CHAMPAIGN—Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez took the blame for his team’s poor first half performance against Illinois on Saturday night.

”I didn’t play as well tonight as I should have,” he said. ”I’ll take the blame for that.”

He was serious, too.In reality, Martinez passed for 327 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cornhuskers over Illinois 42-38 in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams. Martinez also rushed 18 times for 188 yards.The Cornhuskers (3-1, 1-0) put up 690 yards of total offense compared to 299 by Illinois (2-2, 0-1).Wan’Dale Robinson carried the ball 19 times for 89 yards and a touchdown. Dedrick Mills rushed 12 times for 62 yards and a touchdown.

”Wan’Dale did his job,” Martinez said. ”And he did it at a high level. He was ready to go.”

Nebraska coach Scott Frost thought his quarterback did a pretty decent job, too.