‘Routine for him’: Illinois’ receivers showed up when it mattered most

Goooood afternoon, Illini fans. If you’re reading this on Sunday, it’s the one-year anniversary of the Illini’s loss to Kansas in Lawrence. It’s also the one-day anniversary (not sure if that’s a thing) of the win over No. 19 Kansas in Champaign. There were plenty of positives to take away from the game, including but not limited, to our receiving game.

“Holy cow, did you see that catch?”

That’s a question you could’ve asked a handful of times during Illinois’ 23-17 upset win over the Kansas Jayhawks, but for the most part, you said it while pointing at the players wearing 13 or 4.

While even the more pessimistic Illini fans might point to the team’s slow start and argue that a better first quarter may have made things easier, we’d like to argue it wouldn’t have made the game as fun as it was.

The Illini exited the gates playing great defense, with a Xavier Scott interception and a turnover on downs keeping the game close despite a Zakhari Franklin fumble in Illinois territory.

Just when Illini fans started hoping for Luke Altmyer to start slinging it, he did. With around two and a half minutes left in the second quarter, it looked like Barry Lunney Jr. made the call to start slinging it to a target the OC is very familiar with.

Franklin, who knew Lunney from his days at UTSA, made this catch look easy.

“It was third down. I saw Luke scrambling, and I just wanted to stay in bounds. Keep my feet in and make the catch,” Franklin said, reminiscing on the catch. He’s a man of few words, and when asked what the key to making a grab like that, he said: “Concentration. Focus.”

On the play following the catch, Franklin was called for an offsides, turning 1st and 10 on the 28 to a 1st and 15 on the 33. The drive would end with David Olano sinking a 50-yard field goal into some wind.

“Flush it. Mistakes are gonna happen, so [I] just play the next play,” Franklin said on the mindset following the earlier fumble and the penalty. He says that’s been his mindset when handling in-game mistakes, something that’s developed as he’s matured. He’s a journeyed veteran and is currently college football’s active career leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. When asked when that ability to simply ‘flush it’ came to him, he said: “Man, I don’t even know man. It just happened over time.”

While Illini fans may be quick to label Franklin to be as good as advertised, Bielema says there’s much more left to come from him.

“I think he’s only going to begin to get better,” he said. Franklin was a late addition to this recruiting class, committing in June. “He’s understanding how we do things here, and [he’s] put himself in a position to not only help us this year but also for the future.”

Following a quiet third quarter that saw Kansas reclaim its lead, Altmyer’s arm got back to slinging, leading the charge on an eight-play, eighty-yard drive looking to reclaim the lead.

A big 37 yards. The hesitation, acceleration and separation before the catch were perfectly orchestrated by the veteran.

Directly following that pass, Illini fans wouldn’t be blamed for having a feeling of déjà vu: a chunk of that big gain was taken away by a seven-yard sack.

The passing game was on line and in the heads of the Kansas defense. That success through the air opened the door for Luke Altmyer on the ground. He’d scramble for 18 yards to convert the 2nd-and-17 and threw another dot to Bryant two plays later.

TCR staff photographer Brad Repplinger got a great shot of Bryant’s stretch for the pylon, too:

“He does it every day in practice man, it’s just like routine for him,” fellow wideout Franklin said on Bryant’s pass-catching ability after the game.

The following play would be a one-yard punch-in for running back Kadin Feagin, giving Illinois its first lead since going up 13-10.

A 15-play, 42-yard and nearly seven-minute drive burned plenty of clock and gave Illinois a 23-17 lead, which featured true freshman running back Ca’Lil Valentine. The back, who Bielema says is as “quick as a hiccup”, finished with eight rushes and 25 yards, including two crucial first downs to set up Olano from 43 yards out.

After that, the game boiled down to letting the defense do what the defense had been doing for the past three quarters.

Illinois might not have had a ton of yards through the air (just 192) or any receiving touchdowns, but Altmyer, Franklin and Bryant made the passing game look good when it mattered most.

Illinois is off to its first 2-0 start since 2019. Next week, they’ll be chasing their first 3-0 start since 2011. If they can do that and grab one or two road victories, Kansas might not be the last sellout of the season.

“I look forward to playing in [front of] some more sellout crowds here,” Franklin said.

Saturday will be a September Homecoming at home against the Central Michigan Chippewas. Kickoff from Memorial Stadium be at 11 a.m., and the game can be seen on Peacock.