Box Score (PDF)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois football closed the spring with its annual Orange and Blue Spring Game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The scrimmage included the offense donning all-blue jerseys along with all-orange attire for the quarterbacks, while the defense dressed all in white.Â
Luke Altmyer, who played only in the first half, went 10-for-14 with 116 yards and two touchdowns. Playing in the first three quarters of action, Donovan Leary finished with 207 yards through the air and two passing scores while completing 13 of his 23 pass attempts. Five different quarterbacks saw action in the contest.
Aidan Laughery totaled 70 yards on the ground across his 11 carries, while he also tacked on a receiving score.
Malik Elzy recorded a game-high six catches for 85 yards, and he hauled in a 23-yard touchdown reception. Alexander Capka-Jones accumulated a game-high 95 yards and a touchdown on four receptions, while Kenari Wilcher amassed four catches for 38 yards. Collin Dixon's lone reception was a 33-yard score.
Defensively, Saboor Karriem and Jojo Hayden each had a team-high seven tackles, while Karriem also made a game-most 2.5 tackles for loss. Kaleb Patterson had two pass breakups, and Elijah Mc-Cantos was credited with the game's lone interception.
Josh McCray found the end zone in the first quarter for the first score of the day before Elzy hauled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Altmyer. Laughery spun past a defender before breaking a tackle for a 26-yard pickup – the largest play of the opening frame – earlier in that second scoring drive. The defense forced three three-and-outs across the first 15 minutes of action.
After the Illini defense held the offense out of the end zone for nearly 11 minutes to open the second quarter, Laughery secured his first touchdown of the afternoon on an 18-yard completion from Altmyer. The first three drives of the second frame featured two three-and-outs and a stop on fourth-and-1 before the offense pieced together a 12-play, 59-yard drive over the span of six minutes to find the end zone.
On the next drive, with Leary under center, the offense needed only two plays to get back in the end zone. A 42-yard strike to Capka-Jones began the series before Leary found Dixon for a 33-yard touchdown completion.
Following a 12-minute halftime intermission, the defense forced two punts on the first two drives of the second half before Capka-Jones made his second touchdown catch of the afternoon, this time from 40 yards out.
The defense then forced a turnover on downs on three consecutive drives before Mc-Cantos recorded an interception with less than one minute to play. Freshman Trey Petty connected with Michael Bartolotta as time expired for a 15-yard score to close the contest.
While the spring game did not feature official scoring, statistics were recorded.Â
Illinois will open its 2024 fall schedule at Memorial Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 29, when the Orange and Blue play host to Eastern Illinois.
Press Conference
Quotes
Opening statement:
"Overall, I'm excited to get out of it injury-free. I thought we've been pretty clean all spring, and to get out of today the way we did was awesome. I was excited to see how our quarterbacks reacted to a defense coming at them, which was probably as live as we've had all spring.Â
"I thought we protected the ball well. I was really excited about the growth of not just Luke Altmyer, but Donovan has really come along. I thought Trey Petty did some nice things out there today. We saw Cal (Swanson) come in and make a few plays, which was awesome.Â
"Defensively, I thought we tackled pretty well. Those were really windy conditions, so I knew we were gonna stress our kickers. Overall, I'm pretty excited."
On the growth and development of his offensive line:
"It's not just depth; it's just the quality. I think our offensive line at tackle in the two-deep is probably as good as we've had it. We obviously brought some new guys in to make an immediate impact, but the development of Hunter Whitenack; Gesky has had a really, really good spring; Brandon Henderson came in a year ago at this time and has come in, continued to retool, and get better at what he's doing.Â
"Obviously, the new transfers of JC and Melvin Priestly have been pretty impressive since they got here. I think Josh Kreutz has had a really, really good spring. He's just so much more aware and understands things stronger. I like that group overall, and I like their growth today."
On what he thinks the team accomplished this spring:
"You get 15 opportunities, and I just wanted to take advantage of every one of them. Two weeks ago, on a Tuesday, I didn't think we had a great practice, and I let them feel it a little bit. For everybody on this Earth, one thing is our common denominator: We all share time. We can't buy time. We can't go buy another day or forecast what's in the future. We all have the same amount of time, and I want to take advantage of every opportunity. I think our guys did that. I think they felt it.
"We got better. We stayed pretty healthy, which is a big deal in the world that we're in right now. To get out of it healthy and to get a better understanding of our roster has really helped us."
On his evaluation of the offense following the scrimmage:
"It was practice 15 for us. I know everyone says it's the spring game, but at the end of the day, it is practice 15. We're trying to get a lot out of it, trying to learn, trying to be efficient with what we're doing. I had a lot of fun out there. It was a little cold and a little windy, but it was fun to be out there, score a few touchdowns, and see guys flying around."
On being more decisive in his second season at Illinois:
"That's the deal with me: being more decisive, being more urgent, being more assertive in my game and my daily walk into this building every single day. It comes with a lot of things: It comes with reps, it comes with being more comfortable with what I'm doing.
"I'm excited to move forward, and I'm looking forward to the fall and showcasing that."
On if the defense got better and took a step forward this spring:
"I think we definitely did. The younger and older guys, I think everyone got better this spring."
On his second year of playing in DC Aaron Henry's defensive system:
"As a whole, we've started to learn each other and what it takes to win. With year two, I think we're gonna be bigger and better."
On his perspective of the offensive line:
"Those are some big boys up front. Having them across on counter schemes, they dig but they can also move. They make the holes; we just have to work."
On the growth of the running backs this spring:
"We definitely had growth from last year: knowing where the holes open up and pass protection as well. I feel like Coach Ward did an awesome job of getting us all right. We all bought in to what Coach Ward was preaching to the room. We all came together, and we all grew."
On what has allowed him to navigate through changes during his time at Illinois:
"Perseverance. I feel like that's the biggest thing. It gives hope to other guys who are walk-ons as well, here and at other colleges. I just hope I'm an inspiration to somebody else. They can do it, too; it's not just me."
On the improvements of the secondary this spring:
"It's been great, and there's been better bonding. It was good that we were able to be together this spring. We lost some guys, but I feel like that made us closer. We were able to definitely grow this spring."
