CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois football team was efficient in its season debut against Eastern Illinois, beating the Panthers 45-0 behind four touchdown passes from quarterback Luke Altmyer on Thursday.
Altmyer spread the wealth while completing 19 of 24 passes. Eleven receivers caught passes, three for touchdowns. Pat Bryant had two TD catches, giving him 11 for his career. Malik Elzy and Tanner Arkin also caught TD passes.
“I’m not ready to announce Luke Altmyer as a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy, but he did a lot of positive things,” said Illinois coach Bret Bielema.
Here’s a look at Illinois’ win:
Ground and pound
Kaden Feagin led Illinois’ rushing attack with 16 carries for 108 yards. It was his first career 100-yard game. He ran for a touchdown and so did Josh McCray. Aidan Laughery ran for 79 yards on 10 carries.
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Takeaway
This wasn’t much of a test for Illinois, which moved at will on offense behind Altmyer’s pinpoint passing and never allowed Eastern Illinois quarterback Pierce Holley, the preseason Big South/OVC Offensive Player of the Year, to get comfortable. Eastern Illinois came into the season with high hopes for winning its conference championship and making it into the FCS playoffs. The Panthers will need to lick their wounds after being being overwhelmed by Illinois and refocus on those goals.
Turnovers cost EIU
Four Eastern Illinois turnovers were turned into 24 points. Illinois’ Miles Scott caused a fumble and had an interception.
Eastern Illinois had a promising opening drive, but Scott forced a fumble by running back Jay Pearson and Seth Coleman recovered on the Illini 23.
That turned out to be the Panthers’ deepest penetration into Illini territory until late in the third quarter, when Dylan Rosiek chased down Eastern Illinois receiver DeAirious Smith after a pass completion, Smith fumbled, and Kaleb Patterson recovered on the Illini 13.
“We led the FCS in turnover margin last year. Tonight, we turned the ball over four times and Illinois didn’t have a turnover. That was a problem for us,” said Eastern Illinois coach Chris Wilkerson.
“A positive note for us was how we protected our quarterback. That was an issue for us last year. We only allowed one sack against an excellent Illinois defensive front.”
Quotable
“I knew we had a bunch of new players, but every time you assemble a team you just never know, really, until the bullets are flying, how they’re going to react. The fun thing for me, as a head coach, I thought I saw (Thursday) a lot of the things I’d seen in practice from our staff, from our coaches. … I thought there was a lot of really good communication. Guys played extremely hard.” — Illinois coach Bret Bielema after his team’s season-opening win
Statistically speaking
Illinois scored on all five of its trips to the red zone, out-gained Eastern Illinois 486-196, and had 27 first downs to the Panthers’ nine. … Holley completed 14 of 29 passes for 127 yards and was intercepted twice. … Illinois is now 4-0 in season openers under Bielema, 19-0 all-time vs. FCS opponents and 3-0 all-time vs. Eastern Illinois.
Up next
Illinois: vs. No. 22 Kansas on Sept. 7.
Eastern Illinois: vs. Indiana State on Sept. 7.
Illinois head coach Bret Bielema speaks at the 2024 Big Ten Football Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Video courtesy of Big Ten.
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Publish date : 2024-08-30 10:03:00
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