Rutgers Football fell at the buzzer to No. 25 Illinois 38-31 on Senior Day after a last-second touchdown from Luke Altmyer to Pat Bryant. The Scarlet Knights (6-5, 3-5) had the Fighting Illini (8-3, 5-3) on the ropes as they were about to attempt a 58-yard field goal, but Greg Schiano's kicker-icing timeout forced Illinois head coach Bret Bielema to change his mind and go for the win with his offense.
It worked out.
Bryant sprung free over the middle and scored as part of his seven-reception, 197-yard day.
Athan Kaliakmanis led the way for Rutgers with his arm again, going 19-for-37 with 175 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a career day with his legs, running for a career-high 84 yards and two scores.
Kyle Monangai reached the 100-yard mark once again as he ran for 122 yards on 28 carries, while also notching his first career receiving touchdown late in the game.
Ian Strong had another breakout game receiving, catching six passes for 66 yards and a touchdown to close the first half.
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Rutgers opened the game with a stop, forcing an Illinois punt on the game's opening drive. A roughing the kicker penalty wiped out a three-and-out originally, but the defense stood tall and forced a punt six plays later.
The Scarlet Knights marched down the field and scored on its first offensive drive off the leg of Jai Patel, as he capped off a 12-play, 65-yard drive with a 34-yard field goal. The game's start set a trend of long and methodical drives down the field. Rutgers had four drives that lasted 10 or more plays, including all four scoring drives, a season-high.
The two teams exchanged punts before Illinois tied the game to open the second quarter with a 29-yard field goal from David Olano after Hank Beatty took a punt return all the way to Rutgers' 10-yard line.
The Scarlet Knights immediately responded ripping off a 10-play scoring drive capped off by a 12-yard touchdown run by Athan Kaliakmanis. He juked out a defensive lineman and gave Rutgers the lead early on in the second quarter.
The Illini worked a touchdown drive of their own on the ensuing possession, as they marched down the field in eight plays, capped off by Altmyer finding Beatty in the corner of the end zone after escaping a sack. Olano shanked the extra point wide right, putting the Scarlet Knights in position to have a point-advantage.
Rutgers had five and a half minutes to work with after giving up the touchdown, and Greg Schiano used all but six seconds of that remaining clock to strike once again. On a 16-play, 75-yard drive that took 5:26, offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca dialed up an excellent playcalling sequence that balanced the run and intermediate pass well. Kaliakmanis found Strong on a back-shoulder fade in the end zone with six seconds to play to take a 17-9 lead into the half.
The third quarter was much more low-scoring, as the defenses stepped up for the entire quarter with only one score.
Both teams traded punts after Rutgers started the half with possession. While the Illini and Scarlet Knights occasionally sprung free on a big play, they were not able to turn it into points. On Rutgers' second drive of the half, Athan Kailiakmanis was stripped on a scramble in Illinois territory for a rare turnover.
The Illini immediately marched down the field and scored to bring it to within a two-point game, but Altmyer was sacked to prevent the tying score.
As they did for much of the game, the Scarlet Knights marched down the field and scored on another long drive to take a nine-point lead.
The fourth quarter was largely taken by Illinois, as they scored twice to regain the lead late. Both drives were spurred by third down conversions, as the Illini went 3-for-4 on third down in the second half after going just 1-for-5 in the first half.
Late in the game, however, Athan Kaliakmanis took over.
He led a 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive that lasted just under two minutes to give Rutgers a 31-30 lead. He made multiple huge scrambles with his legs, and stood tall in the pocket as the pass rush collapsed in on him. He found Monangai for his first career receiving touchdown out of the backfield to take the lead with 1:08 remaining.
Illinois eventually drove back down the field and scored on the passing touchdown to Bryant with four seconds remaining.
In what should have been an impossible situation for the Illini, they found a way. Now Rutgers has one last chance for a seventh win.
RFOOTBALL PLAY OF THE DAY
Athan Kaliakmanis finds Kyle Monangai for a go-ahead 13-yard touchdown in the final minutes.
UP NEXT?
The Scarlet Knights will close out the regular season with a trip to East Lansing to take on Michigan State. The Spartans come into the game at 5-6, needing a victory to clinch bowl eligibility of their own after Friday's win over Purdue.
The game will kick off at 3:30 pm EST and will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
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