Matt Eller’s 46-yard field goal with 24 seconds left in Saturday afternoon’s game capped off a back-and-forth fourth quarter, which ultimately gave the edge to Illinois in its victory against Iowa. With the kick, Eller and the Fighting Illini snapped a five-game losing streak against the Hawkeyes. But the real excitement of the game happened in the final minutes, not seconds.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Illinois led 17-9 and quickly scored off of Iowa’s Ricky Stanzi’s fumble. Dere Hicks, who forced the fumble, picked it up and ran seven yards into the end zone to give the Orange and Blue a 24-9 edge. Even though the Hawkeyes were down by 15, the next 14 minutes proved to be a dog fight between the two Big Ten rivals.

“Things were looking pretty bleak big picture-wise, but if there is a positive, it is how our guys responded,” Iowa’s head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “The game is not over until it’s over. That’s football. That is why they put 60 minutes on the clock.”

On the next drive, Ferentz’s team responded with three completions, culminating in a 29-yard touchdown pass from Stanzi to Andy Brodell. The narrowed 24-16 margin encouraged the Hawkeyes that a win or possible overtime could be in store.

The following four drives saw the two teams alternating possession, but a fumble on Illinois’ 33-yard line by true-freshman Jason Ford with four minutes left set up an opportunity for Iowa to tie the game – and that’s exactly what they did. Shonn Greene’s rushing touchdown and a two-point completion later, the score was tied at 24 with less than three minutes to play.

“We were down 15 points and we came back and scored to tie it up,” said Iowa’s defensive tackle Mitch King.

It was then up to Iowa’s stingy defense to hold off the Illini. The Hawkeyes booted a 68-yard kickoff, and Vontae Davis returned it to Illinois’ 20. Illinois’ scoring drive saw quarterback Juice Williams connecting with five different receivers, including his backup quarterback, Eddie McGee.

“It will be huge for the offense with (McGee) at wide receiver,” Williams said. “He has too much talent to be sitting on the sidelines, and having him there has clicked really well.”

One problem that kept clicking was the clock, as the Illini were forced to take a timeout with 29 seconds left. The ball was on Iowa’s 29, and instead of risking an interception, head coach Ron Zook sent the kicking unit to the field for the long field goal attempt.

Because Eller backed up Jason Reda, Illinois’ all-time scoring leader, last year, he had never experienced a game-winning field goal. But the Florida native did not let the pressure affect him.

“I was saying get the ball to the 40, on each side,” Eller said. “We hit about a 57 (yarder) in pregame, so we felt pretty confident with distance today … Coach Zook knows you don’t want to say too much to a kicker right before he goes out, so he just said, ‘Keep your head down,’ which is the one thing he always stresses to me. Every single kick in practice, every extra point, every everything. Just ‘Keep your head down.'”

Eller did keep his head down, and nailed a 46-yard field goal as the crowd erupted and the Illini took a 27-24 lead. Iowa got the ball back, but Stanzi threw an interception to Davis, ending the Hawkeyes’ hopes of a come-from-behind win.

“It was a great comeback by our guys,” Ferentz said. “I don’t feel we let down or lost our focus, that wasn’t the case at all. We answered a couple good drives in the fourth quarter and (Illinois) in turn did what they had to do. (Eller) had a great effort on the field goal.”

Even though most of the action came in fourth quarter, Ferentz blamed the loss on all the mistakes his team made in the remainder of the game – especially in its scoreless first quarter and three-point third quarter.

“Certainly we didn’t play well enough at all times to win the football game today, but I thought they particularly played hard and competed hard, especially in that fourth quarter when things weren’t looking so good,” Ferentz said. “We had a tough stretch in the start of the third quarter, and our guys battled back.”