WCIA — Illinois football is still expected to host Nebraska on Friday night after a small fire ignited underneath the south seating area at Memorial Stadium Tuesday night.

“DIA will continue to evaluate the facility over the course of the next day but early indications are positive that the stadium will be prepared to host the game, as scheduled and without interruption of seating or services, for the game on Friday,” the University said in a statement.

This is not the kind of fire Bret Bielema was trying to ignite in his Illini offense after a sputtering start to the season. Illinois is ranked 70th in the nation in Total Offense and 118th in Third Down Conversion Percentage. Just a couple of areas the Illini know they need to be better in.

“It falls on me. I’m the coordinator and my job is to coordinate the offense,” offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. said. “We’re not a well oiled machine. You’re going to make mistakes in football, it’s going to happen, it’s an imperfect game coached by imperfect coaches played by imperfect players, but we’re in the pursuit of perfection.”

If all goes as planned, Illinois will host Nebraska on Friday at 7 p.m.