CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 24 Illinois fell to Minnesota, 25-17, at Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Josh McCray rushed for a team-leading 72 yards on seven carries, including a career-long 42-yard touchdown run in the first half.
Zakhari Franklin hauled in his second touchdown of the season and finished with five catches for 71 yards.
Pat Bryant recorded a team-best 72 receiving yards on his five receptions.
No. 24 Illinois (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) will take its second idle week in Week 11 before returning to Memorial Stadium on Nov. 16 for its final home game of the year. The Fighting Illini will take on Michigan State for Senior Day, with the kickoff time and broadcast information yet to be announced. Tickets are available at FightingIllini.com.
POSTGAME NOTES
Player Notes
- RB Josh McCray rushed seven times for 72 yards and a touchdown.
- His 42-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter was the longest of his career.
- Fourth touchdown of the season and eighth of his career.
- WR Zakhari Franklin caught five passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.
- Caught his second touchdown reception of the season in the fourth quarter.
- Was the 40th in his career, which leads all active players.
- WR Pat Bryant caught five passes for 72 yards.
- Has at least one reception in 21-straight games, dating back to 2023.
- DB Xavier Scott recorded four tackles and two PBUs.
- LB Seth Coleman posted two QB hurries.
HIGHLIGHTS
QUOTES
Opening statement:
"I'm extremely disappointed, but I give credit to Minnesota. The guys are going to look back at the film and realize we got to capitalize on the moments when they come. We couldn't do enough of that, in the first half we let some things fly by and created some opportunities for them. In the second half I thought our guys came out ready to play; we took the lead, then gave it away and had a chance to rally there at the end. Unfortunately, we just didn't have enough juice to finish it off."
"I do think a lot of our guys were a little bit banged up, especially at the nickel position. Xavier Scott couldn't go the rest of the game and that put a strain on that position. I thought our guys battled and did a lot of good things. I know this game meant a lot to our guys, especially Luke Altmyer. Offensively we unfortunately came up short, but the good news is we have a bye week coming at a good time to help get everyone healthy."
"We've got three guaranteed opportunities left in front of us. I know this next one will be our last one here at Memorial Stadium for the season. Our guys take a lot of pride in playing here and they'll carry that forward into the Michigan State game. Injury wise, I don't think Xavier Scott will be out indefinitely, but he wasn't able to play the second half. Dylan Rosiek unfortunately has a fracture so he could be out for the season. He'll have surgery sometime this week. Hank Beatty had a dislocation that popped up and broke the skin so he had stitches and couldn't come back into the game, but we should hopefully have him back in the Michigan State game."
"A couple other guys were banged up, Tyler Strain tried to get back out there this week, but it wasn't enough to get him in a position to play. Joe Barna was also close to getting back but didn't get cleared. I give a lot of credit to our guys, I thought Kaleb Patterson, Pat Bryant and Torrie Cox Jr. did a lot of good things. They practiced with us Wednesday forward and we needed those guys out there today. I appreciate their effort."
On ball security:
"When you're in the pocket you must secure it with two hands. I think there at the end of the half it was a three-man rush, and we must be able to secure that. I think it's a fitting ending for today to get his sack fumble on a three man rush just shows it wasn't in the deck of cards today. Unfortunately, that's got to be there, we work endlessly on those ball security drills and we're going to get it corrected going forward."
On the offense today:
"Minnesota did a good job of keeping us off track, they brought some pressures early on that forced us into some second and longs. There was one point where we got into that fringe area, and we couldn't come up with something and get us at least to a decision on if we want to go for it or not. We were stuck in that mid field range. One bright spot I thought at the end of the half was when we put ourselves into position to try a 55-yard field goal. I thought that was good execution by Luke and the offense, but it just wasn't in the deck of cards.
On taking advantage of the bye week coming up:
"One of the things we've done in this program is take the bye week to maximize the guys that don't get as many reps normally during the week. We've played nine physical games. The way that we play and execute we must be smart. We'll get our guys working on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. That's going to be critical to help get the guys who are banged up healthy and growing our other lower rep guys."
On his evaluation of the game:
"It's a hard-fought loss, just knowing we put our all into it. We worked hard during the week and going out there and performing like that hurts the soul a little bit. We got guys down a little bit, but at the end of the day we must come back and work."
On the difference in the offense between the beginning of the season and now:
"Our ability to start off fast in the beginning of the year was very important. We've slowed up a little bit on very small details. Small details are what lost this game. We must get back to who we are as an offense, going out there and having explosive plays and putting our defense in a good position."
On the difficulty of guys playing due to injury:
"It's hard, but I saw some of the young guys step up. That's always great to see. I'm looking forward to the bye week and getting people healthy."
On preparing for the last three regular season games:
"I think we're going to do a lot of self-evaluation. I'm going to do a lot of self-evaluation. We just need to take every game like we took the first half of the season and get back to doing what we were doing."
On dealing with adversity:
"It's nothing new. I'm not swayed by it at all. Consider it pure joy when you face trials and adversity, and that's what I'm going to do. That's my mindset. This team is very optimistic
about these final three that were going to play. I have a great group of guys around me, no matter the circumstance, who are going to hold their heads high and chest out. I've never been more confident with that."
On the keys heading into the bye week:
"Get better and healthy. A lot of our guys are dealing with some nicks and bruises. We
must get better. We have three games to win nine games, and we sure can do that. Everyone in that locker room knows that. I know this last time coming into Memorial against Michigan State, we're going to give it our best and make sure we execute at a high level to go win."
On the next man up mentality:
"It is frustrating when someone goes down, but I think it's an opportunity because those guys are young who are coming in and they have the ability. We might not have the experience but all the guys on the backend have the ability to play at this level and I believe in them. It's the opportunity for them to come into the game when they're young and get this experience."
On the impact when Miles Scott was forced out of the game:
"Miles has started a lot of games. I don't think there's much of a drop-off with Mac Resetich. He's taking the reps in practice. There isn't as much experience there on the backend, but ultimately, he must step up and play. It didn't go the way we wanted, but he played hard."
