Illinois rallies in the 4th quarter to beat No. 19 Kansas 23-17
CHAMPAIGN — Kaden Feagin scored on a 1-yard run with 9:34 to go, David Olano added a 43-yard field goal with 58 seconds left and Illinois rallied to beat No. 19 Kansas 23-17 on Saturday night.
Illinois (2-0) beat a ranked nonconference opponent at home for the first time since topping then-No. 22 Arizona State on Sept. 17, 2011. The Illini also avenged a 34-23 loss last year at Kansas (1-1).
Feagin scored after Luke Altmyer found Pat Bryant for 37- and 28-yard completions on the 8-play, 80-yard drive.
Altmyer completed 16 of 25 passes for 192 yards. Zakhari Franklin had 9 catches for 99 yards, and Bryant had 3 receptions for 70 yards.
The win gave Illinois coach Bret Bielema a 20-19 record in four years in charge of the Illini,
“I've been waiting for this moment. We've got to build on this now,” he said. “I had a feeling we were going to match up well. I liked our demeanor. I felt good about the game coming into it, and it was fun to watch it play out in front of you.”
Kansas' Jalon Daniels was 18 of 32 for 141 yards with two touchdown passes and three interceptions.
Daniels scrambled and found a wide-open Lawrence Arnold in the end zone for 13-yard TD pass that give the Jayhawks a 17-13 lead with 4:57 to go in the third quarter.
Luke Grimm caught 9 passes for 40 yards and a touchdown for the Jayhawks. Devin Neal ran for 101 yards on 14 carries.
“This stings, and it should,” Kansas coach Lance Leopold said. “We're see what we're made of. I'm confident our upperclassmen will respond.”
Leopold praised Illinois' receivers.
“They made some really big-time plays,” he said. “When you play against good football players, they're going to make good plays.”
Illinois and Kansas combined for 17 points in the final 3:05 of the second quarter.
The Illini led 13-10 at halftime thanks to Xavier Scott's 28-yard return of an interception with 36 seconds left in the quarter. Scott read a screen pass attempt by Daniels and raced untouched into the end zone. It was Scott's second interception of the game.
A 50-yard field goal by Olano (Naperville North) with 2:27 to go in the quarter was set up by a spectacular one-handed, 42-yard catch by Franklin along the sideline with Kansas' Damarius McGhee holding his other arm.
The Jayhawks went ahead 10-3 on a 3-yard TD pass from Daniels to Grimm in the back of the end zone with 3:05 remaining in the half.