Defense? Luke Altmyer doesn’t need no stinking Illinois football defense

When someone searches for the definition of a tale of two halves, the box score of the Illinois football game against Purdue will pop up.

I am not sure I have ever been through such an emotional roller coaster with the Illini in my lifetime. There was a point where I thought the program was about to cruise to an easy win over the Boilermakers. That was called halftime.

Midway through the third quarter, those good feelings turned into having the thought of wanting defensive coordinator Aaron Henry fired. Later in the fourth quarter, I finally got to breathe because Illinois was up two scores with under five minutes to go.

Things went off the rails again when Purdue got the onside kick. The Boilermakers scored a touchdown to go ahead with under a minute left, and I thought this was the end of what could have been a special season. Everything was over.

Illinois then tied it up to go to overtime, which was exciting. When Purdue scored their touchdown and decided to go for a two-point conversion, I was on the brink of a heart attack. Illinois hadn’t stopped Purdue the entire second half, so why was that going to change?

It did, though. Illinois stopped Purdue’s two-point conversion. Honestly, against a 1-5 Purdue team, this win felt like we just won a College Football Playoff game. I was elated. Illinois gave up 49 points and still came away with the win.

That elation couldn’t have happened without Luke Altmyer. Can you imagine what the score would have been with an Illinois quarterback of the 2010s? It would have been an ugly game.

Besides the one fumble where he tried to make a miraculous play, Altmyer had a flawless game. In fact, I think this was Altmyer’s best game he has ever had in his college career.

Altmyer’s career isn’t that long. He didn’t get much of a chance with Ole Miss, and last season with the Illini, he dealt with some injuries. But this kid from Mississippi is starting to come into his own.

On Saturday, Altmyer threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns against Purdue. He also had 60 yards and a touchdown on the ground. So, he accounted for 439 yards and four touchdowns.

In the 16 games he has thrown at least 10 passes, Altmyer hasn’t been able to surpass the mark he set on Saturday. Coming into the game, his best passing game was against Florida Atlantic last season when he threw for 303 yards.

When it comes to total yards, Altmyer’s best was that same game, as he had one yard rushing to give him a total of 304 yards that game. That was his high-water mark entering the Purdue contest.

That previous high wasn’t just broken, but it was smashed to smithereens. He eclipsed his previous high yardage mark by 135 yards. Altmyer’s four total touchdowns also ties his career high.

On top of Altmyer having the best game of his career, he also etched his name in the Illinois football record book. His 439 single-game total offensive yardage ranks No. 10 all-time in the history of the program.

Illinois was on the brink of one of the most embarrassing losses in program history. Instead of walking away from the game with a defeat, Altmyer put the Illini on his back and carried us to a victory. He produced the best game of his career and one of the best performances by an Illini quarterback in the history of the program. What an incredible showing by this legendary gunslinger.