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ILLINI GAMEDAY Live Blog: FINAL - Illinois 38, Rutgers 10

Feel free to log in and join the in-game discussion as for the Illini Gameday Live Blog as Illinois welcomes Rutgers for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on Dad's Day.

Matthew Stevens

ILLINI GAMEDAY Live Blog: FINAL - Illinois 38, Rutgers 10
ILLINI GAMEDAY Live Blog: FINAL - Illinois 38, Rutgers 10 /

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Good afternoon from Memorial Stadium as Illinois (4-4, 2-3 in Big Ten) hosts Rutgers (2-6, 0-4) for an 2:30 p.m. kickoff. Illinois, which is a 20-point home favorite for the first time in a Big Ten game since 2010, is coming off back-to-back Big Ten Conference wins. We're a few hours away from game time with weather conditions via Weather.com in Champaign calling for an unusually warm early November day with high temperature in the upper 40s but also wing gusts of 15-20 miles per hour. 

NOTE: Please join us as we live-blog and discuss the Illini vs. Badgers game here in our weekly Illini Gameday Open Thread. Dive into the conversation — it's easy — by simply going to the top right of the redesigned site and click the follow button.

You can log in with Facebook or Google and either way, it's free. That's right...IT'S FREE. From there, sound off in the comment section and share your reactions and observations with our staff and fellow members of the Illini Maven/Sports Illustrated community as we keep you up to date of the game in real-time.

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Rutgers at Illinois

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019: 2:30 p.m. CST, Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

Surface: Field Turf

Capacity: 60,670

Records: Illinois 4-4 overall, 2-3 Big Ten, 4-8 in 2018 (2-7 in Big Ten); Rutgers 2-6 overall, 0-5 in Big Ten, 1-11 (0-9 in Big Ten) in 2018.

Line: Illinois by 20.5. Since 2000, Illinois has only been a 20-point home favorite in a Big Ten Conference game only once - a 38-34 loss to Minnesota on Nov. 13, 2010.

Series notes: The all-time series favors Illinois 3-2 after the teams split a non-conference home-and-home contract in 2005 and 2006. Illinois has won two of the three Big Ten Conference games since Rutgers joined the league.

TV: BTN; Kevin Kugler (PBP), Matt Millen (analyst) and Elise Menaker (sidelines).

Radio (Illinois): Brian Barnhart (PBP), Martin O'Donnell (analysis) and Steve Kelly (Pre/HT/Post) » The broadcast can be heard live on TuneIn online radio, Sirius (138) / XM (195) satellite radio & SiriusXM Internet (957), and at FightingIllini.com.

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Uniform update: Illinois will be in orange helmets with the blue block 'I', blue jerseys with orange numbers and orange pants. 

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Injury Update: Illinois will be without Oluwole Betiku Jr. and Jamal Woods on its defensive line. Ricky Smalling is out with a lower-body injury. Defensive back Delano Ware is out with an undisclosed injury. 

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Rutgers wins the toss and defers. Illinois will start with the football today against the 108th total defense in Football Bowl Subdivision. 

1ST QUARTER 

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14:01 left in 1st: No score - Illini go 3-and-out and Blake Hayes with a big boot (54 yards) that pins Rutgers inside the 10-yard-line. That's right...the crowd is energized by the punter.

12:00 left in 1st: No score - Rutgers is running the quarterback Johnny Langan and getting a total of one yard on two carries. Illini forces a three-and-out.

8:38 left in 1st: Illinois 7, Rutgers 0 - ILLINI TD - Following a 48-yard pitch-and-catch from Peters to Donny Navarro, Dre Brown punches it in from 10 yards out - his third rushing touchdown of the season. 

5:12 left in 1st: Illinois 7, Rutgers 0 - Illini offensive front, with Lowe back, getting some major push today.  Ra'Von Bonner already getting carries on this third drive by the Illini. 

2:28 left in 1st: Illinois 10, Rutgers 0 - ILLINI FG - Illinois drive stalls in the red zone after solid runs by Bonner and a late hit penalty. James McCourt connects from 33 yards. 

