CHAMPAIGN — The No. 9-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini surged past the Western Michigan Broncos for a 38-0 victory, coming alive in the second half and taking control at Memorial Stadium.
Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer engineered three consecutive TD drives after halftime, extending the 10-0 Illini lead to 31-0 after TDs from Kaden Feagin, a run by Altmyer and a TD pass to Ashton Hollins.
Hank Beatty was the top receiver, pulling in six catches for 53 yards and a score. Feagin ran for 100 yards on 20 carr8es, while Ca’Lil Valentine added 63 yards on 10 carries for a backfield missing Aidan Laughery to injury.
Illinois maintained its 10-0 halftime lead thanks to a huge defensive stand in the final seconds of the second quarter, keeping the Broncos out of the end zone on fourth down-and-goal from the 1 with three seconds left.
Regardless, Illinois coach Bret Bielema said he had a “spirited” conversation with the team at the break.
“I can’t repeat what I said at halftime,” Bielema said in the postgame news conference. “I was probably as spirited as I have ever been as a head coach since I’ve been here at Illinois. … I slapped a board, and my hand is still numb. I’m probably going to have to get it checked out.”
Illinois (3-0) now has won seven games in a row, its best streak since 2011. It travels to face No. 19 Indiana next week between contenders for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Illinois swept its nonconference opponents for the third time in four seasons. According to The Associated Press, the Illini did that only once the previous two decades, in 2011.
Here is a recap and highlights from the final nonconference game of the season:
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Illinois football highlights vs. Western Michigan
What Bret Bielema said after win vs Western Michigan
Opening statement: “I’m super excited to get out with the ‘W.’ Obviously, it didn’t go according to plan the first half. I give a lot of credit to Western Michigan. You know, I said, and watching college football today, they took North Texas to overtime last time, and I think you saw the score, North Texas beat Washington State, I’m assuming, pretty good. It was in the fourth quarter when I last watched. And really good football team did a lot of good things.
“At halftime, we came in and, you know, kind of had some conversations about where we needed to go, and I thought our guys responded very, very well defensively at the end of the half there to make that stop was huge. And then offensively, I think we scored the next three times we had the ball. What we got to do is find out how to get them rhythm in that first half, I grabbed Luke at the end of the game there and just said, hey, whatever we got to do, however we need to do it. Make sure we get not just the players but the coaches. Let’s figure out what we need to do to be better the first half.
“I think injury wise, I know Xavier (Scott), I think he just at the end. Melvin (Priestly) a little bit at the end, but I don’t expect anything there. (Justin Bowick), we did lose him in the first half there. So, I don’t know exactly where we’re at with him. I do think Aidan Laughery and Dylan Rosiak, on Wednesday, we ran them. They just weren’t right where we needed to be. And then Thursday, we kind of ruled them out. I do expect to have them back this week, it’s Indiana, a Big Ten matchup game. We’re super excited to get over there and see where we’re at with that.”
On Larry Gies: “Thank you to Larry Gies, we’ve had a lot of special memories over the last couple days. Just an awesome, awesome person. It sounds crazy; to give $100 million and that’s obviously an awesome thing in itself, but what I’ve just been blown away the things that he gives personally. His time, his mentorship with our players, his care. He says a lot of great things about Josh. I don’t think that gift ever happens if it weren’t for Josh Whitman his relationship with with Larry Gies, and to have $100 million jump on our stadium and everything else that Josh and his crew will put together just speaks volumes of where this program is at.”
On flipping the switch at halftime: “You know, I think we got to learn from our opportunities. I’m going to take a glass half full over the glass half empty. The good news was we responded really well in the second half. We’re 80-9 in the second half. Obviously, we got to improve on the first half, but I am really excited about our growth at the halftime. And what was, what was that moment and how we responded to it.”
On Luke Altmyer’s comfort in the offense: “I think a little bit of you have to take what the defense gives you. But on the same account, Luke’s a really intelligent player. He’s an accurate ball-placer. I think you do some things at the line of scrimmage once he’s in rhythm. Luke is a rhythm guy, though, so I think that the key is to find that rhythm and get him stay with it. That could be just as important as the play call itself, in my opinion.”
On the running backs getting into a rhythm: “Once I knew Aidan wasn’t going, we kind of knew offensively (Kaden Feagin) was going to carry the workload. I always, in my career, have always grabbed the running back when he runs that play, and I just grab it when I said, today’s your day. I think today will be a day we look back on, and you feel that you could put the team on your back. And it’s kind of ironically how it happened in that third and fourth quarter. And, you know, Ca’Lil (Valentine) comes in there and has a nice change of pace. But, Kaden Feagin, I thought this week began to show some things that you’d seen him kind of get close. There was a play last week where he could have just pulled his leg through. And then today, there are several of those. I thought he did. And then he just listen, you got a business decision when you want to make a tackle on him right, you don’t know if you’re gonna go high or low or jump onto the back or or fall down, but it was a really big, powerful back with a lot of great attitude and really good upside.”
Illinois football score vs. Western Michigan: Recap and highlights
Luke Altmyer stats vs. Western Michigan
Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer finished 17-for-26 with 196 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 38-0 victory against Western Michigan. In the second half, he was 9-for-10 with 115 yards and a TD, engineering four scoring drives after Illinois led only 10-0 at half.
