CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A career day of 257 yards from sophomore RB Chase Brown led the Fighting Illini to a 24-14 victory against Charlotte Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. The Illini offense had its best outing since the UTSA game, while the defense shut out the 49ers in the second half to help Illinois (2-4) snap a four-game losing streak.
The Illini win wraps up the non-conference schedule for the Orange and Blue who now host Wisconsin for Homecoming next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT.
Brown is Back
Chase Brown made his return to the field a big one, breaking into the top five for most rushing yards in a single game in program history. His 257 yards put him at No. 4 behind Howard Griffith's 263-yard game against Northwestern in 1990. Brown nearly doubled his previous career-high of 131 yards set in 2019 against Rutgers.
After scoring just one touchdown so far this season, Brown punched in two rushing TDs against the 49ers. His second score was an 80-yard run, which is tied for the 10th longest run in program history.
Second Half D
While the Charlotte offense looked strong through 20 minutes, the Illini defense dominated the second half. Saturday marks the second game in a row where Illinois held their opponent to under 15 points.
Pass breakups were key to the defense's success. In the 49ers' first drive of the second half, Tarique Barnes broke up a pass on third down in Illinois territory. On the following Charlotte drive, the 49ers were on the move when Kerby Joseph broke up a third-down pass, that led to a missed field goal for the 49ers.
The fourth quarter wasn't any easier for Charlotte. Keith Randolph Jr. made another big third down play, recording his first career interception at the start of the quarter. In the 49ers final drive of the game, Owen Carney Jr. had back-to-back sacks, marking the third game in a row that the Illini captain has recorded a sack.
Offense Bounces Back
Following a tough offensive outing last weekend, the entire group stepped up against Charlotte to help get the win. While Brown led the way, freshman Josh McCray was a crucial part of the first half, and finished with 64 yards.
Several Illini receivers got in the mix against the 49ers with Isaiah Williams leading the way with three receptions. After being limited at Purdue, Daniel Barker stepped up for the Illini, catching the team's only pass touchdown of the game with a 10-yard reception. With the score, Barker now holds the Illinois record for career touchdowns by a tight end.
Team Notes
- The Fighting Illini improve to 2-4 with the 24-14 victory over Charlotte.
- Illinois tallied a season-high 414 yards of total offense on Saturday, eclipsing the 412 yards recorded in Game 2 vs. UTSA.
- The Illini rushed for 336 yards as a team, also a season-best mark. It is the most for the program since rushing for 341 yards last season at Rutgers (11/14/20).
- After surrendering 14 first-half points, the Illinois defense held Charlotte scoreless in the second half on Saturday. It marks the first time the Fighting Illini defense held an opponent scoreless in the second half of a game since a 38-10 win at Rutgers on Nov. 2, 2019.
- The Illini offense took a 17-14 lead with 6:52 left in the third quarter on a 10-play, 94-yard drive capped by a 31-yard TD run by sophomore RB Chase Brown. The 94-yard drive marked the longest scoring drive of the season for the Illini.
- On the next offensive possession, the Illini scored on their first play from scrimmage, an 80-yard TD run also by Brown.
- Illinois captains: DB Tony Adams, OLB Owen Carney Jr., LB Jake Hansen, P Blake Hayes, OL Doug Kramer, OL Vederian Lowe.
Individual Notes
- Sophomore running back Chase Brown rushed for a career-high 257 yards and tied his career-high with two rushing touchdowns, giving him three TDs on the season and five for his career. Brown's 257 yards are the fourth-most in a single game in program history.
- Brown's 257 yards were the third-most by a running back in college football this season.
- Brown's first TD gave the Illini a 17-14 lead in the third quarter. He carried the ball six times for 72 yards on the drive which covered 94 yards overall (the longest of the season for Illinois).
- Brown's second TD of the game, an 80-yard score, came on the first play of the ensuing Illini possession and gave Illinois a 24-14 lead as time expired in the third quarter. The 80-yard scoring run tied for the 10th-longest in program history.
- Junior Daniel Barker hauled in his 10th career touchdown in the second quarter, breaking the Illini record for career-TD receptions by a tight end. He moved past Ken Dilger who caught nine touchdowns for the Illini from 1991-94.
- Senior OLB Owen Carney Jr. recorded two fourth-quarter sacks and now has 14 for his career which ranks 13th in program history, just one away from cracking the top 10.
