Illinois Drops Regular-Season Finale to Northwestern

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois came up short in its regular-season finale to Northwestern, 45-43, on Senior Day on Saturday evening at Memorial Stadium.

Casey Washington caught nine passes for a career-high 218 yards, and he recorded a career-high three touchdowns. His first score came on a 9-yard strike in the first half, and he made touchdown receptions of 1 yard and 80 yards in the final period of play.

Reggie Love III ended his evening with 106 yards on 23 carries, his second game with at least 100 yards on the ground this season.

John Paddock finished with 334 passing yards and three scores, while Isaiah Williams, who picked up the fifth passing touchdown of his career on a 14-yard pass to Pat Bryant in the fourth quarter, registered six catches for 57 yards, his 26th consecutive game with at least three receptions.

Miles Scott returned the second interception of his career for a 55-yard pick six, his second defensive score of the year. Tyler Strain also notched a pick, which came in the fourth quarter.

Jer'Zhan Newton tallied two sacks, and his quarterback hurry led to Strain's third interception of his career.

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

POSTGAME NOTES

Player Notes

• Casey Washington caught a career-high nine passes for a career-best 218 yards and three touchdowns.
  • Five receptions for 181 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter
  • Tied the Illinois record for receiving touchdowns in a single game (3)
  • First Illini with three touchdown catches since A.J. Jenkins vs. Northwestern on Oct. 1, 2011
  • 218 receiving yards are the third-most in Illinois history
  • Most receiving yards by a Big Ten player this season
  • 80-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter was the longest passing play by the Illini this season
    • Had two receptions of more than 70 yards in the fourth quarter
      • Reception of 73 yards in the fourth quarter was the first passing play by the Illini of more than 70 yards since Josh Imatorbhebhe had an 83-yard catch on Nov. 9, 2019, at Michigan State
• Isaiah Williams caught six passes for 57 yards.
  • Williams leads the Big Ten in receptions with 82, 15 ahead of Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr., who ranks second with 67.
  • Williams tied the Illinois record for consecutive games with a reception with 37. He has at least one catch in all 37 games since he switched from QB prior to the start of the 2021 season, the longest active streak in the Big Ten and tied for the eighth-longest active streak in the nation. The Illini record of 37 consecutive games with a reception was previously set by Josh Ferguson (2011-15).
  • Williams has at least three catches in 26 straight games.
  • Williams is No. 2 in Illinois history in career receptions with 214. In the Illinois record book, Williams trails only College Football Hall of Famer David Williams' 262 receptions (1983-85).
  • Williams has 2,304 career receiving yards, fifth all-time in Illinois history. 
  • Williams has 1,055 yards on the season, becoming the seventh player in program history to have a 1,000-yard receiving season. It is the ninth 1,000-yard receiving season overall.
    • Williams' 1,055 yards this season are the most by any player in Bret Bielema's 15 years as a head coach.
  • Threw his fifth-career touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, his first since Dec. 19, 2020, at Penn State.
• John Paddock completed 24 of his 34 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns.
  • Second 300-yard passing game of the season.
  • Second game this season with at least three touchdown tosses.
• Reggie Love III rushed 23 times for 106 yards.
  • Second 100-yard game rushing in his last three.
• Jer'Zhan Newton made five tackles, three solo, had two sacks and two tackles for a loss in the game.
  • His 18.0 career sacks are tied for the most in program history by a defensive tackle, matching Moe Gardner (1987-90).
• Miles Scott returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
  • His second pick-six of the season.
    • Returned an interception 48 yards for a score in the season opener vs. Toledo.
• Tyler Strain recorded his first interception of the season in the fourth quarter.
  • Third of his career.

QUOTES

Head coach Bret Bielema

Opening statement:
"I'm very disappointed in the result. Through 12 games I never questioned the heart, desire, fight, faith or belief that these guys have had; unfortunately it wasn't enough to push us through today. From the first game of the year to the last, nothing has changed in what we tried to preach to these guys and more games are lost than won. I give credit to Northwestern they were able to achieve a win, but to give up 24 points on turnovers you're never going to win games like that. It's extremely frustrating."

"A lot of guys stepped up. We were really thin in the back end. Taz (Tahveon Nicholson) practiced all week and wasn't able to go out there today for long. Xavier Scott also went down and thinned that room out in a hurry. The good news is we go out to recruit and have an opportunity for some of these younger players to get better."

"Offensively Casey Washington was just incredible today, it's a microcosm of what I've seen all year. He's just a really good competitive spirit all the way down to that last touchdown and two point conversion. The penalty call on that conversion was complete garbage. I thought they called defensive holding then the tip on the throw doesn't matter, that's just one play. It sucks that the season comes down to that, it's so frustrating. I know I am going to get this a lot of 'what's one word for the 2023 season' and it's just extremely frustrating on so many different levels that we've dealt with through 12 games.

"Unfortunately not a lot of analysis is ahead of us. It's going to be extremely challenging the next three or four days having conversations with guys who are moving on from our program and that have played their last game with us. I know where we are three years from when I got here and how much growth we've had but it obviously didn't put us in postseason play, which is everything. I'm frustrated, but it's not lost on a lot of good young players that got better. A lot of older players put in a lot of good work, effort and time to help us change this environment and get us on track to move toward the future."

