Champaign, Ill. — Whatever Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry learned by watching last year’s game against Kansas more than 100 times, he clearly imparted it to his defensive backs.
Xavier Scott intercepted KU quarterback Jalon Daniels twice in the first half, including once for a defensive touchdown with 36 seconds remaining that allowed the Illini to take a sudden surge of momentum into the break. Miles Scott grabbed another pick just short of the Illinois end zone late in the third quarter to prevent the Jayhawks from going up two scores. It was the first game of Daniels’ career with more than two interceptions.
Despite a valiant effort by the Jayhawks’ defense, which was stingy throughout the night until it allowed a series of late-game third-down conversions, KU lost 23-17 on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in Champaign and fell to 1-1 on the season.
After forcing the 19th-ranked Jayhawks’ first two punts of the year — one of which the Illini had recovered in their own end zone to prevent a defensive touchdown — Illinois successfully produced a 15-play drive that lasted 6:46 to kill the clock, led by six consecutive carries by the hard-running Ca’Lil Valentine.
“We stopped them three-and-out multiple times,” middle linebacker Cornell Wheeler said, “but we needed it when it counted.”
That yielded a field goal by David Olano that put the Illini up six points, and KU’s last-minute drive in search of a game-winning touchdown got less than half of the 75 yards it needed before Daniels fumbled on a Hail Mary attempt.
Devin Neal turned in another 100-yard rushing performance, but it wasn’t enough, as Daniels threw for just 141.
“Obviously, he’s frustrated,” head coach Lance Leipold said, describing the three interceptions before adding, “You know, then he makes some big-time plays for us scrambling. It’s the most that kid’s run the ball now in 11 months, again, and I thought he played well, competed, but it wasn’t his best day. I think everybody will acknowledge that. But I still thought he made some good throws. Again, we’ll have to learn from it.”
“It don’t land on one guy,” Wheeler added. “This is a team. We lose as KU. Not just one person (loses), we lose together.”
Kansas showed some promise on its first drive before Daniels tried to force an off-platform throw to Luke Grimm on third-and-long and got picked off.
The Illini moved the ball down the field much more methodically. Kaden Feagin got cut down just short of a first down on a third-and-6 toss play, but was able to plunge forward for the remaining yard on fourth-and-1 despite good penetration by the Jayhawks’ front.
Later in the drive, Marvin Grant was able to shove Illinois wideout Zakhari Franklin out of bounds at the 5-yard line to force a third-and-2, which ended up being a key tackle because Illini running back Aidan Laughery dropped a surefire touchdown on a well-executed play-action pass. KU was able to escape with only a field goal allowed.
The Jayhawks unveiled some creative run-game looks on the next drive, including a speed option with both Neal and Sevion Morrison in the backfield alongside Daniels that ended up as a 17-yard scamper for Morrison.
At the start of the second quarter, Daniels hit Grimm for what looked like a 15-yard touchdown, but it got called back due to offensive pass interference on Jared Casey. That penalty derailed the drive, and KU went conservative with a screen pass on third-and-13, which resulted in Tabor Allen making his first career field goal attempt.
Illinois had an even worse experience with a screen pass on its next drive, as Franklin got hit hard by Grant and Wheeler, resulting in a forced fumble recovered by Jereme Robinson. But the Jayhawks promptly went four-and-out after Grimm stepped out of bounds battling for extra yardage on a short fourth-and-2 reception.
Still, KU was the next team to score, after using 26- and 24-yard runs by Neal on a high-tempo, high-urgency drive to set up a short touchdown connection from Daniels to Grimm — this time without a penalty.
The Illini avoided another three-and-out when Franklin used one hand to haul in a 42-yard pass from Luke Altmyer and get them right into KU territory at the two-minute warning. However, a false start and some pressure off the edge by Dean Miller and JB Brown brought the drive to an abrupt end, though Olano made a 50-yard field goal to cut the margin to 10-6.
A fumbled reverse by Quentin Skinner on KU’s drive put the Jayhawks behind the sticks, with Illinois calling a timeout in an attempt to get the ball back before the half. They didn’t even need to do that, as it turned out, as KU again went with a third-and-13 screen pass. Xavier Scott stepped in front of Skinner for his second pick of the game, this one returned for a touchdown.
The Jayhawks mitigated that miscue somewhat by stopping Illinois to open the second half and embarking on a steady drive that featured two key catches by Skinner and hard running by Daniel Hishaw Jr. It eventually resulted in Daniels’ second touchdown pass, this one to Lawrence Arnold.
Late in the third quarter, KU opted for a Jared Casey fullback dive on fourth-and-1, and a measurement revealed that he got the conversion. But on the next play, Daniels went deep for Skinner just short of the end zone and threw a third interception, on this occasion to Miles Scott.
“I’ve always said since last year that they were good at disguising what they do,” Daniels said. “Every pre-snap look’s about the same until the post-snap happens, and their DBs just quite frankly made a lot of plays on the ball when it was in the air.”
Illinois caught a massive break early in the fourth quarter when it recovered a muffed punt, following a mad scramble, in its own end zone for a harmless touchback. Soon afterward, Altmyer found Pat Bryant for a deep completion to kickstart a rare successful drive for the Illini, then hit him again on a third-and-10 to get down to the 1-yard line. Feagin scored, and KU immediately went three-and-out.
On third-and-12 with five minutes remaining, Franklin made a toe-tapping catch along the sideline to prevent KU’s battle-weary defense from getting off the field, helping lead to the field goal.
The Jayhawks will host UNLV (2-0) at Children’s Mercy Park in a rematch of last year’s Guaranteed Rate Bowl on Friday at 6 p.m.
“We’re barely into the season yet, guys,” Leipold said. “This is what it is, but we’re going to see what kind of team we are, what kind of resolve we have, what kind of leadership we have, starting with the head coach on down.”
How they scored
First quarter
3:35 — David Olano 23-yard field goal good. Fourteen plays, 62 yards, 7:35 TOP. Illinois 3, KU 0.
Second quarter
12:39 — Tabor Allen 29-yard field goal good. Ten plays, 64 yards, 5:56 TOP. Illinois 3, KU 3.
3:32 — Luke Grimm 3-yard pass from Jalon Daniels. Allen PAT good. Seven plays, 81 yards, 3:05 TOP. KU 10, Illinois 3.
1:05 — Olano 50-yard field goal good. Seven plays, 43 yards, 2:27 TOP. KU 10, Illinois 6.
0:36 — Xavier Scott 28-yard interception return. Illinois 13, KU 10.
Third quarter
4:57 — Lawrence Arnold 13-yard pass from Daniels. Allen PAT good. Fourteen plays, 81 yards, 8:17 TOP. KU 17, Illinois 13.
Fourth quarter
9:34 — Kaden Feagin 1-yard run. Olano PAT good. Eight plays, 80 yards, 3:54 TOP. Illinois 20, KU 17.
0:58 — Olano 42-yard field good. Fifteen plays, 42 yards, 6:46 TOP. Illinois 23, KU 17.