FINAL: Illinois 38, Western Michigan 0
Illinois has its first shutout since the opener of the 2024 season against Eastern Illinois.
Illinois score update: Ca’Lil Valentine gets on the board
The Illinois offense has taken control in the second half and adds another scoring drive, capped by RB Ca’Lil Valentine’s first TD of the game. The Illini have three rush TDs in the second half.
Illinois 38, Western Michigan 0 | 5:15 4Q
Illinois score update: Luke Altmyer leads another TD drive
QB Luke Altmyer hits Ashton Hollins for the first TD of his career and Illinois has extended its lead. Altmyer has nine completions in a row for 132 yards.
Illinois 31, Western Michigan 0 | 14:06 4Q
Illinois score update: Illinois 24, Western Michigan 0 | end of 3rd
Illinois has taken control of the game with a big third quarter, same as they did last week in a 45-19 win over Duke. QB Luke Altmyer connected on seven consecutive passes and engineered two TD drives, the first capped by a Kaden Feagin TD and the second on a TD run by him.
Illinois score update: Luke Altmyer engineers another TD drive
Illinois QB Luke Altmyer caps another touchdown drive with a 2-yard bootleg run, and the Illini have extended their lead to 24-0 with 2:48 left in the third quarter.
Illinois has two drives this quarter, both for TDs, that have taken a combined 6:55 off the clock. Altmyer has completed seven consecutive passes for 91 yards.
Illinois 24, Western Michigan 0 | 2:48 3Q
Illinois score update: Illini extend lead with dominant first drive
Illinois came out of halftime with energy. After forcing a three-and-out, the Illini then drove 53 yards on five plays, capped by a 3-yard TD run from RB Kaden Feagin, who had three runs on the drive. Luke Altmyer was crisp, going= 2-fof-2, hitting Hank Beatty (24 yards) and Collin Dixon (15 yards) for first downs.
Illinois 17, Western Michigan 0 | 10:59 3Q
Illinois makes big defensive stand before halftime
Illinois DT Kenenna Odeluga pulls off a huge stop, tackling Western Michigan’s Michael Brescia for no gain on fourth-and-goal with 3 seconds left in the first half. Illinois keeps Broncos off the board.
Illinois 10, Western Michigan 0 | HALF
Illinois flipping the field with Keelan Crimmins
Illinois punter Keelan Crimmins is averaging 44.3 yards on his three punts, including a 50-yarder late in the second quarter. As the Illini offense struggles to handle WMU’s pass rush, Crimmins and the defense are keepig the Broncos at bay.
Illinois receiver pulls off rarity only three games in
Illinois WR Hank Beatty, who pulled in a 6-yard TD in the second quarter, is the first Illini with a rushing TD, receiving TD and punt return TD in the same season since E.B. Halsey in 2003, according to a post from Illini Stats & Notes on X.com.
Illinois score update: Western Michigan misses field goal
Western Michigan covered 43 yards on 11 plays over 5:30, looking for dynamic with Broc Lowry at quarterback. Yet the drive ends with a 46-yard missed field goal from Palmer Domschke. Empty drive.
Illinois 10, Western Michigan 0 | 5:05 2Q
Western Michigan gives another look with second QB
QB Broc Lowry now in for Western Michigan for the first time, replacing Brady Jones. The Broncos have rotated the QBs in their first two games of the season.
Illinois pulls off big stop on third-and-short
Alex Bryant and Kenenna Odeluga converge to stop Jalen Buckley on a third-and-1, forcing Western Michigan to punt with 11:29 to go in the second.
Illinois score update: Illinois breaks through with first TD
QB Luke Altmyer comes out of the quarter change with a few quick throws, precise on a 25-yard strike to Malik Elzy and then ln a 6-yard TD throw to Hank Beatty after a nice scramble.
Illinois 10, Western Michigan 0 | 13:31, 2Q
Illinois score update: Illinois 3, Western Michigan 0 | END 1Q
Illinois controlled the possession in the first quarter, but only has a field goal to show for it. WMU is getting good pressure on QB Luke Altmyer and doing a decent job stopping the run.
Feels like it’s only a matter of time before the Illini break through.
Illinois score update: Defensive battle so far in Champaign
Illinois and Western Michigan have traded punts on the last three possessions, and the Broncos are hanging in with the No. 9 Illini so far with a good mix of QB pressure and a stout run defense.
Illinois football score update
Illinois puts together a nice drive, covering 65 yards on 14 plays over 6 minutes, 13 seconds — but ends it with only a field goal, a 28-yarder by David Olano.
Illinois 3, Western Michigan 0 | 8:47 1Q
Illinois football injury report vs Western Michigan
The Illini will be without six players for their game with Western Michigan, including starters RB Aidan Laughery and LB Dylan Rosiek. Illinois is deep at back with Kaden Feagin and Ca’Lil Valentine expected to carry the load. Malachi Hood will fill in at linebacker.
Both Laughery and Rosiek are expected to return next week vs. Indiana.
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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Illinois football vs. Western Michigan recap: Illini surge past Broncos in shutout win
Reporting by Wes Huett, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
