LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana's Season Opener Against Illinois in Real Time

It's finally game day as the Indiana football team hosts the Illinois Fighting Illini in the season opener at Memorial Stadium 8 p.m. ET on Friday night. Here's our live blog, where you can catch all the action in real time live from the press box at Memorial Stadium.

Jack Ankony | Sep 2, 2022

In this story:

12:03 a.m. – Illinois' lateral play fails, and Indiana wins the season opener 23-20.

11:57 p.m. – Connor Bazelak leads Indiana on a two-minute drill. Camper and Matthews were the go-to receivers, and Shaun Shivers punched in a two-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left. INDIANA 23, ILLINOIS 20

11:43 p.m. – Indiana stays alive by forcing a field goal, but A Hoosier offense that has scored zero points in the second half must now score a touchdown to win the game. ILLINOIS 20, INDIANA 16

11:31 p.m. – Cam Camper catches a pass from Bazelak over the middle, but he fumbles the ball falling to the ground. A killer turnover right when Indiana's offense was starting to drive. Now Illinois will have a chance to run the clock down. Illini lead 17-16 with less than four minutes left.

11:27 p.m. – Tiawan Mullen forced a Chase Brown fumble, but it's recovered by Illinois. Facing third down and six, Indiana brought pressure to DeVito, but he was able to escape and pick up the first down. DeVito looked toward the end zone, but his over throw is intercepted by Josh Sanguinetti. Indiana will take over on its own eight-yard line, trailing by one point with 5:47 to go.

11:13 p.m. – Illinois continues to grind away with the run game. A 17-yard gain from Chase Brown, followed by a 15-yard connection between DeVito and Williams brings the Illini into the red zone. But on third, Josh Sanguinetti and Cam Jones stuff Chase Brown. The Illini choose to go for it on 4th down from the one-yard line, and Aaron Casey and JH Tevis burst through to stonewall Brown. Indiana's offense will take over on its own four-yard line with 10 minutes to go, trailing by a point.

11:00 p.m. – Heading into the fourth quarter, Indiana trails 17-16. The Hoosiers haven't found any success in the run game at any point tonight, and Bazelak has been under pressure the entire second half. After creating explosive plays in the first half, the Indiana offense has gone stagnant.

10:55 p.m. – Brown hits the edge and runs for a 30-yard gain to bring Illinois into the red zone. DeVito tries to hit Brown on a swing pass, but he's hit by Noah Pierre as the ball arrives. Pierre causes the ball to fall to the ground, he scoops it up and it's ruled a backwards pass, thus allowing Indiana to gain possession. A huge takeaway from the Indiana defense.

10:42 p.m. – Indiana goes three and out. The offensive line is really struggling to contain Illinois on the edges. No outside running lanes, and the screen passes have nowhere to go. Illinois will start its possession on the 29-yard line.

10:40 p.m. – Chase Brown and the Illinois offense line are starting to build some momentum after rushed of 14 and nine yards. On third down and 11, DeVito's pass to Hightower falls incomplete, and the Illini have to punt. Indiana will take over on its own 14-yard line.

10:34 p.m. – Bazelak gives Indiana's its longest run of the game, a 12-yard scamper on third and 10 for a crucial first down. But after a one-yard carry from Henderson and two incomplete passes, the Hoosiers are forced to punt.

10:21 p.m. – Bazelak's first pass attempt of the second half is deflected and intercepted. Cam Jones and Demarcus Elliott – two crucial, veteran defensive leaders – went down with apparent injuries a few plays later. DeVito then found Hightower for a 16-yard touchdown two players later. Indiana can't afford to play without Jones and Elliott the rest of the way. ILLINOIS 17, INDIANA 16

9:49 p.m. – Indiana gets bailed out with a defensive holding call on Illinois on third and eight, giving the Hoosiers a fresh set of downs. Bazelak hit Emery Simmons on a nice back-shoulder throw to convert on third and nine. Camper comes up a bit hobbled after a six-yard gain, and senior right tackle Matthew Bedford goes down on the next play. Indiana has to settle for a field goal – again. Campbell's try from 43 yards is good. INDIANA 16, ILLINOIS 10

9:31 p.m. – Bazelak and Camper have clearly built strong chemistry this offseason, as they connect for a 39-yard gain. Shivers' run is stuffed, and Indiana has to settle for a field goal. Campbell's try from 43 yards is good. Indiana has been able to generate some explosive plays the last few drives. INDIANA 13, ILLINOIS 10

9:25 p.m. – A weird play in the end zone ends up as an incompletion. It looked like Hightower came down with the ball over Josh Sanguinetti, but the ball popped out late. Could argue possession or no possession multiple times there. The next play was just as odd, too. Chase Brown's run was stuffed immediately, so he threw the ball to the end zone. Bryant was wide open for a second, but it's knocked away. Illinois settles for a field goal to tie the game. INDIANA 10, ILLINOIS 10

9:18 p.m. – Some missed tackling by the Indiana secondary brings Illinois near midfield, and DeVito hits Isaiah Williams for a 22-yard gain on the next play. Williams picked up another first down on a pop pass from DeVito. The Illini are in the red zone.

