Josh McCray rushed for three touchdowns while Luke Altmyer threw for 231 yards and two scores as Illinois earned a 38-16 Big Ten victory over Michigan State on Saturday afternoon in Champaign.
The Illini (7-3, 4-3), who had lost two straight games, never trailed while clinching their fifth winning record in 23 seasons. Altmyer hit 19 of 32 passes, primarily to senior wideouts Pat Bryant (4 catches, 135 yards, 1 TD) and Zakhari Franklin (7 catches, 44 yards, 1 TD) on Senior Day.
Aidan Chiles completed 23 of 40 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns for the Spartans (4-6, 2-5), but also suffered five sacks and narrowly avoided several others. After losing its third straight, Michigan State must beat Purdue and Rutgers at home to secure a bowl berth in Jonathan Smith’s first year at the helm.
After the teams exchanged punts on their first drives, they swapped touchdown bombs on their second drives.
Bryant got behind two Spartans down the left sideline and caught a 57-yard touchdown pass from Altmyer at the 9:52 mark of the first quarter. Michigan State responded with Aziah Johnson getting wide open down the right sideline on a coverage bust for a 52-yard scoring strike from Chiles two minutes after Illinois’ TD. Jonathan Kim’s extra point went wide right, though, to preserve Illinois’ lead at 7-6.
Illinois answered with a more conventional drive to expand its lead. McCray capped the 13-play, 75-yard march with a 11-yard run — using a stiff-arm maneuver to bounce outside before tightroping down the right sideline for the final 5 yards to take a 14-6 lead with 1:06 left in the first.
The Illini pieced together another long drive to seize a 21-6 cushion with 2:01 to go in the half. Altmyer capped the 12-play, 65-yard march with a 4-yard fade route to Franklin. Kim booted a 38-yard field goal to pull the Spartans within 21-9 at the break.
Michigan State opened the second half with a 75-yard touchdown drive. The Spartans converted two fourth downs, including Chiles’ 5-yard scoring toss to Nate Carter to cut Illinois’ lead to 21-16.
David Olano kicked a 37-yard field goal midway through the third to make it 24-16, then McCray provided an insurance score when he soared over the pile for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 31-16 with 7:30 to go. McCray, who rushed for 61 yards on nine carries, added another 1-yard scoring blast with 1:56 left.
