CHAMPAIGN — Luke Altmyer threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Pat Bryant in overtime, and Dylan Rosiek sacked Purdue’s Ryan Browne on a two-point conversion attempt to give No. 23 Illinois a 50-49 victory Saturday.
Illinois (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) had lost four straight and seven of its last eight against Purdue (1-5, 0-3). The Illini hadn’t beaten the Boilermakers at Memorial Stadium since 2010.
Illinois’ David Alano made a 38-yard field goal as time expired to tie it at 43 after Purdue rallied.
Ahrmad Branch, on his only carry of the day, scored on a 3-yard run in overtime for the Boilermakers.
Purdue coach Ryan Walters said he went for the 2-point conversion in OT “because we were in control of the game at that point. We clawed back in the game, something we hadn’t done this season, and I wanted to give us a chance to win. I hate losing.”
Altmyer completed 20 of 34 passes for 379 yards and three touchdowns. Josh McCray ran for 78 yards and two TDs and caught a scoring pass. Bryant caught four passes for 104 yards.
“We did enough bad things to give them the game,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema said. “If you let a team stick around like that, that’s what happens. I still think we’re a good team knocking on the door of doing something cool.”
Browne, a redshirt freshman making his first career start with Hudson Card sidelined with a concussion, rushed for 118 yards on 17 carries and completed 18 of 26 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns after throwing for just 9 yards in the first half.
Max Klare caught six passes for 133 yards for Purdue, and Mockobee ran for 102 yards on 11 carries.
Down 27-3 at halftime, Purdue launched a comeback.
“We executed. We didn’t panic,” Walters said.
The Boilermakers scored two touchdowns in eight seconds on 53-yard pass from Browne to Jahmal Edrine and a sack of Altmyer by Nyland Green that caused a fumble that Will Heldt returned 16 yards for TD.
After Browne threw a 62-yard strike to Klare on a double-reverse flea-flicker, a Spencer Porath 24-yard field goal made it 27-20. Altmyer ended Purdue’s surge with a 13-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
The Boilermakers responded with an 8-yard scoring pass from Browne to Jaron Tibbs and a two-point conversion pass from Browne to Klare, but McCray scored on a 3-yard run to make it 40-28 with 5:26 to play in regulation.
Purdue cut the lead to 40-35 with 1:35 left on Mockobee’s 2-yard touchdown run.
After Ben Freehill recovered an onside kick, the Boilermakers scored again on a 13-yard pass from Brown to Mockobee and a two-point conversion pass from Browne to Edrine with 46 seconds left to move in front for the first time at 43-40.
The takeaway
Illinois: Now that the Illini have vanquished the Boilermakers, the biggest thorn in their side over the past several years, they can focus on huge back-to-back Big Ten games to end the month. They’ll play host to No. 24 Michigan next week in the culmination of a seasonlong celebration of Memorial Stadium’s 100th anniversary and travel to No. 3 Oregon the following week.
Purdue: The Boilermakers dropped their fifth straight after a season-opening win against Indiana State. Purdue came in with one of the lowest-scoring offenses and most porous defenses in the country, and even though both units showed signs of life in the second half against the Illini, they have to go up against three of the country’s top four teams — Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State — in the next four games.
Illini injury news
Kaden Feagin, Illinois’ leading rusher, missed the game because of a hyperextended left leg suffered in practice during the week. Bielema said Feagan will be out “for a little bit.” Feagin has 306 yards and three touchdowns on 67 carries in five games.
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