Illinois and Northwestern earned their first Big Ten wins of the season Saturday, while Notre Dame put together a complete-team victory to blow out Arkansas.
Here are seven takeaways from those and other Week 5 games.
1. Illinois didn’t lose confidence after its 53-point loss to Indiana.
The No. 23 Illini looked poised from the start at Gies Memorial Stadium and calmly responded to USC’s late go-ahead touchdown with the winning drive.
Kicker David Olano, a Naperville North graduate, made a 41-yard field goal as time expired to seal the 34-32 win over No. 21 USC, prompting students to pour onto the field in celebration.
If there was any question about how the Illini would respond after their embarrassment in Bloomington, Ind., in Week 4, they answered it early.
The Illinois defense got a takeaway on USC’s first drive. Leon Lowery forced a Waymond Jordan fumble, and Jaheim Clarke recovered. Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer then led a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, running in from 12 yards out to put Illinois on the board first.
“I thought our guys, since last Saturday to where we are today, just responded internally, externally, showed me a lot about who they were,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema told reporters at his postgame news conference.
“The part that really gave me satisfaction during the course of this week is I know my roster better than anybody in this country. I know who they are. I know what they represent. I knew how they would respond. … I saw them hurt. I felt myself hurting, but I knew we could respond and do well.”
The game was a big bounce-back for the offensive line. An Illinois offense that managed only 161 total yards against Indiana — including a net 2 rushing yards, counting sacks — put up 502 yards against the Trojans, including 171 on the ground.
Altmyer, who was sacked seven times against Indiana, completed 20 of 26 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns and was sacked just once.
He became the first Illinois quarterback to have touchdowns passing, running and receiving since Kurt Kittner in 1999. The TD catch came on a reverse to wide receiver Hank Beatty, who launched a 3-yard pass to Altmyer just before he was hit.
Bielema said he had the utmost confidence in Altmyer on the final drive.
“I’m like, ‘There is nobody in this country I would rather be on this field with than Luke Altmyer,’” Bielema said.
2. Illinois survived two goal-line fumbles near the end of each half.
Illinois (4-1) was threatening to go into halftime up two touchdowns, but running back Kaden Feagin was ruled to have fumbled near the goal line in the final minute of the second quarter.
USC (4-1) capitalized on the takeaway with a field goal that cut Illinois’ lead to 14-10.
Feagin, a junior from Atwood, Ill., bounced back nicely in the third quarter by taking a short catch on a screen pass and hurtling 64 yards down the sideline for a touchdown and a 24-10 lead.
But late in the game, when Illinois was looking to lengthen its 31-25 lead, the Illini had another miscue. Ca’Lil Valentine fumbled into the end zone after Eric Gentry’s “Peanut Punch.” USC recovered and then scored a touchdown with 1 minute, 55 seconds to play.
But the Illini showed they can handle adversity within games too. They strung together an eight-play drive to get to the USC 24-yard line and set up the winning field goal.
“They’re a very resilient group,” Bielema said. “They don’t get fazed by much. That’s why last Saturday was just not anything we had ever seen. So I kind of had a feeling they would respond that way.”
3. Notre Dame beat Arkansas 56-13 with a dominant offense and better defense.
For the second straight week, the Irish scored 56 points, riding huge performances from quarterback CJ Carr and running back Jeremiyah Love. That duo, along with running back Jadarian Price, has made the Notre Dame offense look scary good as the Irish (2-2) try to rebuild their College Football Playoff case after an 0-2 start.
Love had 14 carries for 57 yards and two touchdowns and five catches for 70 yards and two more scores, using a 180-degree spin move to break for one of the receiving scores. Carr threw for 354 yards and four touchdowns, his first 300-yard passing game four starts into his career.
“After three really good performances, he’s getting better,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said at his postgame news conference. “I challenged him: How do you continuously get better in terms of your routine, your preparation? He prepares his tail off. That’s reflected in what you see.
“He’s a talented individual but he prepares his butt off. And he’s playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Notre Dame outgained Arkansas 641 yards to 365, and importantly, the Irish defense held an opponent to a season low in points.
Freeman pointed to the defense getting better at limiting explosive plays, especially in the passing game. Arkansas had five passes of more than 20 yards, but only one went for more than 25 yards. Notre Dame also had three sacks of Razorbacks quarterback Taylen Green, an interception and a fumble recovery.
“The game plan was simple enough that they could execute at a fast level, played with great technique, played with passion, got after the quarterback a little bit,” Freeman said. “The quarterback is really good. He can scramble. He can throw it. I thought they did a good job of affecting him.”
4. Northwestern rode its ground game to a 17-14 win over UCLA.
The Wildcats (2-2) totaled 199 rushing yards against the beleaguered Bruins (0-4), with Caleb Komolafe running for 119 yards and a touchdown and Joseph Himon II adding 58 yards. Both are stepping up after the season-ending injury to top running back Cam Porter.
“There’s just a certain confidence with all our backs, but specifically with Caleb and Joe, in terms of the guys they’re running behind and the way they’re finishing runs,” Northwestern coach David Braun told reporters at his postgame news conference. “Both have unique skill sets and play well off one another. … Our offense is excited about the way we can run the football.”
Quarterback Preston Stone threw for only 115 yards — 98 of them to wide receiver Griffin Wilde — but he threw a touchdown pass and didn’t commit a turnover, a problem area early this season.
5. Penn State-Oregon lived up to its hype.
Oregon (5-0) continued to state its case to be considered one of the best teams in college football by pulling off the tough road win. After a 14-point fourth-quarter comeback by Penn State, the No. 3 Nittany Lions and No. 6 Ducks went to double overtime.
Dante Moore threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Gary Bryant Jr. in the second overtime to push Oregon ahead 30-24. After the two-point conversion attempt failed, Ducks defensive back Dillon Thieneman picked off Drew Allar to finish the victory.
Moore threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning, whose team is one of four remaining undefeated Big Ten teams with Ohio State, Indiana and Maryland, was fired up and emotional on the broadcast afterward.
“Every cut matters and eventually you hit the jugular, and that was it right there. Unbelievable focus,” Lanning said. “Our quarterback is an absolute all-star. Our team, special. Special.”
6. Makai Lemon was brilliant in USC’s loss to Illinois.
Lemon had a career-high 11 catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Both scores came in the fourth quarter against Illinois defensive back Tanner Heckel.
Lemon caught Jayden Maiava’s 16-yard touchdown pass as he tumbled backward to put USC up 32-31.
7. Former Simeon wide receiver Malik Elzy is not with the Illinois program anymore.
Bielema made the announcement after the game. He said Elzy wanted to redshirt this season, and Bielema decided he couldn’t keep him on the roster.
Elzy, a junior, had seven catches for 84 yards this season but was behind several other receivers on the depth chart.
“I love Malik,” Bielema said. “I’ll help him whatever his next step or next journey is. We had a very detailed conversation over a couple of days. … I’m leaving that conversation pissed because I couldn’t get him to be successful the way he wanted.”