"There was a good crowd out there today. For those who showed up I appreciate you were there until the end. Unfortunately we weren't able to get the win."

On how he evaluates the staff and roster at this point:
"Obviously it starts with the head coach evaluation right. I have to sit back because this week by NCAA rules we can't go out until Friday. It builds in a little window of time here for me as a coach to evaluate what I can do better and how I can evaluate to make our staff better. Then that gets into roster evaluations to really find out what you're working with. When I started 15 years ago as a head coach you knew the lay of the land who's coming back and who's not. Now in today's world with the portal, grad transfers and COVID years there's a lot of uncertainty still with the roster."

On not making the postseason given last year's success:
"It's frustrating we have a lot of really good players that deserve an opportunity to play another game and postseason play is something that we want to do more. Johnny (Jer'Zhan Newton) said last week that he wouldn't be going on postseason play. That's been going on in college football for 10 years, it's just new to Illinois. Last year we saw it for the first time so that's why there's probably such a reaction. We were 5-3 in one score games this year and if you look at those three games we just have to find a way to win those. We have to close and be clean with the football and execute in prime moments. I lost the Rose Bowl because we couldn't execute a two point play. Today in reality if we convert that two point play I built a really strong feeling that if we go into overtime something good would've happened. It gets down to those specific moments in time and we've gotta be able to achieve or fail." 

Jer'Zhan Newton

On his career at Illinois:
"Right now honestly I don't know yet, I'm still living in it. I never really looked into the hype you know. I never looked into all the awards and the accolades. I'm always living in the now and it hasn't even hit me how I've played my last college game, it doesn't feel real. Like I said, I live in the now, by next week it'll probably hit me and everything will start to hit me."

On what he proved coming back:
"My biggest thing coming back this year is trying to see if I could do the exact same thing I did last year. I accomplished a lot of things last year and I feel like I've done more this year, the stats, being a leader to my team, to the younger guys and taking them under my wing. I feel like that was my biggest accomplishment."

Isaiah Adams

On the mark he wants to leave on the program after spending two seasons at Illinois:
"I hope that guys realized how much I care about them and about this game. I hope they saw how physical I was trying to be for them. I would risk everything I have for these guys in the locker room."

On what the opportunity to play at Illinois has meant to him:
"It means everything to me. Illinois has definitely changed my life, and it gave me an opportunity from a nobody in JUCO. I didn't even think this stuff was possible. These two years have been like a dream come true. It has been everything that I could ever want in a program for sure."

On what he thinks of the state of the program moving forward:
"I think it is in great hands. I think the best ball is ahead of us. There are a lot of young guys who stepped in this year and learned a lot, so I think the best ball is ahead of this program for sure. Next year, you're gonna see some guys make a lot of growth and a big leap. That's what I'm expecting, and that's what I hope for."

John Paddock

On Casey Washington:
"What a performance by Casey Washington today. You talk about a guy who had an amazing journey here, and there's no one more respected in our locker room than Casey Washington. We've developed a great relationship, and it's just great to see him have a fantastic game. Obviously, we're both extremely competitive. We want to win. We don't care about having great games; we'd rather get that W, but the way he played today, you can't go out on a higher note."

On the team's confidence in late-game situations:
"If there are still seconds on that clock, we're gonna keep fighting. We can only control what we do when we're on the field. We didn't flinch at all, didn't blink. We knew that if we got an opportunity, we could move the ball."

Aidan Laughery

On what progress he made this year:
"Yeah I feel like I learned a lot. It's my first year obviously and just kind of being here, learning the ropes, and this year kind of taking a step and feeling like I'm comfortable out on the field and can be a contributor. You know I'm excited to just hopefully step into a leadership role and build back better for next year."  

On coming up short:
"It's tough, especially the group of seniors we had like going out there wanting to play the game for them. It's tough to come up short in that fashion. I think everybody in this building expected to go out there and win that game. It's just tough to come up short like that."

Casey Washington

On what was going through his mind that last touchdown sprint:
"The only thing in my head was to win. Obviously, we fell short, but you know this is my last college game. Before the game I told myself I was going to pour out everything I had. I think I just blanked out when I was running, but the only thing that I was thinking about was helping my team win the game. We came up short obviously. It's a lot of emotions right now, I'm going to come back and give it some time. I'm just incredibly thankful to be a part of this process to get better, just thankful."

On how it felt walking off the field for the last time:
"It hurts, you know. I came here out of high school a bright eyed kid ready to conquer the world. This place has just taught me so much. Obviously, I've developed as a football player, but the things the coaches, and the players, and the people I've been around every day. They've helped me become a better me and I think that's what I'm most grateful for. I didn't know it was going to be the last walk through the tunnel today, but it was, I'm just happy I got to be around these people."

Miles Scott

On leading the secondary today:
"It was definitely difficult but there's got to be no drop off, next man up mentality, that's something we can definitely work on this off-season." 

On what the young guys can take from this:
"I thought it was good that they got their feet wet in the sense that the quarterback is actually going at them, the pressure is on. I'm glad they got that feeling out of the way, but now it's time that they've got to step up."

On the secondary this year:
"It was a learning experience; the secondary was young. I'm glad that we got a year under our belt to play together and understand what each other's strengths and weaknesses are. Now it's time to build off of that.