CHAMPAIGN — Illinois hasn’t had much of a home-field advantage at Memoria Stadium for some time. Of course, the Illini haven’t had the talent to exploit such an advantage in a long time.
That hasn’t been the case this season.
Josh McCray ran for three touchdowns and Luke Altmyer threw for two, leading Illinois to a 38-16 victory Saturday against Michigan State.
The Illini (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten) snapped a two-game skid and finished 6-1 at home. It’s the first time they’ve won six home games in a season since 2001, when they captured the Big Ten title and played in the 2002 Sugar Bowl.
Coach Bret Bielema is glad the 23-year drought is over.
“This is what we’ve tried to do since we came here five years ago,” he said. “Change the expectations of what people think of this place and what it is.”
McCray had nine carries for 61 yards, Altmyer completed 19 of 32 passes for 231 yards, and Pat Bryant caught four passes for a career-high 135 yards and a touchdown in his final home game. Bielema said Bryant is ready for the NFL.
“I always tell NFL scouts, wherever you have Pat Bryant rated, I’d go one round higher,” he said.
Illinois’ 22-point margin of victory was its largest over the Spartans since beating them 40-17 in 1984. The Illini are now 5-0 in games after a bye week the last three seasons and 6-1 since Bielema became coach in 2021.
After Illinois took a 21-9 lead into halftime, Michigan State (4-6, 2-5) closed to 21-16 on a five-yard touchdown pass from Aidan Chiles to Nate Carter. The Illini’s David Alano responded with a 37-yard field goal, and McCray scored on a pair of one-yard runs in the fourth quarter.
Altmyer threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Bryant and a four-yard TD pass to Zakhari Franklin, and McCray ran 11 yards for a touchdown in the first half. It was Bryant’s eighth TD reception of the season and his career-long catch. It also was Altmyer’s career-long completion.
The Spartans scored on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Chiles to Aziah Johnson in the first quarter and a 38-yard field goal by Jonathan Kim with 1:02 left in the half.
Kim missed the extra-point try after the Chiles-to-Johnson TD. It was the first PAT miss in his college career. He was 3-for-3 at North Carolina and is 34-for-35 at Michigan State.
Chiles was 23-for-40 passing for 256 yards for the Spartans, who have lost three in a row and six of seven.
Michigan State didn’t have a sack for the sixth consecutive game. Illinois sacked Chiles five times.
The Illini will hit the road to play Rutgers and Northwestern in their final two regular-season games — though the game against the Wildcats is at Wrigley Field, where Illinois figures to have the crowd advantage.
Illinois is 1-2 away from Champaign, with all three games against ranked teams. Two road wins would give the Illini a 9-3 record and an opportunity to play in a major bowl game.