- Senior OL duo of Vederian Lowe and Alex Palczewski each made their 46th career starts (40th consecutive for Lowe) on Saturday. They are now tied for tied for eighth on the Illini career starts list among all positions, and sixth among offensive linemen. They are two starts from tying the Illinois record of 48.
- Freshman Pat Bryant became the 15th Illini in program history to start multiple games at wide receiver as a true freshman.
- The Illini defense played without senior LB Jake Hansen for the second consecutive game. Hansen, despite missing last week's game at Purdue, entered today's game as the team's leading tackler with 31 stops on the season.
- Illinois head coach Bret Bielema won his 99th career game as a head coach. Brown's 257 rushing yards were the most ever by a player under Bielema.
Highlights
Press Conference
Quotes
Opening Statement…
"First, I give a lot of credit to Charlotte. Very impressed with Will Healy and his team, a very exciting team that I have been watching for a couple of years. Ironically when I got this job, to see them come up on our schedule was going to be a tremendous challenge.
When we said to our guy's last Sunday… that we wanted to make it a Big Ten week even though it wasn't a Big Ten game, we wanted to prepare that way to get to where we wanted to be. We had to understand that as a unit.
Coming into this program and this opportunity, we didn't come here to play Charlotte. We came here to play and win B1G football games, and as we take a step forward, these baby steps along the way will help us get there.
This was the first week where we had Chase Brown, Josh McCray, and Jakari Norwood all able to practice, and to game-plan that, execute it, and to have it manifest the way it did today, to have Chase Brown step up [was great].
When Josh McCray had the fumble, obviously he is a young player and we have to get him back mentally. On the sideline we said, 'you have a lot of good football in front of you, so we will take that moment and learn.'
I thought our defense did a really nice job at adjusting during halftime. We found out late in the week that we wouldn't get Jake Hansen and Devon Witherspoon cleared. So, to have that come at us, and have our guys step up in their roles, just again makes me proud of the way they prepared and how our coaches prepared.
A little bit of a step, I told our guys I don't know if they grew up today but they took a step in the right direction. So, it's exciting, it's fun to see them get rewarded, their friends and families to have a moment to celebrate.
This week we have a tremendous challenge and task in front of us with another B1G opponent coming here, and we have a bye week on the back end, so we should get a lot of good preparation out of them."
On Chase Brown's record-setting performance…
"He has the ability to make the home-run hit like you saw, he wouldn't let anyone catch him. He's really just scratching the surface on what he can become. I think he's a really talented back, and once he learns the patience on what our inside-zone concepts can be, I think he can be a really special back."
On what turned for the Illini defense…
"I give all of the credit to Ryan and his staff, and I give a lot of credit to our players, too. Jake Hansen and Devon Witherspoon have been out two games now, and [the defense] continues to move forward. Defensively, when the players can begin making adjustments without you telling them, you can see things take a step forward."
On the defensive line play…
"Keith Randolph and Johnny Newton have been around defensive lineman for a long time, and those guys are special. They are both very young in their careers, but those two young bucks are something you can build around."
Owen Carney
On second half mentality:
"Conversations on the sideline were simple. It was all, 'I got you,' 'we're gonna make up for it,' 'it's a new half, score is 0-0.' We took that mentality very seriously. We really just wanted to take control of the game because we felt like we had them and that's what we did. I'm just so happy we came out with the W."
On the defense last couple weeks:
"Just over-communicating. Just trusting in the guys behind me and vice versa, the guys trusting us up front. That's how we mix well together and make everything collapse."
On his performance passing Illini legends…
"When I first came to Illinois. I knew I wanted to be part of those big name guys that played here before me. I just feel blessed to be in the position that I am. I haven't watched any film yet, but I will have to go back and let that sink in a little bit."
On his relationship with brother Sydney Brown…
"We try to outperform each other in some way each week. Our relationship is competitive, we want to see each other do well, and we can carry that on to next week."
On coming back from injury...
"I was grateful that coach gave me a little time off. I was hurting a lot after the Maryland game and my body needed to rest and recover. I'm feeling really good, and I just want to learn from this win and to take it to next week vs. Wisconsin."
On his brother Chase's performance…
"I'm super proud of the guy but I'm not surprised. You should see his preparation throughout the week. He works his tail off day in and day out and it's just time for it to show."
