Reliving Illinois Football’s Epic 4th Downs

Reliving Illinois Football’s Epic 4th Downs

I breathe a sigh of relief. Illinois Football opened up their 2023 season in stressful fashion. The Illini trailed 19-7 at one point in the third quarter against the Toledo Rockets. Fans are all too familiar with the school building an incredible amount of buzz only to fall flat. I was fully prepared to see Bret Bielema and his crew fight an uphill battle towards a successful season after a disappointing opener. However, credit goes to the veteran heavy Illini. They showed solid resolve and poise. They had 3 minutes to go in the game to score some points and they delivered with a game winning field goal.

However, the last drive was not without any drama. Fourth down and four yards with 2:16 left.

Casey Washington is a hero

Casey Washington has had the quite the Illini career. He had the game winning touchdown in the 9OT game against Penn State. This was a couple months after he transferred to Wake Forest and decided to come back to Illinois. He then had a rather quiet 2022-2023 season behind Isaiah Williams, Pat Bryant and Brian Hightower. However, Casey Washington saved the day with an incredible catch on 4th and four. Additionally, Luke Altmyer had just as impressive a throw. Altmyer had defensive linemen directly in his face breathing down his throat as he delivered a spot-on ball to Washington. This allowed the Illini to grab a new set of downs, and also allowed them to establish field goal range.