9:06 p.m. – D.J. Matthews beats his defender on a post route, and Bazelak hits him for a 52-yard touchdown. After tearing his ACL in Week 4 last year, it's a great sign that Matthews is back and making plays. INDIANA 10, ILLINOIS 7

9:03 p.m. – Miami (FL) transfer linebacker Bradley Jennings Jr. takes DeVito down for a sack on third down and four. Illinois is forced to punt, and Indiana will start its next possession on the 48-yard line. The Hoosiers have rushed six times for negative five yards, and Bazelak is 5-for-13 with 76 yards.

8:50 p.m. – Chase Brown picks up a first down on third and two. Facing another third down, Indiana brought pressure but DeVito escapes and runs for an easy first-down pickup. Lance Bryant forces a fumble from Luke Ford, and Cam Jones recovers. A big key for Indiana heading into this season was to generate more turnovers, and they're off to a positive start. Indiana will take over on the 40-yard line to start the second quarter.

8:43 p.m. – A huge third-down pickup from Bazelak to Matthews for 14 yards. He had Andison Coby open over the middle on the following play, but overthrew him. Facing third and 12, Illinois brought pressure to force a rushed pass from Bazelak, which goes incomplete. Indiana puts, and Illinois will take over on its own nine-yard line.

8:30 p.m. – A 21-yard pass from DeVito to Pat Bryant gives Illinois first and goal. DeVito hits Isaiah Williams for a five-yard touchdown. Flag for illegal substitution on Indiana is declined. ILLINOIS 7, INDIANA 3

8:26 p.m. – Dasan McCullough brought some pressure, but Tommy DeVito escapes to rush for a first down. Chase Brown picks up 32 yards off the right edge, and Illinois is approaching the red zone.

8:20 p.m. – Bazelak looked for D.J. Matthews across the middle on third down, but the pass is batted away. Charles Campbell drills a 39-yard field goal for the first score of the game. INDIANA 3, ILLINOIS 0

8:17 p.m. – Bazelak is sacked on Indiana's second offensive play of the season, but he hits Cam Camper for a 40-yard gain on third down. Shivers is headed to the locker room after one play as a Hoosier. Bazelak looked for tight end AJ Barner on the sideline, but his throw goes five yards out of bounds.

8:14 p.m. –The first play of the new-look Indiana offense is a screen pass to Shaun Shivers, who got blown up before having the chance to haul the pass in. A really risky throw from Connor Bazelak in his first attempt as a Hoosier.

8:12 p.m. – Cam Jones brings pressure from DeVito's blindside to force an incompletion. Jones sacks DeVito on third down. Illinois will punt.

8:06 p.m. – Tommy DeVito takes a shotgun snap, fakes the handoff to Chase Brown and completes an easy nine-yard pickup to Tip Reiman. Brown picks up the first down on the next play, and rushes for another first down right after.

8:02 p.m. – Indiana's captains – Tiawan Mullen, Devon Matthews, AJ Barner, Cam Jones and Jack Tuttle – meet at midfield. Illinois won the toss and elected to receive. Indiana will kickoff and defend the south end zone.

7:35 p.m. – Bazelak is taking reps with the first-team offense, along with running back Shaun Shivers, tight end AJ Barner and wide receivers D.J. Matthews, Javon Swinton and Cam Camper. Offensive line consists of Luke Haggard at left tackle, Mike Katic at left guard, Zach Carpenter at center, Tim Weaver at right guard and Matthew Bedford at right tackle.

7:20 p.m. – Defensive end James Head Jr. is not dressed out during warmups. This is a notable absence for Indiana, as Head was pushing for a starting spot. Head missed a large chunk of last season with a foot injury, and he's currently wearing a cast on his wrist. Coaches said Head was a standout performer throughout fall camp.

7:08 p.m. – The Hoosiers have taken the field in full pads, and Zach Carpenter – the starting center – sends the first snap to Connor Bazelak. All signs point to Bazelak starting at quarterback for Indiana tonight.

6:15 p.m. – We're less than two hours away from kickoff of Indiana's season opener against Illinois. The Hoosiers and Fighting Illini are beginning warmups in anticipation of an 8 p.m. ET kickoff. Here's how to watch, with game time and TV information, the latest on the point spread and three things to see from Indiana football. CLICK HERE

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