Illinois holds off Iowa; one win from bowl worthy
CHAMPAIGN - Illinois needed a win regardless of the opponent.
But to allow Iowa to rally from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit and renew hope - only to rip the Hawkeyes' hearts out with Matt Eller's game-winning 46-yard field goal?
It hardly gets better than that for those who dress in the Illini locker room.
"I think everybody on this team has their personal reasons, from the coaching staff to the players," said Illinois quarterback Juice Williams. "I believe every team in college football has one team that you've just got to beat every season.
"I assume that team is Iowa for us."
Yes, that would be a safe assumption. Starting from Illinois' 20 with 2:40 to go, Williams completed 7 of 10 passes to get within range for Eller.
The redshirt freshman walk-on from Jacksonville, Fla., drilled the field goal into a slight breeze with 24 seconds left to deliver a 27-24 Big Ten triumph before a sellout crowd of 62,870 at Memorial Stadium.
The win snapped Iowa's five-year hex on the Illini (5-4, 3-3) and put them within one game of bowl eligibility.
"I'd say we got a lot of revenge beating Iowa," said sophomore receiver Arrelious Benn, who had 2 of his game-high 7 receptions on the final drive. "Iowa's just a team that thinks they're so much better than us and we just came out and beat 'em - I just hate Iowa."
While several Illinois players charged into the north end zone seats to celebrate with their peers, Eller ran into the east stands on Dad's Day to hug and kiss his dad, mom and uncle.
"This is what it's all about," Eller said. "This is what people dream about since they were a little kid. You just go out and have fun. You think about the reward from it."
The reward was particularly huge because Illinois nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Illini built a comfortable 24-9 lead with 13:56 to go when cornerback Dere Hicks blitzed from the blind side, forced Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi to fumble, chased down the ball and ran it in from the 7-yard line.
But just over two minutes later, Iowa scored on Stanzi's 29-yard touchdown pass to Andy Brodell to make it 24-16.
After freshman running back Jason Ford lost a fumble at Illinois' 36 with 4:10 to go, Shonn Greene (21 carries, 103 yards) capped the drive with a 5-yard score. Stanzi's 2-point pass to tight end Allen Reisner made it 24-24 with 2:46 to go.
After Eller's go-ahead field goal, celebrated cornerback Vontae Davis clinched the win on Iowa's first play with his first interception of the year.
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