Luke Altmyer passed for four touchdowns and ran for another, and Gabe Jacas had two sacks as Illinois routed visiting Rutgers 35-13 on Saturday in Champaign, Ill., stopping a two-game losing streak.
Altmyer finished 19-for-31 passing for 235 yards while matching a career high for passing touchdowns and tossing one interception. He added a game-high 88 yards on seven carries after entering the game with 20 yards on the ground this season.
Rutgers (4-5, 1-5 Big Ten) capitalized on arguably the lone Illinois blemish of the game, turning Farell Gnago’s interception of Altmyer on a tipped pass into a 40-yard Jai Patel field goal with 5:45 left in the second quarter.
The kick pulled the Scarlet Knights to within 7-6 of the Illini (6-3, 3-3). Patel connected from 26 yards on Rutgers’ second possession.
Altmyer and the attack soared from there, visiting the end zone on four consecutive possessions following the interception. Each scoring drive covered at least 65 yards in eight plays or more.
Illinois started the streak with Altmyer’s 3-yard scoring run with 2:04 left in the second quarter. After forcing a Rutgers punt, the Illini got the ball back and proceeded on their quickest scoring drive of the game to grab a 21-6 halftime lead.
Gains of 16 and 29 yards on passes to Hudson Clement and Collin Dixon, respectively, got Illinois started before a 14-yard Altmyer run put the hosts in the red zone. Altmyer found Hank Beatty for a 1-yard touchdown four plays later, capping an 8-play, 70-yard drive that took just 58 seconds.
Challenged during the week after allowing 76 combined points in losses to Ohio State and Washington, the Illinois defense responded. The Illini outgained the Scarlet Knights 445-312 while recording nine pass breakups.
Rutgers scored its lone touchdown on a 3-yard pass from Athan Kaliakmanis to KJ Duff with 5:47 to go to account for the final margin.
Kalikamanis completed 25 of 45 passes for 253 yards and a touchdown. Duff had 93 yards on nine catches and Ja’Shon Benjamin had eight carries for 37 yards.
Clement led Illinois with five catches for 84 yards and a score. Dixon also caught a touchdown.
Illinois has won five of six against Rutgers and leads the all-time series 7-3.
