Football Loses to No. 24 Illinois

Saturday, November 23

Piscataway, N.J.

12:00 PM

Rutgers University

6-5 , 3-5

Illinois

8-3 , 5-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Illinois

Rutgers

Photo by: Dakota Moyer

Nov 23 | Football

Box Score Game Book Head Coach Greg Schiano Postgame Press Conference Postgame Quotes Statistics Photo Gallery

NO. 24 ILLINOIS 38 (8-3, 5-3), RUTGERS 31 (6-5, 3-5)
SHI STADIUM • PISCATAWAY, N.J.
NOVEMBER 23, 2024 • ATTENDANCE: 47,524

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers football (6-5, 3-5) lost to No. 24 Illinois (8-3, 5-3), 38-31, on Saturday afternoon at SHI Stadium.

Despite the Scarlet Knights orchestrating a 10-play, 65-yard scoring run to regain the lead with 1:08 left on the clock, the Fighting Illini countered with a touchdown drive in the final seconds for the win.

RB Kyle Monangai produced his fifth 100-yard rushing outing of the season with 122 yards on 28 carries. QB Athan Kaliakmanis added a career-high 84 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Kaliakmanis also finished with 18 completions for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Monangai and WR Ian Strong.

DB Shaquan Loyal finished with a team-high 10 tackles, while DL Aaron Lewis contributed five tackles and a sack. DB Robert Longerbeam, DB Eric Rogers and DB Kaj Sanders all broke up passes.

FIRST QUARTER

Rutgers forced Illinois to punt on its opening possession and turned its first offensive drive into points. Monangai rushed five times for 17 yards, Kaliakmanis added a 20-yard rush and completed two passes as PK Jai Patel drilled a 34-yard field goal to give the Scarlet Knights their first lead at 3-0 with 5:52 left in the first quarter. That score held until the first break.

SECOND QUARTER

After a return right before the quarter put them in the red zone, the Illini scored their first points on a 29-yard field goal to tie the score at 3-3.

RU marched 75 yards in 10 plays for its first touchdown of the day. Kaliakmanis found three different receivers during the drive, including a one-handed catch by TE Mike Higgins for a first down in Illinois territory. Kaliakmanis closed the drive with a 12-yard scramble, cutting up field and into the end zone for the touchdown. Kaliakmanis' second rushing score of the season put Rutgers up, 10-3, with 9:20 left before halftime.

Illinois scored on its following possession, but missed its extra point to help the Scarlet Knights maintain their lead, 10-9, at the 5:32 mark in the quarter.

Rutgers held the ball for the final five minutes, putting up points right before halftime. With just 11 seconds left on the clock, Kaliakmanis found Strong for a jump ball in the back of the end zone for the touchdown. Strong's catch gave RU a 17-9 advantage right before the clock hit zero.

Rutgers entered the locker room outgaining the Illini, 215-135, while holding the ball for 16:48 of the first 30 minutes.

THIRD QUARTER

Illinois was the first to score in the second half when it capped a scoring drive with a four-yard rush. The Illini elected to go for two and tie the game, but were stopped thanks to LB Dariel Djabome, who brought down the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage. With the stop, Rutgers maintained a 17-15 advantage with 6:36 left in the third.

RU responded with a 14-play drive to get the ball to the Illinois one-yard line before the end of the quarter. Monangai rushed seven times during the drive, including rushes of 18 and 16 yards.

FOURTH QUARTER

With the ball at the one-yard line, Kaliakmanis scored his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon, diving over the pile to add to the Scarlet Knights' lead. An extra point from Patel provided RU with a 24-15 lead with 14:51 left in the game.

Illinois added back-to-back touchdowns in the quarter to jump out to a 30-24 lead. Kaliakmanis and the Rutgers offense responded with a 65-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 13-yard pass to Monangai – the first of his career – giving the Scarlet Knights a 31-30 lead with 1:08 left in the contest.

The Fighting Illini scored on a 40-yard touchdown pass with four seconds remaining to take a 36-31 lead and added a safety on the game's final play for the 38-31 win.

NOTES

• Rutgers picked up 30 first downs, its most in a Big Ten game since joining the league.
• Rutgers had four touchdown drives of 10 plays or more and now has 14 such drives on the season.
• Rutgers rushed for 213 yards, its most in Big Ten play this season. It was the ninth game since 2023 with at least 200 rushing yards.
• Rutgers controlled the ball for 11:02 in the second quarter and 10:36 in the third quarter, making it 17 quarters with at least 10 minutes of possession since 2023.
• Rutgers did not permit a sack and now has nine games since 2023 with no sacks allowed.
• The game lasted four hours, 10 minutes, the longest Rutgers game since the 2020 game versus Michigan went four hours, 24 minutes.
• QB Athan Kaliakmanis rushed for career highs with 84 yards and two scores on the ground.
• Kaliakmanis passed for 174 yards to bring his season total up to 2,302, the most by a Scarlet Knight in a season since Gary Nova totaled 2,851 in 2014. The 2,302 passing yards rank eighth-most in a season in program history.
• RB Kyle Monangai rushed for 122 yards on 28 carries. It was his 13^th career game in triple figures and fifth of the season. He became the fourth Scarlet Knight to reach triple figures against Illinois, joining Isiah Pacheco (133 in 2020), Brian Leonard (128 in 2005) and Ray Rice (108 in 2006). He became the third player in program history to reach 3,000 career yards, joining Ray Rice (4,926 from 2005-07) and Terrell Willis (3,114 from 1993-95).
• Monangai recorded his first career receiving touchdown in the fourth quarter, adding to his 26 rushing scores.
• WR Ian Strong recorded a receiving touchdown for the third straight week and now has four on the season. He led the team with 66 receiving yards in the game.
• DB Shaquan Loyal reached double-digit tackles for the second straight week and third time in his career with 10 stops.
• DB Robert Longerbeam recorded his 40^th career pass defended (36 breakups, four interceptions).
• DL Aaron Lewis recorded his third sack of the season and is up to 10.5 for his career.
• PK Jai Patel made his seventh straight field goal. He now has 24 career makes, standing alone in 10^th place on the program's leaderboard.
• OL Hollin Pierce appeared in his 50th career game to make it 45 players in program history to reach the mark. WR Christian Dremel (56), Lewis (53), LB Jamier Wright-Collins (53), Longerbeam (51) and Monangai (51) previously hit the mark this season.
• Consecutive games played: DL Kyonte Hamilton (49), Pierce (49), DL Malcolm Ray (45), Dremel (40)

UP NEXT

Rutgers concludes the regular season traveling to Michigan State for a Nov. 30 matchup at Spartan Stadium. The game will broadcast at 3:30 p.m. on FS1. It will be the 11th consecutive season meeting in the series.

Follow Rutgers football on X (@RFootball & @RUboardwalk), Facebook (/RFootballShow) and Instagram (@rfootball & @ruboardwalk) for the latest news and updates. Also subscribe to the YouTube channel.