2024-10-20 08:40:03
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 22 Illinois celebrated its Memorial Stadium Rededication Game with a 21-7 win against No. 24 Michigan on Saturday afternoon.
The game, which took place 100 years and one day after Red Grange’s iconic six-touchdown performance against Michigan during the stadium’s Dedication Game, marked the Fighting Illini’s third ranked victory of the season.
The Illini defense forced three turnovers against the Wolverines. Gabe Jacas registered a game-high 13 tackles and 2.5 sacks, while Dylan Rosiek tallied a career-best 12 tackles. Matthew Bailey also finished with double-digit tackles (11) to go along with one forced fumble and an interception. TeRah Edwards made two sacks and forced a fumble.
Aidan Laughery led the Illini’s ground attack with nine carries for 54 yards, while Josh McCray also reached the 50-yard rushing mark. Luke Altmyer, who amassed 80 passing yards and 48 rushing yards, was credited with a rushing score in the third quarter.
David Olano hit two field goals, including a 47-yarder to open the scoring on the Orange and Blue’s first drive of the game.
The Illini, who began the day on offense, jumped out to an early lead on their first possession of the afternoon. Aidan Laughery’s 29-yard rush marked the longest play of the drive, which ultimately finished with a 47-yard field goal off the foot of Olano. The successful make signified Illinois’ sixth consecutive game with an opening-drive score.
After the Orange and Blue defense forced the Wolverines to punt on each of their first two possessions, the Illini recorded their first takeaway early in the second quarter. Jacas forced his third fumble of the season, while Malachi Hood jumped on the loose ball for the first recovery of his career.
Illinois took advantage of the turnover, doubling its lead via Olano’s second field goal of the day, this time from 32 yards out.
The Illini defense came up with their second turnover on Michigan’s next possession, with Bailey punching the ball loose for his first-career forced fumble and Miles Scott registering the recovery.
The Orange and Blue needed just over three minutes to go 51 yards down the field and find the end zone for the first time. Tanner Arkin notched his third receiving score of the season on a 2-yard reception to extend the hosts’ edge, 13-0, with under eight minutes remaining in the first half.
The Wolverines cut into their deficit late in the second quarter, which saw both sides head into the locker room with the Illini holding a 13-7 edge. Illinois scored on both of its two first-half takeaways, both of which came on fumble recoveries in the second quarter.
The Illini defense forced a three-and-out on Michigan’s first drive of the second half, sending the Illinois offense onto the field. Facing a fourth-and-7, the Orange and Blue perfectly executed a fake punt, a 36-yard gain by Arkin, to move into the red zone. Four plays later, Luke Altmyer found the end zone on a 1-yard quarterback sneak to add to the Illinois advantage.
With Altmyer forced to sit out a play after losing his helmet on the score, Donovan Leary stepped up and found Zakhari Franklin for the two-point conversion, which moved the Illini’s lead to 21-7 midway through the third quarter.
Michigan then drove down the field before the Illinois defense forced a stop in the red zone. Ezekiel Holmes got his hand on the field-goal attempt, marking the Illini’s first blocked kick of the season.
The Illini were forced to punt on their ensuing possession, but Bailey secured his first interception of the season with the Wolverines in the red zone. Jacas tallied all 2.5 of his sacks on the fourth quarter, and the Orange and Blue closed out the victory to remain undefeated at Memorial Stadium this season.
No. 22 Illinois (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) travels to take on No. 2 Oregon next week. Kickoff is slated for Saturday, Oct. 26, at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS from Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.
Team Notes
Player Notes
Opening statement:
“I’m super excited a lot of great things went into this weekend. Before I got into that unfortunately Friday, we were coming down to hop on our buses where we had a police escort. Unfortunately, state trooper Corey Thompson passed on Friday night; he was in our police escort last week when we played Purdue. I want to pass our thoughts over to his whole family.”
“It’s a reminder for all of us to cherish the special opportunities that we have. Brett Moore shared with me that this was the 77th sellout, so I’ve got 77 reasons with Red Grange and all that goes into this. It’s a truly amazing opportunity to come here. I want to thank Josh Whitman and his entire staff, Tom Moreland, Cassie Arner and everyone who had a hand in making this happen. To have this moment and this crowd come to life in front of us was special.”
“I stressed to our guys on Sunday you’re going to get a million questions about how you beat and prepare for Michigan. I told them I learned this one from a very wise man, my mentor Barry Alvarez. ‘You learn to beat Michigan 365 days a year, you do the things you do every day to take advantage of a moment like this.’ It was really rewarding, but our defense played outstanding. I think last week to have that moment and learn from that was important for Aaron Henry and his staff. It was the lowest number of points Michigan has scored since 2014″
“Luke continues to be impressive. Up front we ran the ball when we had too, I would’ve loved to close out a couple of drives there at the end of the game. I thought our special teams, Robby Discher and Chris Hurd, to capitalize on running that fake was awesome. It was a total team effort; I can’t say enough about our coaches, I’m incredibly excited. What this does is puts us in an environment to make next week even bigger. What we’ve done is set the stage for a good, ranked match up against Oregon. They’re a very good football team. We’ll celebrate tonight and start preparing for them tomorrow.”
“Last time we played these guys I lost my mom. I told our team on Sunday I battled some demons, more than you can imagine. When I was a player, I lost my sister the day that we played Michigan. This game has always had a lot of things around it that has been tugging at my heart all week. I thank my wife and my family to have this moment. That is what I came here for. I thought we could build Illinois into something that is sustainable, and this is a big step in that direction. To have our fan base get rewarded is massive. They’ve been through 24 years of no ranked match ups in Memorial Stadium. They’ve been buying tickets for a long time and to have this moment come to life in front of us was awesome.”
