Rutgers 35, Illinois 24
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, October 14, 2017
Where: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois
Temperature:
75°
Head Official:
Michael Cannon
Attendance:
35765
By The Sports Xchange
Running back Gus Edwards rushed for a pair of touchdowns and Rutgers snapped a 16-game Big Ten losing streak with a 35-24 victory over Illinois on Saturday in Champaign, Ill.
Running backs Robert Martin, Josh Hicks and freshman Raheem Blackshear (six carries, 87 yards) added touchdowns as the Scarlet Knights (2-4, 1-2), who had been outscored 202-30 in their previous five conference games, won a Big Ten contest for the first time since a 55-52 victory at Indiana in 2015.
Rutgers junior quarterback Giovanni Rescigno was 5 of 10 passing for 89 yards and rushed seven times for 41 yards before leaving in the third quarter with a knee injury.
Sophomore quarterback Jeff George Jr. was 20 of 38 passing for 308 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Fighting Illini (2-4, 0-3), which lost their fourth consecutive game. Illinois freshman wide receiver Ricky Smalling caught five passes for 111 yards and a score.
The Scarlet Knights took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Blackshear took an inside handoff and burst 19 yards up the middle. Rutgers increased its lead to 14-3 as Hicks kept his feet moving and pushed his way into the end zone from the 5-yard line early in the second period.
The Fighting Illini trimmed the deficit to 14-10 when freshman running back Ra'Von Bonner barely got the ball to the line on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 8:10 left in the second quarter. Edwards restored Rutgers' 11-point lead with a 7-yard touchdown run 3:11 later.
The Scarlet Knights put it away when Edwards' 5-yard run made it 28-10 with 4:11 left in the third quarter. The score came two plays after Illinois punt returner Carmoni Green inexplicably tried to dive on the ball when the play was about to be blown dead. Rutgers' Dacoven Bailey recovered after the ball squirted free.
George connected with Smalling for a 30-yard score with 7:56 remaining to get the Fighting Illini within 28-17 before the Scarlet Knights answered with a 75-yard drive, capped by Martin's 16-yard touchdown run with 4:32 to go.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
| Rutgers
|
376 |
274 |
102 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
2.0 |
1 |
| Illinois
|
394 |
86 |
308 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1.0 |
3 |
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