No. 25 Illinois won a 38-31 thriller against Rutgers with a last-second touchdown on Saturday in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Trailing 31–30, the Illini faced a 4th-and-13 with 14 seconds left in the game and were ready to attempt a go-ahead field goal from 58 yards out. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano then called a timeout to try ice kicker Ethan Moczulski.
Moczulski actually kicked the ball wide left and about 15 yards short, but the attempt was nullified by the timeout. After seeing how the kick went and having a chance to reconsider, Illinois coach Bret Bielema decided against the field goal attempt and opted to go for a first down. That choice ultimately turned out even better than Bielema probably expected.
Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer connected with Pat Bryant for a 17-yard pass and a first down. However, Rutgers was then unable to tackle Bryant, despite there being five defenders nearby. The senior wideout then sprinted the remaining 23 yards to the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown with four seconds left.
The Illini failed on a two-point conversion attempt. Yet they still got those two points when Rutgers threw the ball out of bounds and into the end zone on the ensuing kickoff.
