is playing its Big Ten opener and first road game. The Illini have lost 13 straight and 22 of their last 23 against Top 25 opponents.They had an open date last week, and Smith said the team spent the extra time evaluating all phases of the game. Illinois has had only six pass plays go for 20 yards or longer, fewest in the Big Ten, and has allowed a conference-worst 12 pass plays of 20 yards or longer.I think its pretty obvious on what we need to do better. Thats what we concentrated on, Smith said.Some things to watch as Nebraska goes for its eighth win in nine games:ANTHEM ATTENTIONRiley said Thursday he hasnt noticed his players being distracted by the national attention the program has received in the wake of three Nebraska players kneeling during the anthem at Northwestern last week to protest police violence and racial injustice.I would have to make it up if I thought I saw something that was different, Riley said. This team likes to play football. They like each other. This team has been through a lot together.RECEIVERS COACH RETURNSNebraska receivers coach Keith Williams will be back. He was suspended two weeks without pay in August and wasnt allowed to coach or attend the first four games after his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving in Lincoln. He had previous DUI convictions in 2004 and 2009. That was a hard, no-good situation, Riley said. I think weve been through the consequences of that, so were excited to have him back now, full-fledged into the practices, the games, and the whole part.TOUGH UP FRONTRiley said Illinois would present the toughest defensive line the Huskers have faced so far.DE Carroll Phillips leads the nation with an average of three tackles for loss, and hes first in the Big Ten with 1.33 sacks per game. DE Gimel President is third in the Big Ten with 1.7 TFLs per game.Illinois is tied for first in the nation in sacks with 4.33 per game and is third with 10.7 TFLs per game.AFTER THE BYEIllinois is coming off its only open date of the season. The Illini have lost 13 of their last 15 following a bye. Since 1985, when open dates became common, they have lost 24 of 37 after byes.200 IS MAGIC NUMBERNebraska is 7-0 under Riley when rushing for 200 yards or more, including 3-0 in 2016. 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Rasul Douglas path to becoming the top defender on a Big 12 title contender included weekends at the bowling alley, a bus stop and sometimes only a dollar a day for food.And now hes one of the biggest reasons why West Virginia has emerged as a dark-horse hopeful for the College Football Playoff heading into a Saturday showdown with ninth-ranked Oklahoma (8 p.m. ET, ABC).Hes just a kid that keeps fighting, said West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.On the field, as perhaps the Big 12s best defensive back on the leagues leading defense.And before that, off of it.Im actually doing what I came here to do, Douglas said. I always envisioned it.The struggle is paying off.One of seven siblings raised by his grandmother in East Orange, New Jersey, Douglas grew up where, as he puts it, kids are lost to the streets.Thankfully for Douglas, he had a strong-willed grandmother, a little league coach who saw something special in him and an innate passion to play sports.Mike Davis, a P.A. announcer for East Orange High School sports and a mentor for at-risk youth in the area, first met Douglas while coaching him in little league baseball. The two immediately hit it off.I was hard on him as a coach, Davis said. Because he was so competitive, he took a liking to that.Davis made it his mission to prevent this kid brimming with potential from falling into trouble on the streets.It was like a vehicle, Davis said. There was a lot of trouble around in that community. Unfortunately, a lot of young people there were getting involved in gangs. Sports offered him something else.He was the one who took me out of the streets, Douglas said. He made sure we did what we had to do.Davis kept Douglas focused on sports. All sports. Any sport. One time that was the Vince Carter basketball camp. Other times, it was taking Douglas and his brother to the bowling alley.Time spent playing those sports didnt just keep Douglas out of trouble; they provided him with a foundation, turning him into a terrific all-around athlete by the time he reached high school.Douglas had dreams of playing basketball at the next level. But at 6-foot-2, he didnt have the height to draw the attention of college recruiters. He did, however, have the size as a defensive back to catch the eye of Nassau (New York) Community College coach Curtis Guilliam.Coach Guilliam, he kept hitting me up, What is he going to do? said Douglas high school football coach, Marion Bell. At the last moment, I finally convinced Rasul to take a shot at it.Nassau didnt have dorms. Instead, Douglas had to find an apartment located eight miles from the Garden City, New York, campus. Douglas didnt have a car, so he had to take the bus every day to class and to practice. And because his grandmother still had to take care of his younger siblings, Douglas essentially was on his own financially.That was probably the hardest part of my life, for sure, saiid Douglas.dddddddddddd. It felt like nothing was going my way. I couldnt ask my family for money, because they needed it. I didnt have a lot. I was struggling to eat.Sometimes, Douglas would just wait until the evening to eat. Other times, he would go to McDonalds, order off the dollar menu, eat half of the meal and save the rest for dinner.Douglas, however, remained determined, despite being redshirted that first year.He did what he had to do, Guilliam said. He made sure he got to class. He did the work. Got to study hall. Did everything he was supposed to do. We call it the juco grind. But he never complained and just continued to work.That mentality carried over into the weight room and onto the field. And by his second year at Nassau, Douglas was primed to shine.Early in the season against Lackawanna College -- which produced former West Virginia All-American wideout Kevin White and his brothers KaRaun and Kyzir, both starters now for the Mountaineers -- Douglas delivered a breakout performance.He picked off a pass, and it was like, Oh, shoot, this guy is going to be a dude, Guilliam said. Then he laid a hit on a receiver, knocked him clean out, and you were like, This guy was going to be a thumper.By his third year at Nassau, Douglas had turned into one of the top junior college corners in the country. He garnered scholarship offers from the likes of Florida State and Louisville, but after visiting Morgantown for the Mountaineers game against TCU in 2014, he knew West Virginia was where he wanted to be.Due in large part to Douglas, West Virginia leads the Big 12 in scoring defense, despite losing several key defensive backs off last years team. He is tied for second in the country with six interceptions, including one last weekend in West Virginias 24-20 win at Texas.Saturday, hell face off against Oklahoma wideout Dede Westbrook in what figures to be the premier matchup of the game. Westbrook has emerged as a Heisman contender after a scorching past two months. But Westbrook hasnt faced a corner in the Big 12 the caliber of Douglas, either.Im glad weve got him, said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. Right now, hes our best defensive football player. Hes continuously gotten better. Hes making big plays that have a big outcome on the game.I couldnt be happier or prouder of what Rasul has done.Though hes come far, Douglas hasnt forgotten the path he traveled or the people who helped him along.On Thanksgiving a few years ago, Davis was in the middle of calling the P.A. for an East Orange football game when he got a text that still touches him.It was Rasul just thanking me for keeping him on course, Davis said. Im in the middle of this game, and Im in tears.Ive been blessed to have been part of his life. Its been a wonderful privilege. ' ' '