Ca’Lil Valentine ran for 74 yards and a touchdown Saturday night while the Illinois defense came up with four turnovers to secure a 20-13 win over visiting Northwestern in Champaign, Ill.
The Fighting Illini (8-4, 5-4 Big Ten) forced three turnovers in the fourth quarter to seal the result. Leon Lowery Jr. recovered Preston Stone’s fumble on a quarterback sneak at their 10 with 10:17 left in the game, followed by two Miles Scott interceptions in the final 5 1/2 minutes.
Luke Altmyer completed 10 of 15 passes for 136 yards for Illinois, which gained only 284 yards but avoided the major mistakes that have colored some of its losses this year. It committed just one turnover and had only five penalties for 44 yards.
Stone completed 19 of 36 attempts for 163 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. The Wildcats (6-6, 4-5) reached the Illini 44 on their last drive but a fourth-down incompletion with 36 seconds left ended their chances.
The only points in the second half came on field goals. David Olano hit kicks of 47 and 27 yards for the Illini, while Jack Olsen connected from 26 for Northwestern.
The pregame storyline concerned a late-fall storm that dumped heavy snow on central Illinois. The field at Memorial Stadium was covered by the time the teams kicked off the first November night game in the facility’s 102-year history.
But the cold weather and poor playing conditions didn’t affect the teams’ ability to move the ball. Northwestern initiated scoring with a drive of 9:18 that culminated with a 38-yard field goal by Olsen with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.
After being denied on its opening drive that chewed up nearly 5 1/2 minutes, Illinois took a 7-3 lead when Valentine scored on a 6-yard run with 11:27 left in the first half. Stone put the Wildcats up 10-7 via a 13-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Eligon II at the 5:50 mark.
But Stone tossed his first interception after the two-minute timeout to set up the Illini with a 48-yard field. They cashed it in as Kaden Feagin powered in from the 1 with 30 seconds remaining for a 14-10 halftime edge.
–Field Level Media
