Kansas Jayhawks at Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois rallies in the 4th quarter to beat No. 19 Kansas 23-17

Illinois (2-0) beat a ranked nonconference opponent at home for the first time since topping then-No. 22 Arizona State on Sept. 17, 2011. The Illini also avenged a 34-23 loss last year at Kansas (1-1).

Altmyer completed 16 of 25 passes for 192 yards. Zakhari Franklin had nine catches for 99 yards, and Bryant had three receptions for 70 yards.

The win gave Illinois coach Bret Bielema a 20-19 record in four years in charge of the Illini,

“I’ve been waiting for this moment. We’ve got to build on this now,” he said. “I had a feeling we were going to match up well. I liked our demeanor. I felt good about the game coming into it, and it was fun to watch it play out in front of you.”

Kansas' Jalon Daniels was 18 of 32 for 141 yards with two touchdown passes and three interceptions.

Daniels scrambled and found a wide-open Lawrence Arnold in the end zone for 13-yard TD pass that give the Jayhawks a 17-13 lead with 4:57 to go in the third quarter.

Luke Grimm caught nine passes for 40 yards and a touchdown for the Jayhawks. Devin Neal ran for 101 yards on 14 carries.

“This stings, and it should,” Kansas coach Lance Leopold said. “We're see what we're made of. I'm confident our upperclassmen will respond.”

Leopold praised Illinois' receivers.

“They made some really big-time plays,” he said. “When you play against good football players, they're going to make good plays.”

Illinois and Kansas combined for 17 points in the final 3:05 of the second quarter.

The Illini led 13-10 at halftime thanks to Xavier Scott’s 28-yard return of an interception with 36 seconds left in the quarter. Scott read a screen pass attempt by Daniels and raced untouched into the end zone. It was Scott’s second interception of the game.

A 50-yard field goal by Alano with 2:27 to go in the quarter was set up by a spectacular one-handed, 42-yard catch by Franklin along the sideline with Kansas’ Damarius McGhee holding his other arm.

The Jayhawks went ahead 10-3 on a 3-yard TD pass from Daniels to Grimm in the back of the end zone with 3:05 remaining in the half.

THE TAKEAWAY

Illinois: The Illini proved they could go toe-to-toe and beat a ranked opponent, a good sign with games against No. 8 Penn State, No. 10 Michigan and No. 7 Oregon coming up in the next six weeks.

Kansas: Despite the loss, the Jayhawks showed they have a potent running attack led by Neal and and a sturdy defense. Illinois’ offense scored only one touchdown — albeit the winning TD — gained just 79 yards on the ground, and had only 14 first downs.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Kansas made some major errors including a penalty that wiped out a touchdown, and the interceptions by Daniels that ruined drives and allowed Illinois to pull ahead late in the first half. The Jayhawks will most likely drop out of the Top 25.

VALENTINE'S NIGHT

Illinois freshman running back Ca’Lil Valentine carried the load for the Illini down the stretch. He gained 25 yards on eight carries, all in the fourth quarter.

“Ca'Lil is explosive, dynamic, and he has so much composure,” Bielema said.

GREAT SCOTTS

The interceptions thrown by Daniels were all to someone named Scott. Xavier Scott and Miles Scott are not related.

SELLOUT STORM

A sellout crowd of 60,670 watched the game. It was the first sellout at Memorial Stadium since 2016. Hundreds of fans stormed the field at the conclusion of the game.

The crowd was saluted by Bielema.

“This was by far the best crowd I’ve been a part of in my four years here,” he said. “They came here hoping to see something, and now they can believe it.”

UP NEXT

Illinois: Hosts Central Michigan on Saturday.

Kansas: Hosts UNLV on Friday night at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

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