On the defense improvements from last week:
“The biggest thing was coming out of Purdue, I said let’s take a step back and see why these things happened. We did some uncharacteristic things that were easy to see and needed to be corrected. We had some conversations on Sunday and Monday about doing that. Aaron Henry is a guy I’ve thought the world of since he was 16 years old, I knew he could get it right. I thought our defensive staff up and down did what they did well and put themselves in great positions. Some of our players stepped up, Matthew Bailey to make that pick there. We have a bunch of really good tight ends in this conference, but Colston Loveland is an outstanding player and to make that moment happen was massive. Gabe Jacas had a special game rushing that tackle. He tasted it, smelled blood in the water and he definitely went for it. I thought we did some things to shut down the run game and make them throw a bit more than they wanted to and ultimately put that game away the way we did was a special moment.”
On how the team has improved at the line of scrimmage:
“I think the guys manifested what I said on Sunday, and we preached it all week even last night. My last comments were ‘you’ve been preparing for this moment since January, we didn’t wait until this week to make it happen.’ I believe part of that is fundamentally we start up front on both sides of the ball, and I thought our guys bought into that all week. The first key to victory was to play fast and physical tonight for four quarters and I thought we did that. I knew this was a good football team that was going to do somethings to pressure us. I have a lot of respect for Michigan and the players over there. I love the way our guys compete, and we find ways to win.”
On the fake punt call:
“I almost called it a few weeks ago, there was a point where I was going to call it against Penn State, I just felt good about it. I grabbed Robby Discher and Chris Hurd at the end of the second quarter today and said, ‘I think this is a moment where if we get the right spot and right position, I feel good about it.’ TJ McMillen is a great example, he’s our backup center wearing number 96 because we won’t involve him in heavy formations. He’s my DP, the quarterback of punt so we go through all these looks and put in helmet communication on him. He thinks it’s pretty cool, he’s like the quarterbacks and safeties so it’s his moment and he’s owned that responsibility. I coach that group, I call them ‘the shield’ and that’s my baby in a way. It’s probably one of my most enjoyable. I get about a 30-minute meeting with those guys on Wednesday morning where it’s just me and the shield in the staff room. I get to bust chops for a little bit and have some fun. Those guys might not enjoy it but that’s probably truly one of my favorite 30 minutes of the whole week.”
On the satisfaction of putting practice habits into action:
“It felt good. I love my guys. I love the D line. A lot of guys stepped up today. TeRah stepped up, and so did Matt Bailey. I love all my guys, and I just want to let you know that they’re really good players. I appreciate everything they do because I see them work, day in and day out. I see how they progress in each and every game.”
On his performance:
“I feel pretty good. First and foremost, I just want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to play another game. I just want to give Him thanks.”
On the defensive reset from last week:
“That was a rough second half last week, and there was a big emphasis on starting fast into the second half, and learning from that mistake that we had last week. We had confidence going into the game and coming out of the half, we played a good first half. I think it was important that three and out to stop them from gaining momentum. That is something we did not do last week against Purdue, but I think it was a process of starting fast. We had to get that first drive stopped.”
On his three-play sequence of a PBU, tackle and a pick:
“I just want to attest it to God, and the way that He has moved in my life. Obviously, this was a big challenge this week, knowing that number 18 is a great player. Coming in, I was just praying all week that God helped me with my confidence after having a couple rough games the past couple weeks. Leading up to that big catch, it is easy to get your head down, but God allowed me to have my head up and continue to have my confidence in that moment.”
On his first sack today:
“At times we drop a lot, so understanding the situation and understanding who we are going against, who I have in front of me, and understanding how our defense is doing. As a defense we are just making opportunities, we talked about everything. I might have some guys crash down on me, but when you get your chance, you must take your shot because there are not too many times you get to take those opportunities.”
On the defenses mentality today:
“Taking them series by series, play by play, doing your job is ultimately what we are counting on each other for. Every single one of us are counting on each other to do our jobs and go out there and play a full game. One play at a time.”
On what the win means today:
“It was an awesome experience; there was a lot of build-up around this game and its historical meaning. But at the end of the day, it’s just a normal football game. We’ve been preparing for this moment the whole year. We came in and did our job.”
On the fake punt:
“I trusted my guys that they were going to get it done. It was like the Red Sea and just opened. All we had to do was get the first down and keep running.”
On the staff preparing them for this week:
“They did a great job implementing a game plan that allowed us to play fast. There weren’t many nooks and crannies, and we could go out there and do our job on every play.”
On Matt Bailey’s interception on the two-yard line:
“That was awesome. After the 3rd and 18 Matt was irritated and I just told him to play the next play. Then he picked it off, and I went up to him and said, ‘I told you!’ It was awesome; they put together drives throughout the game and we ended up with three turnovers. We stole another drive on that fake punt and played a good four-quarter game.”
On Donovan Leary in the two-point conversation:
“I don’t think anyone in the state or in our program was as excited as I was. I had no doubt that he was going to execute the shot. He’s a stone-cold killer of a guy and has a lot of tremendous success in his future. I bet he will remember that moment for the rest of his life and so will I.”
On what was effective in the game today:
“One thing I can think of is having good execution and following the plays we were given. Coach put us in a few good positions to make it happen. Michigan is very front and center, and they have a good defense.”
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