CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Sparks were flying in Champaign as the No.23 Illinois’ offense dazzled its way to 34 points on six total scoring drives against the No. 21 USC Trojans, including a game-winning drive as time expired.
Offensive coordinator and play-caller Barry Lunney Jr. got deep into his bag during Saturday’s Homecoming showdown, with the most highlight-worthy score of the day coming with some trickery.
On a Philly Special-esque play, Illinois wide receiver Hank Beatty got the ball on a double reverse
and delivered a four-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open quarterback Luke Altmyer, who smoothly slipped past the Trojan defense.
But that wasn’t all that Lunney and the Illinois offense had up their sleeves on Saturday.
It felt like there was much more pre-snap motion than we’ve seen so far this season, with multiple end-arounds and shovel passes finding their way into the call sheet as well.
After last week’s disappointing outing in Bloomington, where the Illini only managed to score 10 points against the Hoosiers, maybe some creativity was just what this offense was looking for to get headed in the right direction.
Altmyer had a huge day, as he added two passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and 328 passing yards to go along with the first receiving touchdown of his career.
The QB was slinging the ball all over the field and getting it out of his hands quickly, a stark difference from the team’s game against Indiana.
In his first game back since getting injured in Week 3, wide receiver Justin Bowick hauled in a 25-yard reception for a touchdown, his fourth of the season. Wide receiver Collin Dixon led the team with 90 receiving yards, while Beatty finished with a final stat line of six catches for 81 yards.
Running back Kaden Feagin made headlines for a goal line fumble in the first half, but changed the narrative in the second, turning a dump-off pass from Altmyer into a 64-yard touchdown. He finished with 127 all-purpose yards.
Feagin was also instrumental in the Illini’s final drive of the ball game, carrying the ball four times and helping set up kicker David Olano for the game-winning field goal.
For the offense to have a bounce-back game like this could end up paying dividends later down the road, especially with No. 1 Ohio State coming to town on Oct. 11.
