Illinois football had a good comeback on Saturday, rebounding from a crushing 63-10 loss to Indiana to get a stunning 34-32 victory over USC.
Coach Bret Bielema talked about his team's character after the dramatic comeback win, via Jeremy Werner of 247 Sports.
“I thought our guys from last Saturday to where we are today have just responded internally, externally, (and) showed me a lot about who they were,” Bielema said. “The part that really gave me satisfaction throughout the course of this week is I know my roster better than anybody in this country. I know who they are, what they represent. I knew how they would respond”.
Illinois trailed USC 32-31 with under two minutes left before Luke Altmyer led a game-winning drive. Kicker David Olano nailed a 41-yard field goal as time expired to seal the victory.
“They're a very resilient group. They don't get fazed much,” Bielema said. “That's why last Saturday was just not anything we've ever seen. I kind of had a feeling they'd respond that way”.
Illinois entered the week ranked 23rd, while USC was ranked 21st. The Trojans had been averaging over 52 points per game before the loss. USC quarterback Jayden Maiava threw for 364 yards but also threw a key interception in the second half.
Altmyer dominated for Illinois with 328 passing yards on 20-of-26 completions. He threw two touchdown passes and added 28 rushing yards. The quarterback also caught his first career receiving touchdown on a trick play.
“I saw them during the course of the week. I saw them hurt. I felt myself hurting, but I knew we could respond and do well, and I thought we'd play pretty well today,” Bielema said. “I thought we did a good job of handling some things that happened during the game with some adversity”.
The win improved Illinois to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play. Just one week earlier, Indiana had crushed the Illini 63-10 in a historic beating that broke Big Ten scoring records against ranked opponents. Bielema's squad proved its toughness by refusing to let one bad game define its season.
