Arnes Caro Sat, October 31, 2026 at 7:54 PM UTC About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CHAMPAIGN, Ill – From an energy standpoint, this game really started in the fourth quarter. Going against a Maryland defense that has allowed 54, 48, 45 and 37 points against Big Ten opponents, you would think Illinois' offense would score more than 20 points.
The run game was certainly not as dominant as what we saw against Oregon, but it might have needed three quarters to get going. After trailing the entire game, the Illini came out in the fourth quarter with one thing on their mind, win this game.
It was freshman RB Javari Barnett who made it happen. In the first play of the fourth, Barnett found a hole and ran 64 yards for the touchdown, giving Illinois the 17-14 lead, its first of the game.
After seeing the late run success, Illinois decided to stick with it. It was a tale of two halves for the run game with 50 yards in the first half compared to 134 in the second half. In the final drive of the game, Illinois continued to rely on the run.
Two straight Barnett rushes for a total of 52 yards were followed up by three straight Jordan Anderson plays for 18 yards. Houser then found Dixon for a 15-yard gain right before the two minute warning.
Illinois played the clock with more rushes setting itself up for the game winning field goal. Anderson was wide open for a touchdown, but elected to go down to prevent any opportunity from Maryland.
Ethan Moczulski's 26-yard attempt was good as Illinois walked off Maryland to extend its win streak to three.
The offense came out to a slow start, but the pass game picked up the slack for Illinois in the first half. Quarterback Katin Houser looked a bit rusty in his return, throwing an interception in just his second pass attempt of the game.
He shook it off, ending the game by throwing 18-32 for 223 yards. Illinois capped off the first half with a much needed 5 minute, 11 play drive ending in an athletic touchdown catch from WR Brayden Trimble, the first of his career.
Due to the late game heroics from the Illini backs, Collin Dixon somehow had a quiet 103 yard performance. While he didn't break the all-time receiving TD record this game, he still has four games to do so.
Since the bye-week, defensive coordinator Roger Cooper has been putting lots of emphasis on creating takeaways. It seemed to have paid off in this one, as the Illini ended the game with 2 takeaways on the day. It also limited Maryland to just 2 total yards in the second quarter.
"It's one of those things you just can't talk about, you have to rep it," Cooper said after the bye-week. "So, we're doing turnover circuits and … we're seeing more strip attempts, more punches, more balls come out. We're going to keep doing that until those balls are popping out."
After a Houser pick early in the first, the Illinois defense had to hold it down in the red zone. They did just that, standing strong on the 1-yard line and forcing a fumble on a rush attempt. Despite the valiant effort, the offense couldn't escape their own endzone, and punted away, giving Maryland good field position.
Maryland was able to capitalize and score off of it, but when the defense found themselves defending its territory again, it locked in yet again. Maryland marched down the field in 11 plays and looked like it would extend the lead.
After pressure was put on quarterback Malik Washington, he scrambled out the pocket and looked to his receiver. DB Tanner Heckel, jumped the pass, intercepting it and giving Illinois its second takeaway of the game.
Brayden Trimble records his first career touchdown to tie the game at half.
Defense recovers the fumble at the one yard line to prevent a TD.
Another angle of Moczulski's game-winning field goal.
Katin Houser: 18-32, 223 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Javari Barnett: 6 rushes, 80 yards, 64-yard TD
Illinois now looks to make it four in a row as it comes back home to take on Nebraska at 7 p.m. Also, keep an eye on Dixon as he looks to make history.
Source: Sports
0 Comments