Illinois Takes Down Minnesota Behind Late-Game Heroics from Paddock, Williams

MINNEAPOLIS – The Fighting Illini's backs were against the wall, but they refused to quit and got the job done. Trailing by five points with under two minutes to play, Illinois needed to go 85 yards and find the end zone if it wanted to secure the victory. That is exactly what the Illini did.

With back-up quarterback John Paddock forced to step into the game on the Orange and Blue's final possession, Paddock completed all three of his passes, including a 4th-and-11 pickup on his first snap and the game-winning 46-yard touchdown strike to Isaiah Williams with 50 seconds to play. The last-minute touchdown sealed a 27-26 Illinois win over Minnesota on the road on Saturday, the team's third consecutive victory over the Golden Gophers.

Paddock registered 85 yards in his 35 seconds of action and tallied his second passing score with the Illini, while Williams hauled in two receiving touchdowns and recorded 131 receiving yards on 13 catches, both of which are new career-high marks.

Kaden Feagin took his 22 carries for 89 yards on the ground, while he also grabbed a 54-yard touchdown reception for the first receiving score of his career. His 148 yards of offense marked a new career-high for the Illini true freshman.

Before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter, Luke Altmyer completed 77% of his passes for 212 yards and a career-high three passing touchdowns. Those three scores marked the Illini's most touchdown passes in a game by an Illini quarterback since Sept. 22, 2022.

The Illini defense set the tone in the second half. Illinois held Minnesota to just 69 total yards of offense in the final 30 minutes of action, while the Golden Gophers registered 93 yards on the ground over the course of the afternoon, their second-fewest in a game this season.

The Illini could not have scripted a better start to the game. After Ryan Meed forced his first-career fumble on the opening kickoff, Illinois took over inside the red zone less than 10 seconds into the game. Facing a third-and-5 from the Minnesota 15, Altmyer found a wide-open Tip Reiman for a 15-yard touchdown strike to put the Orange and Blue ahead less than 90 seconds into the contest.

The Golden Gophers responded with a touchdown on their next possession, but the Illini broke the tie late in the opening quarter. Using chunk plays to move into Minnesota territory, an 18-yard completion to Pat Bryant marked the team's fourth first-down pickup of the drive. With three third-down conversions on their second possession of the day, Illinois went back in front on a 9-yard passing score to Williams, his second receiving touchdown of the season.

Despite scoring on their first two drives of the afternoon, the Illini went into halftime trailing, 17-14. Altmyer completed 79% of his passes and recorded two touchdowns, while Williams grabbed a team-high six catches and Bryant registered a team-most 44 receiving yards in the first half. Making his third consecutive start, Kaden Feagin notched 10 carries for 34 yards through the opening 30 minutes of play. 

After the Golden Gophers forced a turnover and took over inside the red zone early in the second half, the Illini defense held Minnesota to a field goal, with Jer'Zhan Newton recording a sack on third down on his first series of the afternoon. Newton was forced to sit out the entirety of the first half following a targeting penalty in the Illini's last game.

Illinois used the defensive stop to create momentum on offense. After three straight rushes from Feagin moved the Illini near midfield, the Illini's true freshman running back caught a screen from Altmyer and took advantage of blocks from Reiman and Bryant to find a gap along the right side of the field. Running 54 yards down the sideline, Feagin took the pass to the house for the team's longest passing score of the season to put the Orange and Blue back in front, 21-20, less than five minutes into the second half.

Minnesota retook the lead with less than six minutes to play, but Illinois continued to fight. Starting with the ball inside their own 20-yard line with under three minutes to play, the Illini eventually had their backs against the wall. Facing a third-and-11 on their own 15, Altmyer had to leave the game with an injury, forcing Paddock to take the field on fourth-and-11.

Paddock did not flinch, though, finding Williams for a 22-yard fourth-down conversion to keep Illinois' hopes alive. Paddock then connected with Bryant for a 17-yard pickup on the next play, moving the Illini into Minnesota territory. With under one minute to play, Paddock made his best throw of the night, hitting Williams in stride deep down the middle of the field for a 46-yard score to put the Orange and Blue back in front, 27-26, with 50 seconds to play.

Forcing three incompletions on Minnesota's final possession, Illinois secured the last-minute road victory for its second Big Ten win of the season. After Newton returned to begin the second half, the Illini held the Golden Gophers to just 69 total yards of offense.

The Illini return home to take on Indiana on Nov. 11 at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. CT on Big Ten Network.

