CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois opened its 2023 campaign in dramatic fashion, using a 29-yard Caleb Griffin field goal with five seconds to play to take down Toledo, 30-28, at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
Illinois improved to 1-0 following the season-opening victory in front of a home crowd of 48,898, the largest mark for a home opener since 2010.
Pat Bryant recorded the first two-touchdown game of his career, tallying a team-high six catches for 64 yards and two scores. Isaiah Williams and Casey Washington also each registered over 50 yards, with the latter grabbing a fourth-down catch to keep the Illini’s hopes alive late in the contest.
Luke Altmyer went 18-26 with 211 passing yards, 69 rushing yards, and two touchdowns in his Illini debut. Reggie Love III and Josh McCray both finished with double-digit carries with 58 and 30 yards, respectively, while McCray also got his first rushing score of the year.
Miles Scott, making his debut on defense, took his first-career interception to the house for a 48-yard pick six in the third quarter.
Thirteen Illini made their debuts for the Orange and Blue, while Illinois improved to 3-0 in season openers under head coach Bret Bielema.
The Illini jumped out to an early lead on the team’s first possession of the season. After completions to Tip Reiman and Bryant moved Illinois into Toledo territory, back-to-back strikes to Williams and Reiman moved the hosts into the red zone. An 11-yard rush from Love III moved the Orange and Blue within one yard of the goal line, and McCray punched it in to put the Illini ahead, 7-0, within six minutes.
The Rockets scored 12 unanswered points to take a five-point advantage into the half. Altmyer made plays on the ground and through the air, recording 93 passing yartds and 36 rushing yards through the opening 30 minutes.
After Toledo opened the second-half scoring with a touchdown, Illinois responded with a score of its own from its defensive unit. Scott, making his first appearance with the Illini defense after converting from wide receiver in the spring, recorded his first-career interception and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown. The score cut the Illini’s deficit to five midway through the third quarter.
The Illini forced their first three-and-out of the evening on the Rockets’ ensuing possession, and the Illinois offense took advantage of the good field possession. Starting their drive near midfield, the Illini used three straight plays to Love III to move into the Toledo half of the field. Washington grabbed his first catch of the season to put Illinois into the red zone before a scramble from Altmyer moved the chains inside the 10.
Pat Bryant registered his first touchdown of the season two plays later on a 4-yard completion to put the Illini back ahead, 20-19, late in the third frame.
Illinois forced another three-and-out on Toledo’s next possession, and the Orange and Blue went right back to work on offense. A fourth-down conversion from Isaiah Williams and a facemask penalty moved the Illini into the red zone. Two plays later, Illinois found the end zone once again, with Bryant recording his second touchdown of the night, this time from nine yards out, to push the Illini advantage to 27-19 less than two minutes into the final period of play.
After Toledo scored a touchdown with just under three minutes to play to put the visitors ahead by one point, Illinois put together a 12-play, 64-yard drive to set up the game-winning field goal. A 33-yard fourth-down conversion on a pass from Altmyer to Washington kept the Illini’s hopes alive, and three straight runs from McCray moved Illinois into a comfortable field-goal range.
With less than 10 seconds on the clock, Griffin drilled his 29-yard field goal through the uprights and secured the 30-28 season-opening victory for the Orange and Blue.
Illinois returns to action away from home on Friday against Kansas, with kickoff slated for 6:30 p.m. CT.
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