Down by one with just 14 seconds left and no timeouts, Illinois coach Bret Bielema called a play called “church” for quarterback Luke Altmyer. The plan was for Altmyer to throw a quick pass to a receiver who would immediately go down, allowing the offense to hurry to the line and spike the ball to set up a potential game-winning field goal.
But when receiver Pat Bryant caught the ball at the 22-yard line, he saw a chance to score. Instead of going down, Bryant ran across the field to the end zone, dodging one defender and making it into the end zone with 4 seconds left. His touchdown gave Illinois a 38-31 win over Rutgers on Saturday.
“I trusted myself and scored a touchdown,” Bryant said after the game. “Coach called a perfect play, and when I saw nobody was in my way, I knew I had to make the most of it.”
Bryant’s touchdown was his ninth of the season and was the final play in a game that saw three lead changes in the last three minutes.
Illinois (8-3, 5-3) had been trailing 31-30 when they sent kicker Ethan Moczulski out for a 58-yard field goal attempt. Right before Moczulski kicked, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano called a timeout, and Moczulski’s attempt was wide left and short. With the miss erased by the timeout, Bielema sent his offense back on the field for the winning play.
“Pat is so aware of his surroundings,” said Bielema. “He saw the opportunity and took it.”
Rutgers (6-5, 3-5) tried to keep their hopes alive with a safety on the final kickoff return, where they threw the ball out of bounds in the end zone while hoping for a miracle touchdown.
Altmyer was 12 of 26 for 249 yards and two touchdowns. He had a 30-yard touchdown run with 3:07 left, followed by a 2-point conversion to Josh McCray, putting Illinois ahead 30-24.
Rutgers responded with a 10-play, 65-yard drive, including a 15-yard run on fourth down by quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. Kaliakmanis passed to Kyle Monangai for a 13-yard touchdown, tying the game at 31-31 with 1:08 remaining.
Illinois then drove 75 yards in 8 plays to win the game.
“That’s big-time football,” said Monangai. “We played hard, but Illinois made a great play in the end.”
Kaliakmanis finished 18 of 36 for 174 yards and two touchdowns, adding 13 carries for 84 yards and two more touchdowns. Monangai had 28 carries for 122 yards.
Rutgers had taken a 24-15 lead early in the fourth quarter after a 1-yard touchdown run by Kaliakmanis. Illinois answered with an 8-yard touchdown run by Aidan Laughery, setting up the thrilling conclusion.
The second half started with a brief scuffle between the teams, but there were no punches thrown, and the referees called penalties on both sides.
