It was a frustrating game tonight as we hosted the #17 Illini in a rivalry game with all of our top recruits in town. The first half saw us kick a couple field goals to take a meager 6-0 lead.
This 17-yard pass from Marques (Juice) Guidry to Joey Brown put the Illini on top 7-6, but we answered a minute and half later with a 58-yard touchdown pass from senior QB Kellen Lewis to junior receiver Scott Allen to take a precarious 13-7 lead into the 4th.
With 3:30 left in regulation, the Illini went on top again 14-13 with a 1-yard run by sophomore RB Patrick Coleman. Shortly thereafter, a completely boneheaded interception by Kellen Lewis deep in our territory (I pressed the wrong button) set up Illinois with a chance to go for the kill.
The kill came in the shape of a 4-yard TD pass from backup QB Darryl Cooper (Guidry left with an injury) to junior receiver Allen Wright with 2:11 remaining.
Now trailing 21-13, Kellen Lewis guided the team down the field with a couple mid-range passes, and senior RB Bryan Payton punched it in from the 1 with 28 seconds remaining to pull us to within 21-19. Having to go for 2 to push it to overtime, we went with an option play, but Illinois defended it to perfection, and Lewis was stuffed for a loss.
Needing a miracle, we lined up for an onside kick.
Holy shit! Senior linebacker Geno Johnson recovered the onside kick, and we were in business. But with only 28 seconds left, our prospects of escaping with a win still seemed remote. On our first play, Lewis set his feet and heaved the ball downfield...
Junior receiver Scott Allen got behind the coverage and pulled the deep pass in to get us an amazing come-from-behind 26-21 victory! Allen's 11 receptions for 220 yards and 2 TDs single-handledly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, as nobody else on the offense did much of anything all day. Thank god Penn State did not steal him from us in recruiting last year!