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Connor Bazelak was named the starter on the Fox Sports 1 broadcast about five minutes before the game, ending the months of uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position.
Illinois won the toss and chose to receive. They converted a first down after two plays, a nine-yard completion, and a six-yard rush by Chase Brown. The up-tempo offense worked for the Illini early until Indiana started to apply pressure. A hurry on second down and a big sack on third forced an Illinois punt.
Indiana would get great field position after a shanked punt, getting the ball at their own 40-yard line. An incompletion and six-yard loss on consecutive plays didn’t give much hope. But, a quick 40-yard strike from Bazelak to Cam Camper kept the drive alive and then some.
Walt Bell then wanted to strike through the air. A solid throw to AJ Barner at the front right pylon would just go incomplete, followed by a rush for negative three yards and an incompletion to DJ Matthews would force a 39-yard field goal from Charles Campbell, he would convert, Indiana would take a 3-0 lead.
Illinois would respond quickly, feeding Chase Brown five times for 51 yards on the following drive. He would finish with 36 attempts for 199 yards. Tommy DeVito would connect with his next best weapon, Isaiah Williams, who finished with nine catches for 112 yards, for a five-yard touchdown. Illinois would take a 7-3 lead.
The Hoosiers wouldn’t be able to strike on the next drive, but they would show flashes of an offense that could consistently move the ball through the air. Two completions, one on third down to DJ Matthews would be all they would get.
James Evans would punt it back to Illinois. Lance Bryant would take advantage of a poorly thrown ball by Tommy Devito, forcing a fumble shortly after completion to Illinois TE Luke Ford, Cam Jones would recover.
Both teams would combine for 35 yards through the next two drives, a second shanked punt would put Indiana in an excellent position, which they would take advantage of.
The Hoosier’s first touchdown of the season would be a 52-yard pass to DJ Matthews in his first game back after tearing his ACL early last season. Indiana would take a 10-7 lead with 10:43 left in the 4th quarter.
The Illini would stick with the no-huddle on their next drive. 49 yards in three plays put Illinois in the redzone. A corner of the endzone throw to Brian Hightower would be broken up by Josh Sanguinetti. After a review that looked like Hightower might have come down with the ball, the call on the field would stand. A broken play that saw Illinois RB Chase Brown attempt a pass nearly resulted in an Illinois touchdown, but they would settle for a field goal and tie the game.
Indiana would get the ball back with 7:01 left in the second quarter, and after a big 39-yard completion to Cam Camper Walt Bell’s playcalling would lose its life. A draw play on 3rd and five would lead to a second Charles Campbell converted a field goal. Indiana 13, Illinois 10.
Illinois wouldn’t respond, providing a less than impressive three-and-out. Indiana would get the ball back and Illinois would bail them out with a holding penalty after an incompletion on 3rd down Indiana would stay alive. Bazelak would connect with Emery Simmons for 24 yards, putting them in range for a field goal, which they would eventually convert on. Campbell’s third field goal would give the Hoosiers a 16-10 lead going into the half.
The second half started in horrible fashion for the Hoosiers. A second play, tip-drill interception would give the ball right to Illinois. Shortly after Cam Jones would go down with an injury. He would jog straight to the locker room.
Multiple short passes and runs would put Illinois in the red zone. DeVito would complete a short pass to Brian Hightower. He would make a man miss and dive into the endzone for a 16-yard touchdown. Illinois 17, Indiana 16. DeVito would finish 21-32 with 232 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Bazelak’s second-half struggles would carry over to the second drive of the half. A should-have-been intercepted pass kind of took the wind out of the Hoosier’s sails.
There was little to note from either side until Illinois would have the ball with 2:34 left in the 3rd quarter. Chase Brown would put together a great drive, but a backward pass to Brown would be broken up and recovered by Indiana DB Noah Pierre. After the return, Indiana would get the ball at their own 35.
The offense wouldn’t be able to capitalize. Bazelak would lose 15 yards after he was sacked, leading to a James Evans punt.
From there, there was very little action until late in the 4th quarter. Josh Sanguinetti picked off Tommy Devito on Indiana’s side of the field. However, that momentum would be wasted as Cam Camper would fumble on the Illinois side of the field, giving the ball back to the Illini.
The IU defense would hold rather steady, however, forcing a short completion on 3rd and long. Caleb Griffin, Illinois Kicker would nail a 47-yard field goal to take a four-point lead with 2:15 left in the game, putting all the pressure on QB Connor Bazelak and the Indiana offense.
It’s very clear that Walt Bell wanted to target his best playmaker DJ Matthews on the final drive. Bazelak targeted Matthews five times, for four receptions and 35 yards on the final drive. Matthews would finish with seven receptions and 109 yards and a touchdown.
Camper was also relied upon heavily on the final drive, he would finish with 11 catches for 156 yards. He was targeted 18 times. But, there was no bigger play than Shaun Shivers final
one-yard dive to seal Indiana’s first Big Ten win since 2020 and first home win since week 2 against Idaho last season. Hoosiers win 23-20.
Bazelak completed his first game as a Hoosier 28-52 for 330 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
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