By IlliniGuys Staff

November 1, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Luke Altmyer threw a season-high four touchdown passes and ran for another score as Illinois snapped a two-game losing streak with a 35-13 rout of visiting Rutgers Saturday afternoon.

The win was a huge victory for Illini defensive coordinator Aaron Henry, whose unit came into the day allowing 39 points per game in Big Ten contests and allowed Washington to score at will in a 42-25 blowout on the road last week.

Rutgers was kept out of the end zone until an Athan Kaliakmanis touchdown pass to KJ Duff with 5:47 remaining in the game. Otherwise, the Illinois defense was dominant, allowing an offense averaging 31 points per game to just a pair of field goal to that point and just 312 total yards in the game, much of that coming after the Illini had built a 35-6 advantage.

Altmyer's four scoring passes tied a career high set against Eastern Illinois and again at Nebraska during the 2024 season. He finished with 19 completions on 31 attempts for 235 yards and suffered his fourth interception of the year on a tipped pass. He also had a game-high 88 rushing yards on seven carries.

Altmyer now has 54 career touchdown passes, one shy of Jack Trudeau and Nathan Scheelhaase for third place in school history.

Illinois (6-3, 3-3 in Big Ten) opened the scoring with an Altmyer to Kaden Feagin pass on their first drive of the game. After holding the Scarlet Knights to a pair of field goals, the Illini then reeled off 28 points in a row on an Altmyer run and three more scoring passes. Hank Beatty and Collin Dixon each caught a touchdown and Hudson Clement grabbed his first in an Illinois uniform. The West Virginia transfer had his best day as an Illini, leading the team with five catches for 84 yards.

Gabe Jacas recorded a pair of sacks to raise his team-leading total to 6.5 for the season.

Illinois is now bowl-eligible with its sixth win and keeps alive its quest to post back-to-back 9-win seasons for the first time in program history. They have a bye week on the schedule next week before hosting Maryland on November 15th.

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete postgame coverage.