Illini football stuns USC on last-second field goal, keeps College Football Playoff dreams alive

The dream is still alive in Champaign.

No. 21 Illinois football rallied in the final two minutes to stun No. 23 USC with a walk-off field goal to keep its College Football Playoff dreams intact.

Here’s what we make of the Illini’s 34-32 win against USC.

What we know:

Illinois came into Saturday’s top-25 game against USC healing its wounds from last week’s 63-7 loss to Indiana in Bloomington, where the Hoosiers did whatever they pleased with the Illini.

In the fourth quarter, Illinois led USC 31-17 thanks to do-it-all receiver Hank Beatty. He threw a touchdown to quarterback Luke Altmeyer, giving Beatty a rushing, receiving, passing and punt return touchdown on the season.

Illinois was on the cusp of icing its win when it rushed down to the USC red zone. The Trojans got the ball back by forcing a timely fumble, and driving 80 yards for a go-ahead touchdown just after the two-minute timeout in the fourth.

Luckily, the Illini had Altmeyer for their final drive. The quarterback finished the game completing a stellar 20 of his 26 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns. His 13-yard quarterback draw got the Illini right into field goal range at the USC 33-yard line with less than a minute left.

This set up David Olano’s 41-yard game winner.

Big picture view:

Illinois came into 2025 as a team that expected to make the CFP. Their returning players provided the experience, and they had a quarterback with the necessary combination of leadership, skills and experience to run the offense.

After last week’s loss to Indiana, those dreams were on life support. It got worse news as the week went on, as Illinois learned star safety Xavier Scott would miss the rest of the season. The Illini needed a jolt, and head coach Bret Bielema’s team got one.

USC was a team on the rise. The Trojans were 4-0 and were back in the AP top-25. Jayden Maiava was looking like a USC quarterback of old, throwing comfortably and on time. Makai Lemon had 151 receiving yards and two touchdowns as a go-to receiver.

Illinois had them on the ropes. USC flipped the script. Illinois shook off the bad taste in its mouth after last week and got another notable home win. Last year was Michigan. This year it’s USC, with a chance to earn an even bigger win against Ohio State in two weeks.