CHAMPAIGN — Luke Altmyer threw for one touchdown and ran for another, leading No. 22 Illinois to a 21-7 victory against No. 24 Michigan on Saturday.
The Illini wore 1924 throwback uniforms to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Red Grange’s six-touchdown performance against Michigan on the day Memorial Stadium was dedicated.
Tanner Arkin caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Altmyer in the second quarter and raced 36 yards on a fake punt in the third to set up Altmyer’s 1-yard TD run.
Illinois (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) beat Michigan for the first time since 2009. The Illini had lost six straight to the Wolverines (4-3, 2-2). The Illini hadn’t won a ranked-vs.-ranked home game since beating Ohio State in 1991. They lost three times to Michigan in such games since then, the last time in 2000.
Defending national champion Michigan scored its fewest points since 2014 and has lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2020.
Jabe Jacas had 13 tackles, including six solo and 2.5 of the Illini’s six sacks of Jack Tuttle, and forced a fumble.
Altmyer was just 9-of-18 passing for 80 yards. He also ran for 48 yards on 10 carries.
“This is what I came here for,” said fourth-year Illinois coach Bret Bielema. “I’ve heard so many times about things we haven’t done here. Leave the past in the past. Let’s move forward.
“For this first time, I felt like we had a home-field advantage today. I want today to be the standard. We had a crowd that affected the game.”
A sellout crowd of 60,670 turned out for the stadium rededication and celebration of Grange and the Illini’s 39-14 win over the previously unbeaten Wolverines in 1924. Grange, the greatest player of his time and known as the “Galloping Ghost,” scored four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes of that game. In a nod to him and his teammates, the Illini of 2024 wore uniforms reflecting the style of that era complete with helmets that had the appearance of leather helmets.
Tuttle, Michigan’s third starting quarterback this season, was 20 of 32 for 208 yards. Kalel Mullings rushed for 87 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown and Colston Loveland had seven catches for 83 yards.
Not including the pandemic season, Michigan is out to its worst start since 2014 after having made the College Football Playoff three straight years.
“Playoffs? That’s out of the picture for us,” Loveland said. “Now we just have to start wrecking people’s seasons. But this is unacceptable. We’re letting a lot of people down.”
The Illini opened the second half with Arkins’ long run on the fake punt. He grabbed the snap and ran to the Michigan 16. Altmyer’s scored four plays later, and Donovan Leary’s two-point pass to Zakhari Franklin made it 21-7. Leary, the Illini backup quarterback, was in for the conversion play because Altmyer’s helmet fell off during his touchdown run.
“We were waiting for the right opportunity and the right moment,” Bielema said about the fake punt. “We repped it for two weeks. Henry Boyer and T.J. McMullen had big blocks to spring Tanner.”
The Illini led 13-7 at half and could have been further ahead. They drove deep into Michigan territory five times but scored just one touchdown on a 2-yard pass from Altmyer to Arkin and David Alano’s two field goals.
Michigan crossed into Illinois territory for the first time late in the first half and scored on Mullings’ 1-yard dive on fourth down with 1:40 left in the second quarter.
The takeaway
Illinois: The Illini appear to have recovered from their second-half meltdown last week against Purdue, when they blew a 27-3 third-quarter lead, fell behind in the final minute of regulation and won 50-49 in overtime.
Michigan: The Wolverines offense continues to struggle. Tuttle missed several open receivers early and threw an interception with 7 minutes, 58 seconds left in the game.
Feagin’s season over
Bielema announced that Illini leading rusher Kaden Feagin had surgery on his injured hip Friday and is out for the season.
Up next
Illinois: Visits No. 2 Oregon on Saturday.
Michigan: Plays host to Michigan State on Saturday.
