CHAMPAIGN — Hank Beatty had 10 yards to go to reach the end zone Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
The Illinois senior already had caught a Western Illinois punt on the left sideline, raced in a curve across the field to the right sideline and ran 59 yards forward. He wasn’t going to be stopped until he reached the orange end-zone turf.
So he lowered his shoulder into WIU punter Luke Droegemueller and then kept charging with another defender wrapped around his waist until he crossed the goal line, giving the Illini their fifth touchdown in a 52-3 rout.
The 69-yard effort gave No. 12 Illinois its first punt-return touchdown since 2013, when V’Angelo Bentley scored on a 67-yarder against Ohio State. It also capped a big opening night for Beatty, the wide receiver from Rochester, Ill., who is looking to make an impact for the Illini on offense and special teams this season.
“A big part of that was my guys blocking for me on that one because I really didn’t have to make a move on anybody until I was inside the 20-yard line maybe,” Beatty said. “And then I was just like, I wanted to get in the end zone, so I was cutting it back no matter what.”
Beatty’s return was part of a night in which he had 133 yards on four punt returns, breaking Red Grange’s Illini record of 125 set in 1923. Along with his first career return touchdown, Beatty also topped 100 receiving yards for the first time, finishing with five catches for 108 yards.
“That’s pretty crazy,” Beatty said. “I didn’t think I would ever break a record by Red Grange. But I’m just grateful for everybody around me that helped me do it.”
There wasn’t much mystery in what the outcome would be as Illinois opened its most anticipated season in years. The Illini led 31-0 at halftime and kept pushing with their starters even into the fourth quarter.
But how quarterback Luke Altmyer would get Illinois to a win was a little more unclear as the Illini look to replace their top two receivers from last season.
Illinois lost 99 catches for 1,636 yards and 14 touchdowns with the departures of Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin. Beatty was one of the obvious choices to make up some of that production as Illinois’ top returning receiver after totaling 20 catches for 294 yards in 2024.
Photos: Season opener for No. 12 Illinois vs. Western Illinois
Coach Bret Bielema said Beatty started to come on strong at the end of last season, including when he had four catches for 90 yards in the Citrus Bowl in December.
“He’s just a great example of how one thing affects another,” Bielema said. “He started to have some success in the punt return game, and it really helped him at the line of scrimmage as a wide receiver. Going into bowl prep last year, I thought I could see a really big jump. He played well in the bowl game and then all spring the confidence he had (was big).”
And then Beatty came through Friday, including matching his career-long catch of 59 yards, which he had against South Carolina.
In the second quarter Friday night, Beatty bolted down the middle of the field to catch Altmyer’s pass. He nearly made it his second career receiving touchdown, but Buju Aumua-Tuisavura got a hold of his leg and tripped him up just 4 yards short of the end zone.
“It was a little double move that Coach (Barry) Lunney schemed up,” Beatty said. “It was great to get out there. They ran the coverage we wanted, I ran the route and Luke threw a great ball.”
Altmyer completed 17 of 21 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns and was sacked three times.
Beyond Beatty, Justin Bowick, a transfer from Ball State and Eastern Illinois before that, also came through, catching touchdown passes of 3 and 13 yards from Altmyer in the first half. He finished with three catches but also had a pair of miscues.
Altmyer’s 40-yard pass into the end zone bounced off his hand as he dived for the football late in the first quarter. And Bowick was called for offensive pass interference in the second quarter.
Altmyer said there’s still a bit of a feeling-out process for some of the rising receivers, including Bowick.
“The coverage and the defensive look was a little bit off to him,” Altmyer said of the deep ball to Bowick. “He kind of got caught up a little bit, didn’t think he was going to get the ball. Kind of some growing pains there. It’s all going to come together. I’m really sure of that.”
Wide receiver Malik Elzy added two catches for 25 yards, and the Illini displayed a balanced rushing attack, led by Aidan Laughery’s nine carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns.
The Illini defense was led by outside linebacker Gabe Jacas, who had two sacks of Western Illinois quarterback Chris Irvin and a forced fumble.
But Beatty stole the show with his performance on offense and special teams, which was more than a third of his punt return output of last season, when he had 22 returns for 310 yards. His career-long return before Friday was a 59-yarder in November against Rutgers.
He topped that Friday with his final push, the most thrilling moment for a crowd of 56,040 that included the 2004-05 Illini basketball team in town for a reunion.
“I was just thinking of a way to get in the end zone,” he said. “Not getting stopped.”