Illinois hosted the Big Ten West rival Iowa Hawkeyes for the 78th time in program history. Illinois snapped a eight game losing streak against Iowa, winning 9-6 for the first time since 2008. 

The game started with a long 17-play opening drive by Illinois highlighted by two fourth-down conversions by senior quarterback Tommy DeVito. Throughout the drive offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr opened up the playbook, keeping the Iowa defense on their toes. Despite the nearly nine-minute drive, Illinois settled for a field goal. With every fourth-down conversion, the crowd erupted and the stadium filled with fans encouraged by the Athletics department to pack the stadium.

“I know (athletic director) Josh (Whitman and the Athletics department) did a lot of things to try to make this game the best environment that we’ve had since I’ve been here and I thought that was accomplished,” head coach Bret Bielema said. “It’s kind of a day that hopefully is an indication of what we can do even more. Just a really cool, awesome moment.”

On the ensuing defensive drive Illinois set the tone early with junior defensive back Devon Witherspoon breaking up a pass to Iowa wide receiver Arland Bruce IV. They would later give up two massive passes to Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta, setting them up in the red zone. Once in the red zone, the Illinois defensive line stepped up, with sophomore Johnny Newton causing back-to-back tackles for loss before an offside call against Iowa set them back on third down. Senior nose tackle Calvin Avery then stuffed the following Iowa run, forcing fourth down and a field goal.

The next offensive drive would majorly suck the energy out of every fan in Memorial Stadium as DeVito went down with a left ankle injury, sending him to the tent. He would later be ruled out for the rest of the game. The offense tried to get something going with junior backup quarterback Art Sitkowski but stalled out at the 37-yard line.

“I’m just happy we got the win,” Sitkowski said. “It’s happened a couple times in my career…where I’m coming off the bench so I’m kinda getting used to being in that role.”

After another Iowa four-and-out, wide receiver and return man Isaiah Williams lost track of the punt, leading to a recovery by Iowa. Despite this massive break for Iowa, they failed to capitalize, with the Illinois defense putting out another fire. However, it didn’t take long before Illinois created another fire, this time on their five-yard line, as an Iowa defender forced a fumble on Williams during a screen pass, setting up a field goal for Iowa.

The rest of the second quarter would consist of short drives on both sides as each team’s defenses executed their gameplans perfectly: shut down the run and maintain contested passes on man-to-man. When massive plays did occur, like those that gave LaPorta 99 yards by the end of the second half, then the Illini physicality would help shift the balance. Illinois would have a big break going into the half, with Iowa kicker Drew Stevens missing a field goal attempt from 45 yards.

After halftime, the slugfest continued as teams traded field position five times. On the sixth switch of possession, Brown started receiving more handoffs, going for 45 yards on the drive, making it his seventh straight game with 100+ rushing yards. The momentum would not last long as Illinois would punt once again. The Robertson punt, however, would be downed on the 2-yard line, putting pressure on Iowa with their backs to the wall. Iowa would make it out of their red zone, seeing some life on the ground with Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras, running back Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson. Questionable playcalling by Iowa would lead to them punting again, their fourth straight punt and the seventh straight of the game.

As fans continued to expect punt after punt, Sitkowski hit a deep pass to Hightower for 34 yards, crossing midfield. Sitkowski would keep the ball on the next play, lowering his shoulder to continue moving the ball down the field. Sitkowski would hit another deep pass to senior wideout Jonah Morris, putting them in the red zone for the first time since the 2nd quarter. The excitement and adrenaline would quickly fizzle out as Sitkowski threw a pick on the one-yard line.

Illinois would get back the ball on the Iowa 45-yard line after their fifth straight punt. Illinois return to the running game, pushing to the Iowa 19 with Brown and sophomore tailback Reggie Love III. Hearts dropped in Memorial as Sitkowski let go of the ball, with an Iowa defender taking it the distance for a fumble-recovery touchdown. The call was reviewed and overturned, giving Illinois another chance to put the game away, notching a field goal to go up three points with under three minutes left to play.

Iowa began marching down the field, hoping to tie the score. However, Iowa’s hopes and dreams would be left crushed on the field as sophomore linebacker Seth Coleman pressured Petras into throwing a pick straight into the body of freshman defensive back Matthew Bailey.

Iowa would get another shot to make it down the field cut but would exhaust all their downs, sealing a gritty game for Illinois.

Illinois walk-on redshirt freshman kicker Fabrizio Pinton, finished the game 3/3 on field goals, filling in for injured starter Caleb Griffin. Most surprisingly, Pinton didn’t know he was going to start until kickoff.

“Just stuck to my roots: just kick the ball through the uprights,” Pinton said with a big smile. “I see Caleb as a big brother…he came up to me a reminded me that I just need to relax. I listened and I felt good.”

Illinois move to 5-1 and 2-1 in the Big Ten, finding itself on tied with Purdue and Nebraska for first place in the Big Ten West. Illinois continues to break records, making it the first season they beat Iowa and Wisconsin since 1989. The Illini are also the only team in the country that has not allowed a touchdown at home this season.

“It’s just a big confidence booster. It means a lot, honestly. It shows how much we’ve improved from last season,” Newton said. “We’re really just the best defense in the nation. We knew we couldn’t let them get momentum.”

The Illini will look to shake off the performance before they welcome fans for Homecoming next weekend, October 15 against Minnesota (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten). 

“I couldn’t be more excited,” Bielema said.

“We’ve got bigger dreams than just winning these games,” Newton said. “Hopefully we can go to the College Football Playoffs, honestly, that’s where we want to be.”

@JonathanAlday7
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