Illinois honors Sam Foltz with special jersey before game at Nebraska (Video)

Sam Cooper
·College football writer
Sam Foltz (27) led the Big Ten with an average of 44.2 yards per punt in 2015. He died in July. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Sam Foltz (27) led the Big Ten with an average of 44.2 yards per punt in 2015. He died in July. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Before its game against Nebraska in Lincoln on Saturday, the Illinois football team wanted to pay tribute to Sam Foltz.

Foltz would have been a senior punter for the Huskers this season but he died in an auto accident in July. Former Michigan State punter Mike Sadler was also killed in the crash.

Illinois long snapper Michael Martin, alongside kicker Chase McLaughlin and a few other teammates, presented a Foltz No. 27 Illinois jersey to Nebraska’s specialists at midfield.

The jersey, which was signed by Illinois players, is the second tribute to Foltz this weekend.

In all Big Ten games Saturday, a special coin with Foltz on one side and Sadler on the other will be used for the pregame coin toss. Nebraska will use the coin for the rest of its Big Ten home games this season. Other Big Ten teams can continue to use that coin if they choose to do so.

Nebraska has been wearing a helmet decal honoring Foltz all season while Michigan State had Sadler’s number in the midfield logo for its Week 4 game vs. Wisconsin.

In the season opener against Fresno State, Nebraska honored Foltz by lining up with only 10 players on what would have been the Huskers’ first punt of the season.

The 15th-ranked Huskers (4-0) and Illini (1-2) kick off from Memorial Stadium at 3:30 ET.

– – – – – – –

Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!