Bret Bielema Douglas C. and Linda M. Mills Endowed Head Football Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Bret Bielema Douglas C. and Linda M. Mills Endowed Head Football Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer and kicker David Olano have been recognized as the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Special Teams Player of the Week, respectively. The announcement was made by the conference office on Monday following Illinois' 34-32 victory over USC.
Altmyer contributed four touchdowns in the game—two passing, one rushing, and one receiving—and totaled 359 yards of offense. He became the first player in at least 30 years to record over 300 passing yards, a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown, and a receiving touchdown in a single Big Ten game. He is also the first Illinois player to achieve passing, rushing, and receiving touchdowns in one game since Kurt Kittner did so during the 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl against Virginia.
Altmyer led Illinois on his sixth national-leading game-winning drive in the final minute or overtime over the last three seasons. His leadership set up Olano’s decisive field goal. Olano converted a 41-yard attempt as time expired, securing Illinois’ win after trailing 32-31. This marks only the third time in school history that an Illini kicker has made a game-winning field goal with the team behind as time expired.
Olano was successful on all six of his kicks during the contest: two field goals (from 45 and 41 yards) and four extra points. For this season, he has made six out of seven field goals—his only miss resulted from a blocked kick due to protection issues—and is perfect on extra points (24-for-24). He has also achieved touchbacks on 29 of his 31 kickoffs.
Illinois, now ranked #22, will face Purdue on Saturday with kickoff scheduled for 11 a.m. Central Time on Big Ten Network.
Alerts Sign-up