Saturday, November 27, 2021 03:30 PM (ET)

Illinois crushes in-state rival Northwestern, 47-14

Field Level Media
Nov 27, 2021

Isaiah Williams racked up 134 yards from scrimmage, a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown, and Illinois cruised to a 47-14 win over visiting Northwestern in a Big Ten matchup Saturday afternoon in Champaign, Ill.

Brandon Peters completed 14 of 23 passes for 242 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Illinois (5-7, 4-5 Big Ten). Chase Brown had 14 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown as the Fighting Illini beat their in-state rival for the first time since 2014.

Evan Hull had 101 rushing yards and a touchdown to lead Northwestern (3-9, 1-8). Ryan Hilinski completed 12 of 23 passes for 123 yards and an interception.

Illinois sprinted to a 37-7 lead at the half.

The Fighting Illini opened the scoring on an 8-yard rushing touchdown by Daniel Barker with 8:26 to go.

Less than three minutes later, Illinois struck again. Peters connected on a 39-yard touchdown pass with Williams, a former signal-caller who switched to wide receiver during the preseason.

Brown punched in a 1-yard rushing touchdown to make it 21-0 with 12:50 left in the second quarter.

Williams scored on another big play -- this time a 21-yard run -- to increase Illinois' lead to 28-0 with 11:22 to go in the half. It was his second rushing touchdown of the season to go along with four receiving touchdowns.

Northwestern snapped the shutout to pull within 28-7 with 6:58 to go before halftime. The Wildcats had the ball at the Illinois 1-yard line when Hilinski tucked the ball and pushed across the goal line.

The Fighting Illini finished the half on a trio of field goals by James McCourt from 28, 37 and 25 yards.

McCourt added a 49-yard field goal to make it 40-7 with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter.

Backup Illinois running back Josh McCray took advantage of his fourth quarter playing time with a 6-yard rushing touchdown with 7:59 left in the fourth quarter. That pushed Illinois' lead to 47-7.

Hull capped the scoring for Northwestern with a 1-yard run with 24 seconds to go.

--Field Level Media

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