Chambana Sun

Illinois football concluded its spring practice with the Orange and Blue Spring Game at Memorial Stadium. The event featured a scrimmage where the offense wore blue jerseys, quarterbacks donned orange, and the defense dressed in white.

Luke Altmyer completed 10 of 14 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns, playing only in the first half. Donovan Leary threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns over three quarters, completing 13 of his 23 attempts. Five quarterbacks participated in the game.

Aidan Laughery rushed for 70 yards on 11 carries and added a receiving touchdown. Malik Elzy led with six catches for 85 yards, including a touchdown. Alexander Capka-Jones had four receptions for a game-high 95 yards and a touchdown. Kenari Wilcher made four catches for 38 yards, while Collin Dixon's sole reception was a 33-yard touchdown.

Defensively, Saboor Karriem and Jojo Hayden each recorded seven tackles, with Karriem adding 2.5 tackles for loss. Kaleb Patterson broke up two passes, and Elijah Mc-Cantos secured an interception.

The game's scoring began with Josh McCray's first-quarter touchdown run. Elzy followed with a touchdown catch from Altmyer after Laughery's significant gain during the drive. The defense forced multiple three-and-outs early on.

Laughery scored again in the second quarter on an Altmyer pass after sustained defensive pressure kept the offense scoreless initially. A quick series by Leary included a long pass to Capka-Jones followed by Dixon's touchdown catch.

In the second half, Capka-Jones caught another long touchdown pass from Leary after two defensive stops resulted in punts. The defense continued its strong performance with consecutive stops before Mc-Cantos' late-game interception set up Trey Petty's final-second touchdown pass to Michael Bartolotta.

Head Coach Bret Bielema expressed satisfaction with ending spring practice injury-free: "Overall, I'm excited to get out of it injury-free." He praised quarterback development: "I was really excited about the growth of not just Luke Altmyer, but Donovan has really come along."

Bielema also highlighted offensive line progress: "It's not just depth; it's just the quality." He mentioned improvements among players like Hunter Whitenack and new transfers JC and Melvin Priestly.

Regarding team accomplishments this spring, Bielema said: "You get 15 opportunities... I think our guys did that."

Luke Altmyer described the scrimmage as productive: "It was practice 15 for us... We're trying to get a lot out of it." He emphasized decisiveness as key to his development: "That's the deal with me: being more decisive."

Seth Coleman noted defensive improvement: "I think we definitely did," while Josh McCray commended the offensive line: "Those are some big boys up front."

Miles Scott spoke about perseverance through changes at Illinois: "Perseverance... I just hope I'm an inspiration to somebody else."

Illinois will begin its fall schedule against Eastern Illinois at Memorial Stadium on August 29th.