End of 1st: Illinois 10, Rutgers 0 - Illini outgaining Rutgers 125-54 and are averaging 17.3 yards per completion. 

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SECOND QUARTER 

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12:25 left in 2nd - Illinois 10, Rutgers 7 - RUTGERS TD - Langan moves Sydney Brown slightly with his eyes and then hits Mohamed Jabbie for a 31-yard strike. Langan has 67 total yards and basically represents all of Rutgers' offense by himself. 

10:27 left in 2nd - Illinois 10, Rutgers 7 - Peters is sacked and had no time to look over the field. Once his back foot hit the turf, he was getting engulfed by CJ Onyechi. Illinois has two scoring drives and two 3-and-outs. 

8:38 left in 2nd - Illinois 10, Rutgers 7 - Rutgers drive stalls near midfield but Illini run defense seems to be running into blocks and Rutgers finding chunk plays early in this game. 

5:24 left in 2nd - Illinois 10, Rutgers 7 - Brandon Peters is sacked again to end an Illini drive. On this case, it's a product of the QB hanging on to the ball too long. Rutgers has two sacks and two tackles for loss today. 

0:15 left in 2nd - Illinois 10, Rutgers 10 - RUTGERS FG - The Scarlet Knights bleed off nearly five minutes of clock to end the half with a 25-yard field goal on fourth-and-1. Personally, I'd have gone for it there but Rutgers took the points. 

HALFTIME - Illinois 10, Rutgers 10 - The Scarlet Knights outgained Illinois 125-16 in the second quarter. Illinois had nine rushing attempts for no yards in the quarter. Rutgers tailback Aaron Young has 59 yards on nine carries. 

NOTE: Illinois played the following video on this tweet on the video board at halftime. 

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THIRD QUARTER

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13:33 left in 3rd - Illinois 10, Rutgers 10 - Illini defense force a three-and-out after pounding Rutgers quarterback Johnny Langan. 

12:02 left in 3rd - Illinois 10, Rutgers 10 - Another offensive PI penalty on Imatorbhebhe and a messed up WR screen halts Illini drive. I'm now convinced Illinois is incapable of a successful screen pass. 

9:51 left in 3rd - Illinois 10, Rutgers 10 - Illini defense able to force a three-and-out deep near its goal line and Brandon Peters will take over at his own 44-yard-line. Illinois really needs to turn this field position into points. 

9:08 left in 3rd - Illinois 17, Rutgers 10 - ILLINI TD - After a 54-yard run by Peters (yeah...Brandon Peters), a wildcat formation w/ Dre Brown scores on a 2-yard run. A Rutgers DB took a free shot on Peters out on the perimeter and Peters chirped him all the way to sidelines to celebrate with his teammates. 

7:29 left in 3rd - Illinois 24, Rutgers 10 - ILLINI DEFENSIVE TD - Illinois' fourth defensive touchdown of the season is a recovered fumble by Nate Hobbs who returns it 36 yards for a touchdown. Langan scrambled and lost control of the ball thanks to pressure by Isaiah Gay and the ball popped up right into the arms of Hobbs. 

4:48 left in 3rd - Illinois 24, Rutgers 10 - Well...Illinois needed a spark in this game and get it in the form of takeaways from Lovie Smith's defense. Sound familiar folks? A fumble is recovered by Stanley Green

3:30 left in 3rd - Illinois 31, Rutgers 10 - ILLINI TD - Josh Imatorbhebhe welcomes himself to the ball game with a 52-yard bomb from Peters. Illini have turned a 10-10 tie into a 31-10 advantage thanks to two turnovers and two big plays (one rushing, one throwing) by Peters.  

END OF 3RD - Illinois 31, Rutgers 10 - Illinois outscored Rutgers 21-0 in the quarter despite only having the football for  three minutes and 34 seconds. 

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FOURTH QUARTER 

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14:09 left: Illinois 38, Rutgers 10 - Why even play offense at all. Dele Harding with a pick-six (54-yard touchdown) to give Illinois its second defensive score today. 

Published
Matthew Stevens
MATTHEW STEVENS

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