NEXT HOME GAME

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

TEAM NOTES

• Illinois beat Minnesota for the third straight time. It is the first three-game winning streak over Minnesota since 1993-95. 
• Illinois head coach Bret Bielema is 10-0 as a head coach against Minnesota. 
• Bielema has seven Big Ten road win in his first three seasons as Illinois' head coach, the third-most by a head coach in Illinois history through their first three seasons. Only John Mackovic (9, 1988-90) and Lou Tepper (8, 1992- 94) won more Big Ten road games in their first three seasons at Illinois than Bielema. 
• Bielema's 11 Big Ten wins through his first three seasons at Illinois are the most since Lou Tepper won 13 in his first three seasons (1992-94). Bielema already has the fifth-most Big Ten wins through three seasons among the Illini's 13 head coaches in modern history (post-1940).
  • Bielema's seven Big Ten road wins in his first three seasons are the most since Lou Tepper won eight such contests from 1992-94.
• Illinois' 14-play drive that ended with an Isaiah Williams touchdown reception in the first quarter was its longest scoring drive of the season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• WR Isaiah Williams had 13 catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns. 
  • Williams has at least one catch in all 34 games since he switched from QB prior to the start of the 2021 season, the longest active streak in the Big Ten. 
  • Williams has at least three catches in 23 straight games. 
  • Williams is No. 2 in Illinois history in career receptions with 191. In the Illinois record book, Williams trails only College Football Hall of Famer David Williams' 262 receptions (1983-85). 
  • Williams has 1,942 career receiving yards, ninth all-time in Illinois history.
  • First game with at least two touchdowns since Nov. 5, 2022, vs. Michigan State.
  • His 13 catches and 131 receiving yards are both career-high marks.
  • 13 receptions are the most by a Big Ten player this season and tied for the fifth-most by any college football player in 2023.
  • 13 receptions were the most by an Illini since Keith Jones had 13 catches vs. Michigan State 10/22/1988.
  • 131 receiving yards were the most by an Illini since Josh Imatorbhebhe had 178 at Michigan State 11/9/2019.
• RB Kaden Feagin rushed 22 times for 89 yards and caught three passes for 59 yards and a touchdown.
  • His 54-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter was the longest passing play of the season for the Illini.
  • His three starts are tied for the fifth-most by a true freshman running back in Illinois history. If Feagin starts the rest of the regular season, he would tie Robert Holcombe's Illinois record of six starts by a true freshman running back set in 1994.
• QB Luke Altmyer completed 24 of his 31 passes for 212 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
  • His three touchdown passes are a new career-high mark.
• QB John Paddock completed all three of his passes for 85 yards and one touchdown.
  • Tossed go-ahead 46-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams with 50 seconds left.
  • Paddock's passer rating was 448.0.
  • Paddock threw for 85 yards in 35 seconds of action.
• DL Jer'Zhan Newton snapped a streak of 30 straight starts, which was the fifth-longest active streak in the nation by a defensive lineman, due to a targeting penalty in Illinois' last game. Newton returned to action in the second half and had three tackles (two solo) with one sack and one tackle for a loss.
  • Minnesota had just 69 total yards in the second half compared to 191 in the first half.

QUOTES

Head coach Bret Bielema

Opening statement:

"Give a lot of credit to Minnesota. P.J. has a good football team. I knew coming over here that they were atop the Big Ten West for a reason. They won a couple games here in a row and have done some good things, but I thought this was a team we matched up well against. I really liked it coming into the week. I thought our guys had a good week of practice. During the bye week, we turned the page.

"It's funny. Whenever we have people around the program who are not around us all the time, scouts who come in, NFL people, visitors, outside administration, they come by and they are like, 'Coach I can not believe the way your guys go about things, the way they practice.' You just take note of it, but on Wednesday, an NFL guy who I have known for 20 years, he was in the hallway around guys, in and out of meetings, went out to practice. He grabbed me and said, 'Hey, I know that you are not having the year that you necessarily want, but I can tell you, from every person I talk to, every staffer I work with, from watching you guys practice, you have something here that is really good, and I just want you to know that.'

"This was a great example of that. Last night, I showed them the Northwestern game. I try to show them things during the course of the week. I wanted them to know it does not always go as scripted. You just have to be resilient. I showed them the fourth quarter against Northwestern where they were down 21 points and how they made defensive stops, their offense made plays, they tied it up in the end, and they ended up winning in overtime. You heard our guys talking about that on the final series before John went in and after John went in. 

"There was an incredible amount of resiliency from two people. For John Paddock, to put himself in that position. Earlier in the year, when he got in the game, it was kind of out of control and was not a great situation to come in to. I said, 'Hey, what we just learned is when your moment comes, you are going to be that much more prepared. I do not know if it is going to be this week, next week, or the last half of the season. Your moment is going to come, and I have a pretty good confidence value that you are going to be prepared.' That is exactly what happened there. I did not think it was going to be fourth-and-11 and backed up in enemy territory with no timeouts and under a minute, but that is John to a tee.

"Isaiah Williams, for you guys who know him, 13 catches for 131 yards, when that ball went on the ground, I think a lot of people would be like, 'Oh my gosh.' I literally did not say anything to him because I knew he would take care of himself. He continues to impress me on a daily basis: who he is, what he stands for, and what he represents. That play was created before the day ever started. He just has that ability, and he is pretty awesome to be around."

On what the win showed him about the team:

"I think they have learned how to overcome some adversity. I have been trying to get a beat, and during the bye week, I kept thinking about how I can get these guys to understand these last four games and where they are at. We really just put an emphasis on, obviously, we are a 3-5 team that has four games in front of us, and all we can do is take advantage of every day. I showed a play on Wednesday where, in a short-yardage situation, one of our most respected players got beat and the reaction that he had.

"We talked all week about winning our one-on-ones. Our three goals today were: first, we had to prepare and know Minnesota. Our second thing was we wanted to run the ball, stop the run, and cover kicks. Our third, and our biggest, goal was for the 74 guys who came on this plane, we wanted to win our one-on-ones, every play and every day."

On John Paddock stepping up in the fourth quarter:

"He is pretty much the same guy every day. He is a junkie. Obviously, you know his history and his legacy with his grandfather, his uncle, and his parents. His mom and dad have raised a really competitive kid. I give them a lot of credit. 

"It has not been exactly the way he probably wanted it to be. He came in and competed for the quarterback job. Obviously, we went with Luke, but he just stayed consistent.

"Our locker room responded in a way that you can tell that he has a big effect on it."