Illinois survives Purdue 50-49 in overtime

By Greg Taylor

[October 14, 2024] 

The University of Illinois was a heavy favorite on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium as they faced the Purdue Boilermakers. Despite losing four straight games to the visitors from the east, the Illini entered the game as 23-point favorites! Things were looking really good at halftime for the Illinois football, as they went into the break with a 24-3 lead. I texted my two Illinois buddies, John and Jeff, and wondered if Purdue head coach Ryan Walters would survive this year, just his second in West Lafayette. It seemed like this game was O-V-E-R!

But something happened in the second half. Purdue didn’t get the memo that the game was over. Illinois didn’t seem to remember that football games are 60 minutes long, not merely 30 minutes. A 27-3 lead early in the third quarter turned into a 43-40 deficit with under one minute to play in regulation. That’s when Luke Altmyer and Pat Bryant decided to play heroes once again and prevented Illinois from enduring an awful loss, probably the worst in the Bret Bielema era.

The end result was happiness and joy in Illini land, a memorable overtime win when Purdue tried to go for two in overtime and was stopped on an impressive quarterback sack by linebacker Dylan Rosiek. Can you say escape? It’s the first time in Illinois history that the team gave up 49 points or more and won!

What are we to make of Saturday? What does this mean moving forward for Illinois football? Should Illinois fans be excited or concerned? Or both?

The Good News:

Bottom line, Illinois is 5-1 at the halfway point of the regular season and has six games left! While the next two games are challenging; at home against the defending national champions Michigan and at Oregon, the month of November will provide four winnable games against Minnesota (Nov. 2) and Michigan State (Nov. 16) at home and Rutgers (Nov. 23) and Northwestern (Nov. 30) on the road. Last year at the point, Illinois was just 2-4 and would finish the season just 5-7.

Another real positive is the massive leap quarterback Luke Altmyer has made in his second season in Champaign. At this point, he is playing like he is the best quarterback in the 18-team Big Ten conference. His touchdown to interception ratio is ridiculous: 14-1. Simply unheard of. Saturday, he threw for 379 yards and 3 touchdowns. Those are Tony Eason and Dave Wilson like stats. What a difference a year makes!

Here's more good news: The fans are back! The crowd on Saturday was over 55,000 strong. Next week against Michigan is a sell-out, just like the Kansas game in early September. This takes me back to the early 1980’s and especially the magical 1983 season, where the place to be on Saturday afternoons was at Illinois home games! Is this the new normal moving forward? I sure hope so!

The Bad News:

In the four games prior to Saturday, Purdue scored a total of 44 points. On Saturday in the second half and overtime, Purdue scored 46 points. There is no way to candy-coat that reality. The Illinois defense was absolutely brutal. It makes no sense logically. The hope is it was simply an exception and not the rule moving forward. It is was not an exception, the last half of this season could be tough sledding!

More bad news: Starting running back Kaden Feagin didn’t play on Saturday after experiencing an injury at practice on Tuesday, and it sounds like his absence could extend well beyond the Purdue game. Thankfully, fourth year running back Josh McCray stepped up and played well, scoring three touchdowns, blocking well in pass protection and filling this void.

But at the end of the day, a win is a win! Illinois is 5-1 and on the cusp of bowl eligibility! And very few “experts” predicted this beginning to the Illinois season. Personally, I’m thankful for the impact of Bret Bielema and the difference his presence has made for Illinois football! 8 or 9 wins this season are possible, and that should make Illini fans smile from ear to ear!

Up Next:

Illinois plays on Saturday October 19 at 2:30 p.m. at home against Michigan in the 100th anniversary of the opening of Memorial Stadium in the famous “Red Grange” game. CBS selected this as their game of the week, a great honor for Illinois football. While Michigan is a slight road favorite as of Sunday evening, Illinois has a great chance to beat the defending national champions and become bowl eligible before a national television audience. Good stuff for long suffering Illinois football fans!

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